Gender: definitions, concepts, and social dimensions

¶ … distinguishes between the factors of gender that cannot be controlled, i.e. The physical differences between men and women, and socially imposed assumptions about gender roles. The second respect is that the article suggests that many of the assumptions made about the physical differences between men and women are in fact also socially imposed. The most interesting example of this is public restrooms, where men are provided with urinals and women with elaborate self-grooming facilities. Numerous such assumptions can be seen within society.

A also find the case study relating Agnes and her adventures during her transformation from male to female. Only making the biological change was not enough to turn her into a woman; she had to learn to act and think like a woman. Here it is interesting that her fiance, whose opinions she used as reference point, displayed a surprisingly sexist attitude towards women: Agnes was discouraged to do things such as view herself in equal terms as men, or to have strong opinions of her own. I would have thought that these attitudes were extinguished once women received the right to vote.

The article raises interesting questions; particularly about social assumptions regarding gender roles. Regardless of the feminist movement and all its repercussions, there are still certain fundamental social assumptions relating to the differences between men and women. Women and men do not have the choice to exchange biological roles such as having children. The woman as homemaker is a manifestation of assumption that is closely related to the biological role. Because these roles are so related, society still finds it somewhat unusual to see a man working in the home and raising the children. Another interesting example is the one of the sales assistant, where the customer had difficulty determining whether the person was masculine or feminine. The customer assumes that this difficulty would be an embarrassment for the assistant, because of the further assumption that human beings find the emphasis of their gender important.

One of the central points in the article is that many of the apparently inevitable characteristics attributed to men and women are neither vital nor necessary in society. As human beings, it is a biological fact that there is far less biological difference between the genders than is assumed. The question is, how much else are we as human beings assuming about our lives, our abilities, and our potential? If something as simple as a urinal could be set up to reinforce assumptions regarding gender, what other false social paradigms are we enslaving ourselves to?

The main question is, once we are aware of these paradigms, what are the chances of liberating ourselves from it? Perhaps the feminists had a point when they let the hair on their legs and under their arms grow, when they cut their hair and burned their bras in order to eliminate as far as possible the differences between themselves and men.

My problem with this is however, what does this imply for our enjoyment of life? Agnes became a woman because she felt that she would be more at home in a female body and a female role. This was essential to her continued enjoyment of life, regardless of the "rights" as a man she would be giving up. She does not seem to mind this.