Gender Roles and Restrictions

In what ways are gender roles still restricted today?  In what ways have they improved since this drawing was made?  Your response need not be restricted to women.

                In many ways gender roles are as prevalent as they were hundreds of years ago.  I believe we have learned the language of “gendereze” speaking the appropriate language, but not always doing the right thing.  Several years ago, I purchased a book, “A Woman’s Guide to the Language of Success”, Phyllis Mindell, Ed.D.  It never occurred to me that I picked up the book because I felt there was something lacking in my skills professionally.  I knew that in the corporate world there was a language of men, and I wanted to fit in, be respected and understood.  I did not want to appear as a threat, but a colleague.  Upon opening the book to the Table of Contents the first lesson was “The Language of Weakness”.    This explained some of the words women use such as “it feels like… or it is my feeling that ….”  The word “feel” was taught to be psychobabble - women’s words.  Other chapters included, “Orders that no one follows, saying ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry’, writing like a wimp and you’re treated like a wimp, words that make you invisible”.   All of this not because one is not capable of doing a job and doing it well, but simply because one is a female, and her language may be a little different than her counterpart gathers her no respect.  She has to change not him.

                The Today Show, December 14, 1992, Bryant Gumbel interviewed two people who participated in the Clinton economic summit:  Paul Allaire, at the time the CEO of Xerox and Mary Kelley who was a board member of the National Federation of Independent Businesses.  Eight times Mr. Gumbel asked questions or made a statement, each time his question was directed to Mr. Allaire.  Ms. Kelley was never more than introduced.  Ms. Allaire was totally overlooked, how do you scream about gender representation in the middle of someone else’s economic program?  Do I continue to pull out the power tools, the power suit, the power language, the name dropping and etc. to be accepted not as a female or male, but as a person who can do the job and do the job well?  No one would ever know if you are not given an opportunity to speak so you can speak again. 

                The social devaluation of women seeped into the very soul of this country’s being so much so that the crime of rape left women feeling violated by the legal system and process as well as by the perpetrator.  The women were left defending their character as to whether she is sexually permissive,  dresses provocatively, what places she frequents, in a sense she is put on trial as a “fallen woman” before the offender is tried.   There are times I have found it disheartening for a woman who has heard of another’s rape ask, “Why was she there at that time of night, why was she wearing that?”  Women are quick to join the bandwagon in questioning women and their motives rather than being supportive.  Perhaps because this type of questioning is socially sanctioned and women want to secure their place as “virtuous women” they distance themselves from association and thereby being “tainted”. Gender chaos knows no boundaries and has no loyalties.  For instance I speculate if it is true that “all men are dogs or “dead beat dads”.  

Has any of this changed, yes it has a bit unless you are Hispanic or Black. Black women were and have always been alleged to be unchaste with a lack of concern for sexual purity, and expected to be sexually immoral.  Racism definitely plays a huge role in this type of situation.  If your name is Emmitt Teal no one knows who you are, but if your name is O. J. Simpson justice can be swift no matter the outcome.

                Ms. Sojourner Truth was given an opportunity in Akron, Ohio in 182 after a white man spoke against equal rights for women.  He stated that women were too weak to perform her share of manual labor; she was physically inferior to men.  Ms. Truth responded in this way:

“Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter.  I think that ‘twixt de niggers of the south and the women at the North all a talking ‘bout rights, de white men will be in a fix pretty soon.  But what’s all this talk about?  That man over there say that women needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have de best places… and ain’t I a woman?  Look at me!  Look at my arm!  I have plowed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me –and ain’t I a woman?  I could work as much as any man (when I could get it), and bear the lash as well –and ain’t I a woman?  I have borne five children and I seen ‘em most all sold off into slavery, and when I cried out with a mother’s grief, none but Jesus hear—and ain’t I a woman?”         

Ms. Truth became more than an advocate; she had lived as an equal to any man and surely as a slave her truth could not be disputed as to her physical work.  Perhaps we as women are not slaves, but unless we began to address issues of unsettling devaluation whether it be by our own race of men or others we will continue to be treated as a man’s silhouette.  I need more!        

