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shannon · 08-25-2004, 12:41 PM

this is coming from a girl who studies gender and social constructivism in school, so i might sound a bit ranty. but i love this topic.
i think that there is socially understood terms which are masculine and feminine, as most people could name off a bunch of things that are considered fem and masc and they would generally be understood by other members of the same social group. however, i think it's important to see that perhaps there terms are completely based within these social settings and are not something that actually intrinsically exists. i mean there's obviously a lot of debate over what is natural and what is caused by nurture, but there are a lot of arguments that show flaw in the argument that gender is a natural thing. firstly, it works under the assumption that there are two distinct sexes. this doesn't account for intersex individuals, which create more of a spectrum of sexes if anything, rather than two categories. then, on top of that, assuming that masc is something that is mapped directly onto males and fem is something directly mapped onto females doesn't account for those who don't have a gender that corresponds to their sex. so i'm not big on the assumption that men should be masculine and females should be feminine because i think it is a bit too simplified and requires one to turn a blind eye to too many exceptions.
i am a bit dissappointed that i was almost female, like lurkette, because i was hoping to be more masculine or androgynous. but i wonder even about the validity of tests like this- particularly since they listed feminine and masculine as qualities in a test which is supposed to tell you how masc of fem you are, which seems a bit off. i would be happier if i was less feminine because to me being feminine is the easy way. it is easier to behave in a gendered way which people are accustomed to, and which doesn't challenge currently held power structures.
hope you enjoyed my little rant. i think i'll stop there cause i'm too jetlagged to continue.

08-25-2004, 12:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
shannon Psycho Location: Canada	this is coming from a girl who studies gender and social constructivism in school, so i might sound a bit ranty. but i love this topic. i think that there is socially understood terms which are masculine and feminine, as most people could name off a bunch of things that are considered fem and masc and they would generally be understood by other members of the same social group. however, i think it's important to see that perhaps there terms are completely based within these social settings and are not something that actually intrinsically exists. i mean there's obviously a lot of debate over what is natural and what is caused by nurture, but there are a lot of arguments that show flaw in the argument that gender is a natural thing. firstly, it works under the assumption that there are two distinct sexes. this doesn't account for intersex individuals, which create more of a spectrum of sexes if anything, rather than two categories. then, on top of that, assuming that masc is something that is mapped directly onto males and fem is something directly mapped onto females doesn't account for those who don't have a gender that corresponds to their sex. so i'm not big on the assumption that men should be masculine and females should be feminine because i think it is a bit too simplified and requires one to turn a blind eye to too many exceptions. i am a bit dissappointed that i was almost female, like lurkette, because i was hoping to be more masculine or androgynous. but i wonder even about the validity of tests like this- particularly since they listed feminine and masculine as qualities in a test which is supposed to tell you how masc of fem you are, which seems a bit off. i would be happier if i was less feminine because to me being feminine is the easy way. it is easier to behave in a gendered way which people are accustomed to, and which doesn't challenge currently held power structures. hope you enjoyed my little rant. i think i'll stop there cause i'm too jetlagged to continue. __________________ "When I look down I just miss all the good stuff. And when I look up I just trip over things"