"There were no signs"

[Guest apostate79]

I found this article recently, and it pretty much sums up my own feelings about gender and conforming to stereotypes.

http://justcallmejack.blog.com/2011/03/there-were-no-signs/

Honestly, if I hear one more person talk about old-time gender stereotypes and generalizations as if there was any validity to them (you know what I'm talking about- how apparently females are not supposed to be good at math, are naturally more cooperative and submissive, have lower spatial cognitive whatever) I am seriously going to lose it. I have honestly known and dated far too many young women in my life of all sexual orientations, who were extremely aggressive and dominant while still being feminine and pretty, and could easily hold their own in a bar fight, to take any of the cultural stereotypes about male/female behaviour seriously. Or I suppose all those girls I knew were really secretly trans men due to their naturally "masculine" behaviour?

Apparently I cannot truly be transgendered or female since I played with GI Joes when I was little. I also have a good sense of direction, can read maps fairly easily, and am independent minded. Or I suppose that after transition I would lose all of these "male" traits and abilities, and become a truly submissive, dependent, irrational, and helpless, female who can't drive or do simple multiplication. My dysphoria has died down recently, and I feel like my anger at the whole issue has played a role, especially when I see scientific and medical professionals whose role is help us, perpetuate these myths:

http://www.transgendercare.com/guidance/what_is_gender.htm

Scroll down to the section on brain gender. My BS detector went off the scales, especially when reading it's comparisons on "natural" boys' and girls' behaviour. So much for all the work invested by the women's movement in the past 100 years towards empowering females and tearing down the old culturally constructed gender roles. As you can probably tell, this a particular issue that I feel very strongly about.

[Michelle 2010]

Hmmm, culturally defined vs. genetically predisposed gender norms... Now there's a thread worthy of discussion, huh?

Having come of age during the feminist movement of the '70's I am sensitive to the stereotypes and inequalities being addressed. At one time the only professional options for most women were teaching and nursing. Look around today! so change can occur.

Conversely, we can look to nature for cues... Rams butt heads, Lions. rats and monkeys posture, fight and draw blood when competing for females. Female birds, fish , and many mammals nest or den prior to procreating and birthing. Some species have two parent upbringing and in others the you must watch out lest daddy eat them. So for me it is a slippery slope to simplify and believe we can easily separate cultural from genetically imprinted behavior.

I do know that when women fought for the right to vote a mere 100 years ago and in the 1960's they advocated for a more open view of opportunity, it was to gain freedoms and rights enjoyed by men. I believe in the 1980's the agenda shifted but I'll save that story for another time...

Good topic!

Regards

Michelle

[gennee]

A very interesting post. I didn't know that I was transgender until six years ago. I always felt different but never tied it to gender. I was a typical male playing with guns, playing sports, and doing typical male activities. I also liked wearing pink, cooked Thanksgiving dinner, and made pot holders. Too many things are tied to gender that both male and females do. To label something as strictly masculine or strictly feminine does a disservice to those people who do not fit on strict gender binary system.

I have known feminine women who are excellent athletes. I know men who enjoy writing poetry and creating new fashions. How many people have been abused verbally or emotionally because they don't play sports or or not interested in fashion? Many folks who don't fit the so-called norm have contirbuted greatly to our society.