Here is a fascinating discussion from Bitch Magazine on the differences between sex and gender, and how the feminist movement should reclaim biology from all the sexists out there. It is also a great discussion on those who are transgendered, and why it is crappy that “womyn-only” places discriminate against those who are not born with female sexual organs.Read it. Love it. Lick the computer screen. It’s seriously awesome enough to warrant saliva stains on your monitor.
Filed under: gender
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oooo! I’ve really been meaning to read Julia Serano’s book, Whipping Girl. I’ve read some of her writings and watched her speak and she seems to really have some deep insight into an issue that I am still trying to get sorted out in my head. It’s hard to fully grasp the idea that–okay, gender is a social construct that often places individuals into a proverbial box but at the same time masculinity and femininity are pretty good characterizations of human traits and could actually be used for some good– at the very least, for simple classificatory convention. The problem is when we assign value to these characteristics and place femininity as dependent on and inferior to masculinity. I like the idea of empowering femininity, though–for all people. We just gotta get rid of the idea that our current notions of femininity are strictly inherent in females and our current notions of masculinity are strictly inherent in males. We need to understand emotion as a form of reason, to see tears as empowering. (Sidenote: like when Hillary “cried” or actually simply showed physical signs of emotion, Edwards responded that we need a leader with a firm resolve in order to handle tough situations. But, see, I don’t want an emotionless robot in the White House. I want someone with personality and the ability to relate to others. Diplomatically speaking, we *need* someone who has the ability to appear as a genuine human being in order to create strong and lasting relationships with leaders from other countries.) Overall, there’s a lot more fluidity and depth to this discussion that is hardly talked about and I like that Serano is inviting a discussion of both social constructivist thought as well as biological thought. She seems on the right track in fully unpacking this sociobiological mystery.
Oh, and for the record, I did not lick my computer screen. While the interview in Bitch was quite awesome, I tend to like my computer screen clear and free of saliva-streaks. Plus, that’s just plain nasty.
whoops, sorry that’s so long! eek!