Gender & Culture

[blueerica]

I'm choosing a topic for a paper I'm writing on "Gender & Culture," or basically, cultural practices that treat one gender differently from another. For example, "Domestic Violence Against Women" and "Male Circumcision." I'm looking at either doing a paper on "Honor Killing" or "Sex-Selective Abortion," and I'm wondering if there's anything out there that might be a little more different or unusual that I'm not looking at.

Any other ideas? I could do great papers on either of those subjects, but I'm wondering if there's another topic out there that would give it a little more oomph, or at least make it a little less mainstream.

Side note: I thought of sex-selective abortion due to our discussion last week. It could make great source material.

(I can move this thread to another forum, if need be.)

[Prudence]

Maternity leave.

[Alex]

When I was taking human sexuality the topics I found most interesting were those cultures that had developed interesting sub-genders or additional genders (such as the Bugis in Indonesia (http://www.insideindonesia.org/edit66/bissu2.htm)) and how this reflects the almost entirely subjective definition of gender roles.

Another topic I find of interest is how the linguistic concept of gender intersects the sociological concept of gender.

[Gemini Cricket]

I don't know if you could use this or if it even applies, but I've been thinking often about something.
I noticed that a lot of the men I have met who have issues with gays are also the men who have problems with women in general. They seem to be disturbed not so much that a man is sleeping with another man, but that the gay man is thinking, acting and (sometimes) looking like a woman. Like being like a woman is a bad thing. Like if a woman is dressing in men's clothes it's okay because she's trying to look like a man, but if a man was to wear a dress it's disturbing to them.

It's like the beginning of that Madonna song "What it Feels Like for a Girl" the song starts off with a quote:

Girls can wear jeans
And cut their hair short
Wear shirts and boots
cause its ok to be a boy
But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading
cause you think that being a girl is degrading
But secretly you'd love to know what its like
Wouldn't you?


I don't know if these men I am thinking about actually were curious about themselves, but the issue of men thinking that being a woman is degrading is a valid one...

Like how some straight men are okay with lesbians because they (lesbians) may act more manly and are physically attracted to what straight men area attracted to... But gay men? Not so much.

[alphabassettgrrl]

I noticed that a lot of the men I have met who have issues with gays are also the men who have problems with women in general. They seem to be disturbed not so much that a man is sleeping with another man, but that the gay man is thinking, acting and (sometimes) looking like a woman. Like being like a woman is a bad thing.

In our masculine culture, the feminine *is* degraded, and degrading. Insults like "you throw like a girl", when all untrained children throw like "girls". Dads start very early to teach their sons to throw properly, to the point that it seems like the kid's a "natural". Images of strength are all male. Success? Male, money, power.

Female is seen as weak, whining, dysfunctional. If that were true, nobody would want to be a girl.

Makes me sad. I think being a girl is a wonderful thing. I'm sure the men in the group are just as happy to be guys. :) That's fine, too. I just dislike promoting one over the other.

[Gemini Cricket]

I think that is such a crock. Just look in nature, female animals are usually bigger and more powerful... like in ant and bee colonies. In fact, in the insect world, males are often food after they bang their wives.

;)

I like being a gay guy. I feel like I have the best of both sexes in me. Male tools and female intuition.

[Capt Jack]

but to at least some extent, do you see these stereotypical images and lopsided thought processes changing? perhaps not globally, but to some extent?

[innerSpaceman]

I like being a gay guy. I feel like I have the best of both sexes in me. Male tools and female intuition.
In a related way, I like being on a sort of intermediary step in my reincarnational cycle between incarnations as male and subsequent incarnations as female.

The preferences alphabassetgrrl alluded to that are prevelent in our language and thankfully getting slightly less prevelent in society are actually attributes of maleness which are, for the most part, negatives.

I am blessed to have very many feminine attributes (though - as I discussed with Gemini Cricket at the Cemetary last weekend - it was a bit confusing to me in my young adolescence).

Strength, Power, um, what else were those masculine qualities deemed positive? How about violence, greed, disloyalty, immaturity, stubborness, slovinliness, pride, lust, glutony and a few more deadly sins?


Feminine attributes are, despite the bias of our language perpetuated for centuries by patriarchal societies, much more desireable and beneficial to all society.


If my hunch is right, this is my last incarnation as a boy. I will miss the "tools" and some of the other perks ... but I'll be glad to be a girl going foward. A bunch of inconvenience is definitely worth the higher level of consciousness.



I dunno if that can be boiled down to a "topic," but whateva. :cheers:

[Morrigoon]

Yeah, but have your first period and you'll be begging to come back as a boy.

[Morrigoon]

Damn, I can't find it now, but earlier today I was reading an article about how men have a harder time gaining legitimacy in the workplace after returning from being a stay-at-home-parent than women do.

[Kevy Baby]

I like being a gay guy. I feel like I have the best of both sexes in me. Male tools and female intuition.Actually, we all have masculine and feminine aspects, it is just that Western society squishes the feminine from men and the masculine from females. When one realizes this and works to get both sides in balance, it is amazing what can be accomplished.

This is something that Susan and I both work on and we sometimes joke how we have swung past each other: there are many ways where she is more masculine and I am more feminine. No, this isn't just about sex; it is/can be played out in all parts of life.

