It is certainly not entirely clear what is meant when something is said to be a cultural construct. Taking the ‘soft’ interpretation, it means that we recapitulate certain cultural beliefs from generation to generation. These stereotypes shape our view of, for example, the sexes, so that they contain beliefs that are culturally specific.

According to the ‘hard’ interpretation, however, it is assumed that the demonstration of the existence of a number of culturally specific beliefs proves that the phenomenon does not, as such, exist. One quite often assumes, then, that the phenomenon had not existed before those in the West began their theoretical and philosophical discussions about the phenomenon in question. In this issue of Axess, we write about how art, great art - like sex differences - has proved a rewarding concept for constructive revisionists to sink their teeth in.

The fact that it was only in the late ...