Monday, April 20, 2009
Gender....
This is a very complex issue, and I would like to begin with a qualification of my ideas to come. I believe that we will never fully understand the issue, and the concept is something like the aristotelian truth that we can approach but never reach. That said, I believe that gender is a mix of societally influenced and inherent to an individual. I believe that regardless of the society around me, there are aspects of my personality and my identity that would not change. I agree with De Tocqueville in that women and men are inherently different, and we should not subjugate one or the other, but neither should we make them interchangeable. We must recognize the unavoidable differences that make us men and women and use them to our advantage rather than ignore them at great cost. I don't think that any specific individuals have influenced this decision,. although I do think that my opinion has been shaped by the readings we have done in class about gender, and Eustace Conway has also been instrumental in altering my view of "manliness" and of myself as a man. Despite my insistence on certain characteristics that are inarguably male and female, I do believe that expressions of manhood or womanhood are shaped by societal influences, that women play with barbies and men with G.I. Joes. That men go to war and women foster children is human nature, but the specific interactions they have with society are often shaped by that society.
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4 comments:
Wahoo! great blog Japes. I too agree that inherently man and women are different. As we eloquently put it in class. Innie vs. Outie. I never played with G.I. Joe myself, but i understand how you believe that this is an important piece in the shaping of young individuals. Wonderful job sir!
"We must recognize the unavoidable differences that make us men and women and use them to our advantage rather than ignore them at great cost."
Say a study is taken and it's discovered that, empirically speaking, women cook better meals than men. Say another study is taken and it discovers that, empirically speaking, men can catch more rabbits in a week than women. Aren't these unavoidable differences? Is it right, then, to set the default roles as women cooking the rabbits men catch?
I believe the unavoidable differences mentioned by de Tocqueville and Mansfield are irrelevant. It doesn't matter which skill either sex appears to be better at. Sexual equality means that each sex should be allowed to do whatever he or she wants, yes? Then they are to be allowed the chance to make the "wrong" choice. The choice that statistics say they will not be as successful at. They might become exceptions to the rule established by evidence - the man might become a better cook than a woman, but, even if they don't, even if they fall into the pattern predicted by x, y, z statistic, they should be allowed to become the male cook or the female hunter. Men and women should be allowed to do what makes them happy. The problem of established sexual roles is that it confines people to a part they're not satisfied with because evidence, either personal, anecdotal, or empirical, says they'll be best at that part. The final fix is complete freedom of choice - an elimination of the gender roles which we're assigned at birth.
How has Eustace Conway affected your views of manliness Miles? Will this affect your performance? If so, will you sing in a falsetto voice?
Anyway, your opinion is arguably true. Men and women are different. Their minds work in different ways, and therefore their actions and motives are often separate.
I think that you are absolutely correct in saying that we can never really understand gender, because not only are men and women inherently different, but every person is, too. There are too many people who try and rebel against their natural state as a man or a woman, but I really don't know how to define that. I wonder what would happen if a new society started where gender did not matter. I think humans would be completely different.
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