The Prism of Gender
Keywords: Gender, Sexuality, Society, Femininity, Masculinity
“Do all the men you know fit the ideal of masculinity all the time, in all relationships, and in all situations? Do all the women in your life consistently behave in stereotypical feminine fashion? Do you always fit into one as opposed to the other culturally approved gender category?” (Valentine, 4)
In Catherine G. Valentine’s excerpt titled, The Prism of Gender, the western views on gender are challenged. There are a number of cultural instances where the overall view on gender greatly differs from what is known throughout the west.
Valentine emphasizes the fluctuating nature of gender and the things that are usually associated with it. It is mentioned that a woman isn’t always sweet and submissive and a man isn’t always strong and silent.
There will always be characteristics that fuse and merge, ultimately nullifying the idea that only one gender possesses a set of characteristics.
Gender is a complex thing that goes beyond everything that America has presented to be. There are intersex individuals that destroy the notion that gender is a ‘one or the other’ thing. Science provides a much more complex understanding of gender as it is traditionally known. It is important to assess these differences and think critically about what exactly makes gender so complex. As previously mentioned, a woman isn’t always submissive and a man isn’t always strong. Additionally, someone’s genitalia isn’t a proper representation of who a person truly is.
Theorizing difference from multiracial feminism
Keywords: Inequality, Race, Feminism
In Maxine Zinn and Bonnie Dill’s excerpt titled, Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism, feminism is discussed in relation to race.
Some ideas surrounding feminism weren’t inclusive of women of color. Feminism has been associated with more Eurocentric ideals. This only minimized the ability for women of color to properly indulge themselves in the matter. There are several different cultural views and differences in perspective that will ultimately shape the view of feminism. The differences in class and background need to be acknowledged within feminism and in general.
“Our critiques grew out of the widespread concern about the exclusion of women of
color from feminist scholarship and the misinterpretation of our experiences, 1 and ultimately ‘out of the very discourses, denying, permitting, and producing difference'” (Zinn & Dill, 321). There are misinterpretations of the experience of women of color. Instead of acknowledging the specifics of their experiences, only gender related subjects are mentioned. It is clear that in addition to the inequality that women of color experience as women, their race plays a role in the inequality they experience.
The replacements- Androgynous
“Here come Dick, he’s wearing a skirt Here comes Jane, y’know she’s sporting a chain”
This song seeks to get rid of the idea that certain things belong to only one gender. In reference to the lyrics about skirts and chains, those things don’t belong to one gender. Later on in the song, It is mentioned that tomorrow Dick will wear pants and Jane will wear a dress. This demonstrates how fluid people can be when it comes to how they may choose to present themselves. There is no right or wrong way and the song emphasizes that fact.
Making Connections
Both of the readings heavily discuss cultural differences in relation to feminism. The excerpt Valentine makes a point to mention what some of the customs outside of American customs are like. This proves great insight on the different views on gender and how much it varies from place to place. The excerpt by Zinn and Dill’s main point is all about cultural differences. It touches on just how much the lack of true interpretations and representation can lead to exclusion even throughout feminism. The song by The Replacements connects back to the ideas emphasized in Valentine’s excerpt. It further solidifies the idea that the traditional ideas of gender and the roles within it can be stretched and altered.
Question
Has your view on gender changed significantly over the past year? Why or why not?
I would say yes, over the past year (maybe even two), my view of gender has changed. I would say that I have become more aware of gender fluidity and much more accepting of people’s gender expressions. Over the past few years, the number of people I know who have gender-affirmed has definitely increased, and I think that is in part due to people talking about gender more and (in some places) people becoming more open-minded and accepting. Sadly, Arkansas is not one of those places, and people with non-conforming gender identities face persecution at the hands of lawmakers (SB43 specifically) who don’t want to recognize that the social construct of gender is changing.
I believe it started to change around high school after becoming best friends with someone who used they, them pronouns. They explained to me so much about gender, different identities and that’s when my mind started to be so much more open about it because I didn’t know it was a thing. Growing up my family never really agreed or saw that there could be anything more than male and female and to this day that is how they think.
I still have a hard time understanding some things with gender identity but I know I’m very open to everything there is to learn and is why I’m taking this class and after the first reading of the prism of gender it gets me excited to read our future readings in hope of explaining everything better to my family so they can understand too.
Hi there
Over the past year, I do not think my view on gender has changed, and I believe that is because I have not thought too much about what gender is. As Valentine mentioned, society tends to unconsciously categorize people. The pink and blue syndrome starts at birth when a child is considered to be a boy or girl. Not many people think about if or how assigning girls to pink clothing and boys to blue will have an effect on them, and not many people think about gender as being more than just male or female unless something happens that affects them personally.
You did a great job on this! Keep up the amazing work. As for your question, my view on gender has changed significantly over the past year. I have come into contact with a wide variety of people in the past year. They all had their unique way of expressing their gender. Seeing everyone expressing themselves in such ways has opened my eyes to the possibilities of how I can express my own. I have seen other people’s views on gender change as well, for worse and for better. Both still will advance the world in my eyes, and I can’t wait to see the day when everyone can live peacefully as their true selves. The more we inform people about the true spectrum of gender, the more eyes will open.
To answer your question, yes, my views on gender have changed because I was ignorant on gender and specifically sexuality. I grew up believing in the stereotypes we hear in Western culture. Those stereotypes started to shape who I was, and I believed that everyone around me should follow those same standards. As I grew older, I started learning more about gender, sexuality, and dissecting stereotypes. I realized that women are just caretakers, nurtures, housewives, or only be feminine. I also realized that men don’t have to be tough all the time, heroes, muscular, and have what society considers a “masculine” job. When I was younger, I believed all these things because it’s what I was taught. The older I got the more I grew from that because I started to learn more about myself and how I may want to identify. I learned that I don’t always have to wear makeup every day to be pretty. I learned on the way to just be me.
I enjoyed reading this blog. It definitely gave us a deeper dive and understanding of gender. For your question, in my opinion I think we are doing somewhat better. Now we still have a long way to go, but reading The Prism of Gender, I came across where (Dowling, 2000) stated “… a couple of decades ago cheerleading was an all-male sport because it was too rigorous for women.” Now in today’s society both male and female are cheerleaders. Now do we have a long way to go before we can fully become equals and the gender norms; we are used to can be altered to the reality of what Gender really is.
I really liked your blog post. I loved your views of this week’s songs about how there is no right or wrong way a person can present themselves. My views on gender have really changed over the past year. Growing up, I believed there were only males and females. I knew that it was more than just two genders or sexualities, but I did not understand it very well. In junior and high school, many of my classmates and friends began using different pronouns and started identifying differently. On social media, people used different pronouns, they talked about different identities and sexualities, which changed my views and helped me understand better.
I like that you noted the fluidity of the song in “Androgynous”. I kind of interpreted the end of the song as if maybe society was forcing them to go back to their prescribed gender because that’s what will always happen. But I liked your take better: that people can be fluid in their gender from day to day.
I don’t think my view on gender has changed much in the past year specifically. Definitely since like highschool (in 2014 because I’m old). I’ve learned much more about gender being a spectrum since then.
Hey Kslee3,
This is George Ward. I really enjoyed reading your blog post about this weeks readings. To answer your question, yes my view on gender has changed a lot in the past year. About 2 years ago I didn’t know anything about pronouns and how people identity by those pronouns. Also earlier last year I found out about they/them pronouns who are people that don’t identify as he or she. I am still learning about the different pronouns people identify as and I think this class will help me better understand the broader scope of gender. Overall, great blog post!