Jane Eyre

Assignment 4

            I should have loved to have been more than a fly on the wall during this time of original thinking and freshness.  This seemed a moment in time when one’s individuality was tied with independent thinking, novel ideals and passion that could not be fed with rhetoric.  The fact that the French Revolution, a large scale  revolution, inspired  Judith Sargent Murray, an American, to publish a women’s-rights essay in 1790 on The Equality of the Sexes, and Olympe de Gouges in the writing of Declaration of Rights of Women and Citizen (1791) and  others was an important leap for humanity.  At this time, the nineteenth century, women had become part of other movements such as socialism, abolitionism, and  humanitarianism, women had begun to understand their lot was no better than a slaves, or any other oppressed group.   

            The first women’s college was opened in 1837 Mt. Holyoke.  Oberlin College became coeducational in the 1830’s and by 1880 there were 40,000 women enrolled in higher learning institutions.   In England, Queens College was opened and in 1869 Girton was opened with a plan of study modeled after Cambridge.  Many of these women became leadership for the women’s movement.  Some would say “education begets education”.  This was more than helpful for me in that it made my scope broader, and allowed me to see Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre in the company of others in their fight for human dignity.

            Another situation in 19^th Century time period was homosocialism.  Proper women were excluded from “male” pleasures such as saloons, sporting events, public events, dining, playing cards, large dinners, political discussions and etc.  An English writer in 1857 pointed out that it was …”impossible for the sexes to break ground on any but the most commonplace topics of conversation since they had in common almost no pursuits, interests, tasks or sentiments.  Only two of the same sex could communicate meaningfully.”  This was the climate in which Jane Eyre; Charlotte Bronte came up against, ignorance only repealed by idiocy.

            It was improbable that a woman could simply walk into, hope in, and live out her destiny when hers and every other woman’s destiny was provided for her before birth.  Women were slowly bleeding to death, and knew it, but due to the shock of being treated as insignificant she sometimes was not quite able to figure out the depth, or even the boundaries of her wounds.    This is why I believe that Bertha was so significant in Jane Eyre; I believe Bertha was a symbol of Jane’s angst, a symbol of Jane’s entrapment.  Perhaps she was also a part of Jane’s battlefield of her mind, her fury about the way she was treated; she was Jane’s fire, even her true anger. 

Page 342 says, “With more rope, which was at hand, he bound her to a chair.  The operation was performed amid the fiercest yells and the most convulsive plunges.  Mr. Rochester then turned to the spectators: he looked at them with a smile both acrid and desolate.  ‘That is my wife’.”  

 Everybody around is affected by status, class, roles, fears, anger, no one has been treated significantly in the culture.  They all seemed to be entrapped, bound by the culture in which they live.  Whether accepting of their lot or not the culture was dense, acrid and held its grip.  This is where I respect Jane Eyre the most, she is the one who demands decent and right treatment not only for herself, but also for Adele.  She moves deftly at times, not so much so at other times, but she is constantly perhaps even cautiously conscious moving forward.  She allows herself to taste victory and to understand what it means to over-run the hurdles of hatred and fear to become the author of a new script which she owns and defines for herself.    

     

           

          

Inter-Sex and Treatment

Inter-sexual and Treatment


The question is quiet a difficult one to answer. Being assessed as inter-sexual does not automatically demand one gets medical “treatment”. Some inter-sexuals are assessed at birth; others may not be assessed until adulthood or even death. There are innumerable disorders that sometimes involve intersex anatomy:

5-Alpha Reductase Deficiency

Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS)

Clitoromegaly

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)

Hypospadias

Ovo-testes

Turner Syndrome

These and variations of these can cause for some type of medical/psychological treatment or not.

I was born a true hermaphrodite with ovo-testis, the ovary and the testis grew separately, but bilaterally (The Sciences, pg. 22). In my early 30s I had surgery at UCLA Medical Center. At which time the testis was removed, on the other hand, they did not do a clitoroplasty as planned; they thought clitoromegaly would be reduced by supplemental hormone therapy. However, I had an adverse reaction to the drug Hydrocortisone and other drugs which prohibited my using them.

In my case, I needed the surgery, but I found that I could survive very well without the medications, others can not because their particular anomaly are life threatening and interferes with normal body functions. For instance, if a child is born without a urinary opening – fix it, or if they have active gonadal cancer, or hypospadias - fix it, or frequent bladder infections - fix it! I object to surgeries that are done simply to normalize the genitals, but not surgeries that can truly help to normalize a child’s life.

Why is it so important to have a gender assigned to a child? Socialization cries out loudest for this. Intersex is not a discrete biological category, but then neither is male or female. I was told by my faith community whatever role I chose was just fine, just stay with it. But, because I look female I doubt they would have accepted me as male. At this point, I am very reluctant to participate in spiritual or any other activities that demand I be what I am not. Not because they are concerned for me and who I am, but because they are concerned for themselves and what they believe.

