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Gender inbalance
Dear all,
Why are somethings in our societies still considered gendered in the modern era? I'm asking this cause of taking my last full load at my uni that has helped me to hone my hobby of sociology into an art form that helps me frame my own perseption of reality. These hangups from the past are totally biasing women and instills that women are inferior to men or that women are either to blame for most things or are helpless/defenseless in society. Moreover, many of the examples that I'll illustrate in the next paragraph are proven ilrelevant in the U.S and perhaps the entire Western Hemisphere for that matter. By the way, I'm a male and don't believe in race, gender or sexual orientation as these aren't consist or proven in fact based society but we just don't think about them.
Firstly, I can give you an example that we discuss in class about gender definitions and what normal society normally thinks about them. These aren't as prevalent now days still they hold some weight. For example, masculinity is held as something of strenghth, power, confidence, dominance, power, accomplishment, protector, etc in normal society..In contrast, women's feminity is usually refered to as weak, fraille, unconfident, unimportant, trevial, emotional, and other elements of stereotypes that still persist today. Comparing these two elements that are rather pathetic cause some may argue that masculinity is testastrone based even though women have testastrone isn't much of an argument and likewwise for men on estrogen count cause xy chromostones, etc from biology can tell us that much. Also, historically these roles aren't one in the same thing like the isle of lesbos or amazonian women or matrarchical societies aren't men driven rather women driven. Moreover, men had the advantage of not being pregnant with multiple children like men either abusing them or blming them for everything.
Secondly, language differences we see amongst men and women are stilll huge even if slowly changing. For instance, mens language is take it like a man, sissy, faggot, bitch, whore, throw like a girl, manly man, and other examples are trying to solitify that all men want to be like that. When men don't act like this stereotype they are usually refered to as being homosexual or efeminate in gender or they are outcast from the group as a whole. I think that gender and sexual orientation aren't two in the same things especially with the advent of modern scientific and medical technology that these are rather dated concepts. A small list of these are sex operations for transexuals, crossdressing, APA 1972 psychological study disproving abnormality of homosexuality and other things make such rubbish pointless to comprehend. The other element is womens talk like chit-chat, gossip, drama or drama queen, or girl talk meaning vanity like the realm of pointless mutterings of women amongst themselves talking about insignificant things about the household, children or other things that dont' matter.
Lastly, we talk about how women in society are deemed to be little more than children in the eyes of normal society. Doesn't the evidense point out that world-wide that women make less than men and that the world could be over populated. It is also funny how women who wear provacative clothing are blamed as the victim for rape or sexual molestation in public. It is also funny how religious figures in the past blamed women and forced them more or less to wear vails, burkas, nikabs, long dress (vVictorian Age), or demean them like the Scarlet Letter by Nathanal Hawthorn. It is also funny when you talk about the U.S historically that the black genetic red scare III was blamed on women for innerbreding when Thomas Jefferson fathered children by his own slaves. A last example of this foolishness is that domestic abuse is never called "male abuse" in society, thereby, blaming women. An conjunction above is that feminity isn't that bad and the world could do wonders in adopting more feminity and less apathy not less in my humble opinion.
Thanks on your views,
Peter
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Pratima Sharma on -
Let me add something here. Gender imbalance still persists in our society whether it is old or modern. No one can argue that our society is completely free from gender inequality where everybody is treated equally. However, we can say that gender imbalance is more prevalent in developing country than in the developed country. What I understand is that gender imbalance is not the result of your sexual orientation but is the result of the role set by the society based upon your sexual orientation. Unless and until those perception of the society change, we cannot think about gender balance. I am not saying gender imbalance is always applied to women but also applied to men as well. For example right to raise the children which are mostly believed to be the role of the mother not father in our society which means that fathers are deprived of raising their child. This is merely one example. There are other examples also. Since in a developing countries like ours, gender study is mostly deals with women because in our society it is the women who is mostly discriminated by the society because of being a girl or women and society set up several rule that are applied only to women making them physically, mentally and financially weaker than men. Though this is changing gradually but confined only to the city area. In rural area, gender imbalance is still one of the most important issues in the context of our country.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Q Wolfe on
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Pratima Sharma,
Thanks for replying on this crucial sociological and economic issue that the world is facing today. There are now seven billion people world-wide growing almost at an unsustainable rate that isnt' good for human economic development. Leave that as it may institutions play a huge role in gender discrimination like in the language of spanish La Case means feminin house or almost all things in the language of spanish just don't know about your language though.
