It's just something we've built in this society. It's tied to who we are, what we're allowed to do, how we think, what we look like, etc. It is how we're judged, because humans can't stop judging. We're constantly gauging people, to see their strengths, weaknesses, whether they'd be a good mate or friend, whether they're an enemy, if they're going to steal our place in society, and so on. We still live on instinct, no matter how buried that instinct might be.
And it's part of the "us vs them" thing that we still hold very dear to our societies. We are defined by what we are not, as well as what we are. We have to always put someone below us in order to put ourselves up higher.
I don't know that there's ever been a time when woman was on top (lol). Sure, there've been societies where woman was the one you took your name from, where even women have ruled. Native societies had women as the land owners, because as hunter, man had no clue what to do with the land. But does that put us in power? No. Man still had the raw strength to topple us if need be.
And then there's those that walk between the genders. The Natives often had such people, because many of their societies were more accepting of a woman with the soul of a man. But even then, it's a qualifier isn't it? It's a woman, but she has the soul of a man. That's not exactly an inbetween.
And what about the crossdressers who have no desire to be a woman, yet like to wear their trappings? Or like you said, those who wish to be androgynous.
Gender is something we have from ... well, damn near from conception. "What's it going to be?" we ask pregnant women. We plan out their colors for the shower, and if it changes, we're devastated, and not just because you have to buy girl clothes instead of boy clothes, or vice versa. You can't give dinosaurs to a girl, or flowers to a boy. Pink and blue, frills or no frills. Get a bow to put on the baby girl so they can tell it's a girl...
It's a complicated issue, gender is. I've taken classes to discuss it, and had classes where it was just part of the learning of a religion, and still, it's a complicated issue. I can't imagine living in one of the third genders, because so much of my identity is, indeed wrapped up in whether I'm a boy or a girl.
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Date: 2007-08-27 03:42 pm (UTC)And it's part of the "us vs them" thing that we still hold very dear to our societies. We are defined by what we are not, as well as what we are. We have to always put someone below us in order to put ourselves up higher.
I don't know that there's ever been a time when woman was on top (lol). Sure, there've been societies where woman was the one you took your name from, where even women have ruled. Native societies had women as the land owners, because as hunter, man had no clue what to do with the land. But does that put us in power? No. Man still had the raw strength to topple us if need be.
And then there's those that walk between the genders. The Natives often had such people, because many of their societies were more accepting of a woman with the soul of a man. But even then, it's a qualifier isn't it? It's a woman, but she has the soul of a man. That's not exactly an inbetween.
And what about the crossdressers who have no desire to be a woman, yet like to wear their trappings? Or like you said, those who wish to be androgynous.
Gender is something we have from ... well, damn near from conception. "What's it going to be?" we ask pregnant women. We plan out their colors for the shower, and if it changes, we're devastated, and not just because you have to buy girl clothes instead of boy clothes, or vice versa. You can't give dinosaurs to a girl, or flowers to a boy. Pink and blue, frills or no frills. Get a bow to put on the baby girl so they can tell it's a girl...
It's a complicated issue, gender is. I've taken classes to discuss it, and had classes where it was just part of the learning of a religion, and still, it's a complicated issue. I can't imagine living in one of the third genders, because so much of my identity is, indeed wrapped up in whether I'm a boy or a girl.