There was no opportunity for me to choose gender as a child. The doctors handed my mother a baby girl. Later, my surgery was done the testis was removed because it could have turned cancerous later. My testosterone hormone levels were extremely high (the level of a 17-year-old male after surgery) and the levels are still very high.

I did not choose this anomaly it chose me, and for years I was angry about it. I was angry that I did not have what others took for granted, gender specificity. For years I cried out for a place to fit. I did not want to submit myself to a lifetime of medical exploitation. I could not find a psychologist who could explain what was going on with on the inside. By the time I figured it on my own, they had all told me I was going to hell and I believed them! Human beings are much more complex than male/female. We should grow up in knowledge rather than suppress others whom we may not understand. I do not want to be forced to choose a gender. I do however; understand that this is the way the world works. We are a binary world and in order to live in it we must chose, government says we must chose, our school systems say we must chose, our families look for a girl or a boy on the first call home after a birth.

I am a hermaphrodite/intersexual which would they call me “fem-male”? Perhaps that is not such a bad choice at all.

Traditional Judeo-Christian Values

Q: One might argue that traditional Judeo-christian values have significant and negatively impacted how the majority of people feel about intersex people.  Do you agree or disagree whith this assertion?

First, I believe clarification is in order. What exactly is an intersex person? The Oxford Dictionary states, "It is the physical condition of being partly male and partly female." The Intersex Society of North America says that, "Intersex is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't seem to fit the typical definition of female or male."


It would be difficult to close our eyes to some of the concerns the Church has regarding intersexed people. A world free of shame and secrecy would be ideal, but fear seems to cloud the air-way and we are locked in with no air traffic control. Scary! Where does the Church go from here? Is the Church willing to listen? Some may be, but at what cost to them? Are they willing to lose parishioners, have the Church split, and reargue theology? Does the Church change its values and traditions to include those it formerly rejected?

Because this kind of rejection is sanctioned (the Church says by God) then it is okay to treat human beings as if they have no right to God or to the passion of Christ. However, Ephesians 3:18 tells us "May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love." It is funny how some people take what God gave to everyone and exclude those who are different. We seem to enjoy limiting God. When is it time to be rooted and grounded in love? I love God and I am intersexual, should I let go of God or should I let my sex go? I really don't believe I have a choice on either, if I were heterosexual would I have to chose between God and my sex? God's grace is sufficient.

I grew up attending a southern Black church which was conservative. However, my introduction to a gay person came while attending there. That same person was often found at my grandmother's house (he and his lover) having dinner and conversation with my grandmother. There was a place of acceptance there. The Black church has a very inflexible dress code. Be a lesbian, but wear a dress, don't come in the church a flaming queen, be a man. These things were both implicitly and explicitly set forth and passed on from one generation to the next. Could one come to church as a lesbian, gay, transsexual, I doubt it. But if you are intersexual and could "pass" you may have been accepted.

One must also know that because a church might accept intersexuals does not mean they may be accepting of transsexuals, gays or lesbians.

As a response to rejection rebellion, anger, guilt, bitterness, negative self-image, drugs, ETOH, fear and a myriad of other negative results spring forth as common responses to rejection. In this respect I would say the Church has had a negative impact on many issues, racism, sexism, homosexism and etc. However, I also believe that the spiritual aspect of Judeo/Christian religion helps us to see ourselves as God does rather than as people see us. That said, it takes years to move beyond the need to be accepted by our peers and others, for that one needs no special gender to be considered a member of the club.


In the end, I do agree that traditional Judeo-Christian values have significantly and negatively impacted how the majority of people view intersex people.  I also agree that it has had negative impact on racism, sexism, classism and other "isms".  Does Judeo/Christianity have any answers?  I believe it does if we really begin to follow the tenets of any faith we bascially find love at its crux.  Then, of course, we would have to agree on what love is!   
      

