gender roles

On The Issues Magazine's piece on society's strict definition of male and female got me thinking about my own struggle dealing with gender identity.  When I was living in SF on Castro Street in the early seventies, I first encountered the concept of androgyny. Not the idea of being both male and female; hermaphroditic, but a person with both masculine and feminine characteristics in terms of behaviour.

I embraced the idea of dressing more in masculine attire and shaved my head. I was often treated like a "little guy." I learned a lot about what we then called "sex roles" that are based upon social constructs. Sex roles became gender, a word I still don't like as well as sex roles. I talk about this in my memoir so stay tuned.

The death of macho would also include the death of ultra femme. Personally I'm willing to let them both die a natural death simply from boredom of traditional gender roles. Eric says that macho will always win in the bedroom. Carlin says she likes a man who can volley with her. Me? I appreciate a man who is willing to take turns when it comes to running the fuck. Lately, I prefer just me where I can play all the roles but then I'm a postmenopausal gal who's seen it all.

The era of male dominance is coming to an end.  Seriously.  For years, the world has been witnessing a quiet but monumental shift of power from men to women. Today, the Great Recession has turned what was an evolutionary shift into a revolutionary one. The consequence will be not only a mortal blow to the macho men's club called finance capitalism that got the world into the current economic catastrophe; it will be a collective crisis for millions and millions of working men around the globe.

A man sued the New Orleans Police Department, claiming he was harassed by an officer who threatened to arrest him for wearing a black pinstriped skirt to municipal court. Jeremy Don Kerr is asking for $1 in damages, a ruling that his rights were violated, and an order against barring access to public facilities because of gender stereotyping.

The department hasn't been served with the lawsuit and hasn't answered the claim in court.Kerr filed the civil rights lawsuit last month. He said he finds skirts more comfortable than pants, and wears them with button-down oxfords or T-shirts.

And he said women love it.

Michelle Goldberg's new book, "The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World," is finally out.  I'm off to Barnes & Noble to get my copy.  Growing up in a fundamentalist family was a real eye opener.  It's always about controlling female sexuality.

A quote from the author: "When I told people I'd written a book about religious fundamentalism in American politics, they immediately knew what I was talking about. When I say my new book is the about the global battle for reproductive rights, they tend to look at me blankly, because the story I'm telling here has hardly penetrated the mainstream media at all. That, of course, is why I think the book is important. Its core message is, as I write, "that the widespread, overwhelming abuse and devaluation of women, especially in poor countries, is the biggest human rights crisis in the world today," and that the planet's future depends on giving women control over their own bodies. It shows how a globalized network of religious fundamentalists are fighting women's rights worldwide, and how women are fighting back."

We hear this all the time from women.  They don't carry condoms because, and I quote, "what if someone saw the condom in my clutch?  They'll think I'm a slut."

Ministers have been accused of promoting promiscuity after launching a new campaign to encourage young women to carry condoms. The £5.2 million publicity drive tells women in their late teens and early 20s that men are attracted to girls who carry the contraceptives. It advises that "men like nothing better than a woman who knows what she wants".

The Department of Health labelled the campaign: "Condom confidence boosts sex appeal". The initiative, launched by Health Minister Dawn Primarolo, also gives young women advice on how to persuade men to use condoms. Recommended phrases include "If you make it clean, I'll make it dirty" and "Let's get you ready for the ride of your life". Women are told that they are no longer regarded as "easy" for carrying a condom.

Cosmopolitan magazine writer Sarah Hedley, brought in to speak for the campaign, is quoted as saying: "Taking a condom on a night out should be as normal as taking a phone, keys and purse.

This story makes me want to shave my head and throw out all my Manolos.  Betty always talks about how she was treated in the 70's when she shaved her head and stopped wearing skirts.  It looks like things haven't changed at all:

A 17-year-old Boone County girl has sued Lebanon Schools after her high school principal told her she could not wear a tuxedo to the school's April 25 prom but would have to wear a dress.

The Lebanon High School senior, whose name is not revealed in the lawsuit, is a lesbian and does not wear dresses because she sees them as expressing a sexual identity that she does not embrace, court filings said. Her attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has asked a federal court to issue an injunction that would require the school to let her wear the same formal attire to the prom as male students at the school.

In the filing, ACLU of Indiana legal director Ken Falk argued that the district's policy violates the stipulations in the U.S. Constitution that the government treat a female student the same as male students and not limit students' freedom to express beliefs.