Similar things though in the U.S right? The issue is that we think that Yoga is feminin here. Is that crazy or what man?? I've looked up the glorious or at least interesting history of yoga that it was mainly masculine in origin not feminin like we would have our society tell us to believe. Likewise, the colors pink, yellow, purple, etc are associated with femininity when this wasn't the case in the Roman Empire days of Julius Ceaser wearing purple or Roman Catholic priest dawning all manners of color. Can anybody say biased?
I honestly have been socially disconnected from the western hemisphere culture like it is alien to me. It appears like we harvest such information from one culture and inplement it to alienate people in our own country. It is similar to bound labor in India that it is legally on the books that the Indian Government banned it or regulated it, yet the practice persist. These sorts of injustices should be fought against without tolerance or abeding for other philosophical reasons. A last example is that women in developing countries like Saudi Arabi women are just now in the 21st century allowed to go to soccer fields? Wtf?
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Permalink Reply by Pratima Sharma on
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Yes, I still believe that it is the institution otherwise why still Spanish say "La casa" not "El casa". Why still female are indicated by pink color and male by blue? Thus,It is easy to talk but difficult to change. Still you know all that because you got the chance to go through the book or history I mean you are educated enough to decide what is right and what is wrong. Am I right? But look at those women or others who are not educated well enough to decide what is wrong and what is right, have no choice rather than follow what society tell them. Still there are some society where women are murdered because they give birth to the female child like in Afghanistan or husbands re-marry because the first wife is not capable of giving birth to son. It is not a rare case. On top of that sons are so important, in our society because they are ones who have to perform the ritual after death of the parents not the daughter otherwise the parent go to hell. You can find many more examples. Even in India, couple aborts when they know the child is female. Yes we are fighting against all these things but you cannot win until the society made up of such people exists or change. And another thing it will really take long time as it takes in Saudi Arabia but still inside the country I am sure most of these players are still living under fear like those female parliament members in Afghanistan. So not only time matters but also the behavioral changes matter if you really want to fight against gender.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Q Wolfe on
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I agree with most of what you have to say, but I have no clear solutions towards these issues. Part of the problem in particular in India like in Russia is the level of corruption in the civil government. This is without dispute amongst political scientist that corruption isn't good for economics or social cohesion of individuals in a society. Moreover, theocracies like Iran's Iotola Islamic Republic are inately repressive in nature and should be cast out into the past.
What I'm saying as a society the ideas inherent in religion or certain languages should die for the future development of society. This is true of any society whether in western Europe, North America, India or elsehwere around the world. How long can the world withstand seven billion people? Honestly the world is over populated and the only true way of preventing this from occuring is by empowering women. Is it going to get so bad that we must sterilize people? We've seen this happen in India in the past as you recall with transister radios in the sixties in return for sterilization by the govenment. However, ilrational religion tennants like the catholics with their anti-contraceptive or anti-choice ideas enslave women to subservititude att best. Maybe I'lll make a column on the fact that rich people and nations want poorer nations to produce more people solely to exploit them for cheap manual labor, but I digress here.
Yes, I'm educated enough to understand most of the differences in these things in society. I wish to enlighten people but some of the most ardent advesaries of change are the victors in the world. For example, the arabs like from Saudi Arabi, Buhran, Pakistan, etc that I've known as friends are firmly convinced that women are inferior and belong only at hom. They are too protect the family right? Yet, the rate of domestic or civil lack of rights shows that this isn't the case. Yet, the Middle East like Africa and even India are at a tipping poin that population cannot sustain in my studies of science shows me that unless more revolutionary technology happens that we cannot as a society keep it afloat with food, water, electrecity, etc.
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Permalink Reply by Pratima Sharma on
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Hello! Peter
Yes you are right. These are the most complex and at the same time most difficult issue to be dealt with. Every body knows how to deal with this issue (Theoretically) but when time comes to act on it (Practically)no body comes forward because nobody want to exclude from the society. After we all are social creature. This is my conclusion.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Q Wolfe on
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I have a question to you then about something that I'm mulling over in my mind. Is gender something that you are inately born with or something gthat society hasimposed upopn you via gender roles? For example,k your sex is something biological xx for female or xy chromostones for men right? Well, do you think that a person could be opposite of their biological makeup? This means like a xy male couold be feminin or opposite that a xy female could be masculine. Why or why not?
