prelim ideas

The question of what is the purpose of gender? is I think personally that this is a difficult question to answer. I agree with Lesleigh that this is a loaded question. To me there is not just one answer. There are many different answers which are mainly based on different opinions from people. When I think of gender I automatically think of males and females, I think of the different sexes that they are really. I know now because of the class discussions that gender and sex is different, and many times they are confused and put together in the same category. I can’t remember who it was that was that normally on forms you are asked what gender you are male and female and they should be asking what sex are they. I just always put gender and sex together as one. I have found that even though you are biologically a male you can have traits that are more feminine that can make you less masculine. “We” as people (and I say that as general as possible) like to categorize people into boxes. Either “A” or “not A” as Sam had suggested in class. These boxes can lead to stereotypes and can lead to judgments that aren’t necessarily right. I think that people always do this categorizing everyday and even unconsciously as we had discussed this in class.

I also agree with Lesliegh that the basic reason for genders are that we know who we can make babies with. Although nowadays I know same sex couples have babies but that’s another story, I will just focus on the “normal” parents which are typically male and female. Anyways, I find it interesting that when we think of typical parents you automatically assume that there is a mother and father present. This is because when I was growing up I didn’t have a father and there were so many times that I was ‘othered’ because my mom was single. My mom was also the one in the family who made the money, which back years ago that was unheard of because the men were the ones who provided for the family.

In the Documentary, Tough Guise it was the men who were more dominate in doing the violent crimes than women. Also in the documentary it talks about a “real man” in which he would be strong, tough, independent, respected and physical. When I think of violence I first think of men doing the crimes. I also think that media plays a big role in gender roles and violence. I remember a few weeks ago when the female astronaut drove all the way to Florida to attack another woman that since it was a woman it was all over the news and everyone was talking about it. Also I remember when Lorena Bobbitt had attacked her husband that afterward it was all over the media and the country because it was a woman who had done the violence.

I also have realized that through my service learning experience it is normal the men who are getting reported for child abuse/neglect. I have asked and there have been times where the woman is the one who does the violent acts but more times it is the men. I was speaking with my trainer and we were talking about instances of where women where the aggressor and how it was such a shock because she wasn’t used to seeing the women attacking others. I know that women can be the violent one however I normally think of a caretaker or nurturer when women are involved.