Multiple Gender Video

Submission Field : The "Multiple Gender" Video First, I believe it is difficult to have any one group of people dictate what should be done with another. The look of the group was a good cross-cultural representation of their population. Having said that, I also consider that sociopolitical debates stir mind sets of the dominant group to anger, to performances, then to rhetoric. In this case, both the religious and the female surgical advocate resist freedom for intersexed people, leave it to them the intersexual is just wrong, and they deserve no social space. As the group observes the intersexual (which should be more defined in the movie, its cross use was confusing) in their observance, how has the dominant group found behaviors that constitute not allowing intersexuals to have children? In fact, most (not all) gay people or intersexual people were born to heterosexual people. If this thing were a simple case of all intersexuals present a moral dilemma and they should not be allowed to have children, we should straight way line all heterosexual parents up and demand their "card carrying" rights be done away with to have children. After all its the heterosexual people who are having these children who are being born different, right. Maybe we (society) should just band heterosexual people all together and this sociopolitical BS would disappear. No! Oh damn, my bad! That is just how senseless I feel the discussion about intersexuals having children is. So, now the question is "who rules"? Is inequality ever appropriate? Did we discover a kind America when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and thousands of Japanese Americans were forced into concentration camps? Was it a kinder America who led with vicious dogs, billy clubs, Jim Crow, lynchings during the civil rights era? No. What did happen was America was put on "front street" for its evil practice of racism. When did America change form an apartheid state of mind, when they were forced to! The same evil kept woemn from voting, from receiving equal pay for equal work, from protection from physical violence AT HOME, from sexual abuse and lots of other things. Rhetoric has its value, but not when its presence is used to make what is intolerable tolerable. To decide the fate of people who were simply born and decide whether they have the right to live freely as human beings is cruel and inhumane treatment. Perhaps we should take a small trip back in time, to steal a people from their homeland, bring them to a new country under force, to breed them by rape and other means, then to make the woman who was raped put her child into the fields for the same man who raped her is beyond comprehension. That is the mentality of the dominant group who tells others what rights they have as human beings. Through social sanctified ignorance we have allowed the powers that be dictate what is acceptable for someone who is born intersexual. No person on earth can make another benevolent about freedom, freedom is no persons to give it is owned by self and whoever that person's God is.







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Homework Assignment II - Devor's Article

Devors – Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender.



I had very little understanding of my particular naming as female. I began to self-identify, as other children had, early on as female. Though there was no conscience effort displayed as to my being female, I understood that my clothes were different, my hair was different; and family, friends, and school ascribed and constructed female behavioral expectations for me as they did other children. However, a profound difference was noted when my family moved from Birmingham, Al. to Los Angeles, CA. I was teased quite a bit because of my clothing and my mannerisms, so I don’t know if my noticing things female was because of a cultural differences or a true gender dysphoria.

One thing I sharply remember is my grandmothers’ warning me to keep my skirt down, which I had no idea what this meant or the consequences of pulling it up. I was early on educated that “little boys” could do anything they wanted to do, but “little girls” would be labeled and would not be able to find a husband if they lifted their skirts before marriage. This simply intrigued me, made me curious and ultimately made me feel that “boys” were allowed to have much more fun than girls were. Perhaps this is considered my introduction into gender repression.

It is difficult to remember when I began to have trouble self-identifying as female. Though being born a hermaphrodite (intersexual) I had no problem being what my parents said I was (a girl) until other desires were awakened in me. Things such as, playing house and being the father, playing doctor/patient being the doctor or even pastor/congregation and being the pastor were not things I attribute to being masculine today, however, in the 50’s and 60’s these were masculine identities, father, doctor, pastor, also these identities were associated with white men. I felt out of place. Of course my family’s perception of female coined my feminine behaviors; however, I do not know if being called a “girl” was something I was rather than something I was to do. Was being a girl about the business of washing dishes, making beds, preparing to be married and have children, I didn’t know. I did know that I had no dreams of having a husband, but I did dream of having children and a wife.

On becoming a teenager the constructed rules of gender were not working for me. I found myself cautious when showering in school because I was different “down there”. The things girls talked about for instance, I could not share i.e. period talk, bloating, cramping, bleeding I couldn’t share because I had and have never had a period. I could listen and be sympathetic, but that was it. I didn’t care what their boyfriends were like; I wanted to be a boyfriend. My biggest fear was of being reproached if someone new I liked girls, really liked girls. My friends were girls who I wanted to be intimate with, but I could never share that with anyone. There was no freedom in having ambiguous genitals, there was no where to manipulate relationships, no one on a counseling level in school that I could speak with about the loneliness I felt. The genders were very rigidly defined “female and male” and impervious to change, I was bound because the social construct was bound around me. I learned to hide, I learned shame, I learned I was a misfit, and worst of all, I learned being born different was my fault!