Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The G word
Gender!!!!! Ahhhh!!! Why is it that gender must always serve as a constant reminder to me that society sees my place in a kitchen and a man's place at desk running a major corporation? Gender tells me that my favorite color is pink, I must wear dresses and play with dolls! Why is it that science still can't understand the difference between gender and sex? Yes I am a female and biologically speaking I have a different make-up than that of a man but my gender is socially constructed.... Science and Society are two totally different things. When society decides to name a hurricane Rita instead of Robert will that hurricane be more sensitive to those that it damages in the process? Or will the hurricane take on a pinkish tint? Of course not! One of the most important things that I got from this article is the continued notion in my studies that Gender is apart of the interlocking forms of oppression known as Race, Class and Gender on page 406 it states "that gender is also always a racial category and race a gender category... That is, sexist public policies are different for people of the same gender but different race, and racist policies are different for women and men of the same race". It becomes even more important for Black feminists to continue to challenge and charge these beliefs of gender as scientifically constructed because it affects not only on a sexist level but on a racist level as well!
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4 comments:
Yes. Why might society be invested in the conflation of gender and sex? You say that science and society are two different things. didn't these articles challenge that? Do you mean that ideally science would not reflect social biases? Is this achievable? Also it's clear that we are talking about western markers of society and gender i.e. pink and men running corporations. If we had a more global focus, how would that change our scientific findings? If we had to refer to societies other than our own, do you think we would describe cellular processes in the same fashion?
"The G word" I loved the way you expressed yourself on how gender and sex plays a very important role in society. Yes!!! I also get very upset about how us women are potrayed in society films, tv shows, and lets not get to music videos. Men can be nice but the world pumps them up to much and finds no need for neither men or women to have a balance.
i love how you addressed how the fact that policies are different for men and women and also men and women of different races. in addition to race, class, and gender playing a role in racist policies i think age can also be added to that list. and i also like the title of your blog.
I totally agree with your blog. It's unfortunate that society dictates how you must operate based on social constructions. Your comment about the intersection of social constructions really made me think of when we completed our Manifesto project. One spectator asked me how it feels to be a woman without recognizing the effect that my race influences my gender. I kept stressing the fact that me being a black woman changes the way I experience being just a woman. A white woman has a totally different matriculation in life than I ever would.
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