This issue listed above is being question and has been question probably since the dawn of the rational homo sapien. In India boys purposely sometimes cut thier penises off to immitate girl\s or dress like girls. I'm just wondering what is yoru take on this crucial issue in our society. In America, we demonize them as being mistaken, brainwashed, psychologically disfunctional or amoral according to the christian beliefs. Several Americans and Western European people actually take hrmones to grow breasts and to talk and shape themselves in surgurry to be like women. Do you agree with the American religious view or the modern scientific view?
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Permalink Reply by Pratima Sharma on
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Hello! Peter
How are you?
As I have already mentioned in the first reply, gender and sex are two completely different things where former deals with xx and xy while the later deals with the societal discrimination based on the sex with which you born. I totally agree on this. Yes gender is something that has imposed upon you by society based on your sex. Since, in society the imposition to female is higher than to male, mostly women issue comes into our mind when you deal with gender. This is not true though. Actually, it is implied to all no matter which sex you belong to i.e. male, female as well as third gender. This is my personal opinion though I am not a sociologist. Anyway I really like the subject matter and would like to thank you for providing me a platform for sharing my view in this site.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Q Wolfe on
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Your welcome but your views are your views though! Yea, I was just wondering in the nature of sex change and how far you support your ideas that is all! It is nice to see somebody overseas that isn't closed minded. So, you think homosexuality or same sex relations are also things that are imposed upon us as wwell? Honestly sexual orientaiton is addressed in the American Psychological Association's 1972 decision unanymous at that that being gay isn't psychologically damaging or poses any psychological issues what so ever.
I'll give you another set of recent lecture quotes about bell hooks on her feminity. She said that "tThe day that girls don't have to write in diaries is the day that women are to be liberated". Do you agree with that centiment or no? Why or why not on your views on this if you want to discuss further that is okay with me. Bell hooks is an african american woman from the deep south that we must read on in introduction to womens studies. We also are required to read on a chinese american girls prospective about her her father verbally abuses her mother. Actually my friend Batoul from Iran says that in her society in Iran that she wanted to be a boy. Is this like true in India as well?
There is another bad conntatation of being girlish than it is to being manly in society. For example, tom boys, dykes, or butch isn't demonized that much than faggot, pussy, bitch or etc of males. If a girl can crossdress like a boy here then why can't a man or boy act like a girl? This to me makes no sense. For example, recently a Colorado, American eight year old was denied from joining the Girls Scouts of Colorado cause of dressing like a girl. This boy or girl rather has been dressing and acting like a girl for years now. Her mother thinks of her as a girl and if you had a operation liek cutting off the pensi, etc then you would be one step of being there of being a girl. However, this is just one other example of crazyness. A last example is the Roman Catholics fighting against contraceptives here in the state cause of thier religious beliefs.
Personally elements of being a girl or boy have appealing points to them. I personally have crossdressed myself with my sisters stripper clothes. It feels nice to shave your legs but I don't do it anymore. However, I like girlish style of expression of emotional expression to me is beautiful, yet others think it is ugly. Why is it demonized not to show your feelings then? to me repressing your inner thoughts or opinions is crucial in emotional health and well being. Also, the socierty has drilled it into some girls heads that crossdressing isn't normal for guys to do. Bla even girls here think that the Bible, Qaeran, or etc are actually read/? Ha, I don't mean to be offensive but we worship the Fore Fathers like thier Gods without talking about Womens Rights, Civil Rights, etc. Its all crazy if you ask me.
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Permalink Reply by Pratima Sharma on
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You should understand that I am not saying homosexuality or same sex relations are also things that are imposed upon us by the society but what I am saying is that they are discriminated by the society for being a third gender and refrained for their right to choose to whom they want to spent their life. Yes it doesn't bother me if someone want to change her or his sex because its his/her right , but it matter to the society where I live . Therefore, neither I can support it nor oppose it. I think most of the people are in such dilemma too.
As you mentioned that a boy is refrained from joining the girl scout. Why? Because being boy he has no right to act like a girl or resist the rule made by the society . I am sure there are others too who could support the boy at that time but they didn't because they are afraid of being excluding form their own society. So these are not only complicated but also very sensitive issues to handle.
Finally what I would like to say is that Society fix certain rules and responsibility for boy and girl and if someone try to go against that then they have to face consequences like what those third gender people are facing in today's world ( the world is changing gradually though). I hope it is clear to you what I want to say. Thank!!!
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