[3894]

Any other ideas? I could do great papers on either of those subjects, but I'm wondering if there's another topic out there that would give it a little more oomph, or at least make it a little less mainstream.

How long does the paper need to be?

[CoasterMatt]

This is something that Susan and I both work on and we sometimes joke how we have swung past each other: there are many ways where she is more masculine and I am more feminine. No, this isn't just about sex; it is/can be played out in all parts of life.

Yeah, I do almost all the cooking and some of the cleaning around here...

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Regarding "throwing like a girl", remember that the pendulum is working it's way the other way in some respects. Men are supposedly unempathic, forget anniversaries, care only about sports, dress like slobs, unhygenic, have no sense of taste or class, etc etc, and if a woman has any of these "negative" aspects they're told they're "just like a man".

[blueerica]

How long does the paper need to be?

Just a few pages. Nothing too long...

Regarding "throwing like a girl", remember that the pendulum is working it's way the other way in some respects. Men are supposedly unempathic, forget anniversaries, care only about sports, dress like slobs, unhygenic, have no sense of taste or class, etc etc, and if a woman has any of these "negative" aspects they're told they're "just like a man".I've always considered myself very fortunate that a good portion of my friends don't require an adherence to one stereo type or another.

One of the topics I had considered was the male taboo of displaying emotion... how little boys are told not to cry. It always seemed strange to me, and yet "boys don't cry" is so ingrained into our culture. Boys are told to "toughen up." Why?

In my experience, some of the most brave people, men and women, have been those who were unafraid - and most importantly, unafraid of their emotions. Not necessarily meaning that the cried all the time, but they were in tune with themselves in such a way that it's not about can or cannot show emotion.

[scaeagles]

I always tell my son tough doesn't mean you don't get hurt or you don't cry, it means you're willing to keep going and try again.

[Alex]

I was never discouraged from crying. There just came a point that I didn't any more.

I'm not withholding anything by not having cried* in almost exactly 20 years (I do remember the last time I did), I have just never had any urge to do so and wouldn't stop myself if I did. When my great-grandmother died it was emotionally very difficult for me but I never had any urge to cry that had to be withheld. And same for many other personally sad moments as well as tearjerker movies.

What I hate is that is that for many people you apparently aren't actually sad unless you are crying.

[blueerica]

I amended my earlier post, because I don't mean that crying and outward displays are the only way to have emotion - that just wouldn't be true. For me, I guess it's the countless times I heard the boys in the neighborhood I grew up in, and the little boys I see from time to time out and about, being told not to cry after being hurt, or hearing other children slur to a boy that's crying "You're such a giirrrlll!"

[scaeagles]

Don't gender stereotypes typically have some sort of basis in fact? Not all certainly, but a lot of them?

For example, isn't it true that men are typically physically stronger than women? I could walk down the street, of course, and find a given woman stronger than a given man, but for the most part, men are stronger.

Aren't women typically more able to multitask than men? Same disclaimer as above.

[Alex]

Well, I'll admit to thinking differently about crying from physical pain versus emotional pain.

Not that physical pain can't lead to crying, just that not all pain should result in it. But I don't think about that in a gendered way. Then again, I enjoy a little pain now and then.

[Kevy Baby]

I wished I (emotionally) cried more often as it usually provides such an inevitable comfort/release when I am done that allows me to better work through the issue at hand.

I don't cry over pain - it is just not what my body needs.

[scaeagles]

Not a crier. When I'm hurt, I get mad. When I'm sad, I withdraw.

[Gemini Cricket]

I always tell my son tough doesn't mean you don't get hurt or you don't cry, it means you're willing to keep going and try again.
Oh brother! Thank you, Dr. Phil!
:rolleyes:




:D I'm joking.

[scaeagles]

Actually, I punch him where he got hurt and call him a wuss and tell him he gets no food until he can do better.

But I couldn't post that.

[Gemini Cricket]

Actually, I punch him where he got hurt and call him a wuss and tell him he gets no food until he can do better.

That's better.



:D

[alphabassettgrrl]

I've always considered myself very fortunate that a good portion of my friends don't require an adherence to one stereo type or another.

One of the topics I had considered was the male taboo of displaying emotion... how little boys are told not to cry. It always seemed strange to me, and yet "boys don't cry" is so ingrained into our culture. Boys are told to "toughen up." Why?


I always tell my son tough doesn't mean you don't get hurt or you don't cry, it means you're willing to keep going and try again.

This gives me hope for the future.

[blueerica]

Yikes, I thought I had it all set up for my next research paper. Research done, outline written.... and now I'm considering a topic change. Again, back to gender identity. I was going to do a paper on the repercussions of legalized prostitution. Now we're talking about gender, genetically speaking, chromosomal issues...

Maybe I can combine the topics. Transgendered prostitution?

Am I just a glutton for punishment

[Prudence]

Transgendered prostitution could be interesting - especially looking at the clients. Are straight johns hiding their latent homosexuality? Are gay johns trying to combine their personal preference with a societal norm? Are transgendered prostitutes just cheaper and the johns are desperate and broke?

[Kevy Baby]

Could give you an excuse to interview Eddie Murphy!

[Ghoulish Delight]

How about a paper on "Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs"?

[Kevy Baby]

There is a reply I want to post (to GD's post), but it is going too far.