Class 9_22

Judith Lorber, in her article, “Night to His Day”, discussed the issue of gender and how it fits (and doesn’t fit) in today’s society. She goes on to differentiate between sex and gender, which I found very interesting. I had taken classes before in which we discussed this topic, but never to the extent that Lorber goes to. I especially agreed with one comment at the beginning of the article, “And everyone ‘does gender’ without thinking about it”. I find this statement especially true because we all “do gender” because of the way we were brought up. For instance, girls wear makeup and earrings, have long hair, and dress in tight clothing, which all in turn makes us “feminine”. As Lorber continues to say, when we see a baby in dark clothes and a hat, we automatically assume it’s a boy; but if that baby has earrings, our thoughts instantaneously switch to thinking it’s a girl.

I also found it interesting how in other cultures there are up to four genders: “Among some North American Indian cultures, the hierarchy was male men, male women, female men, and female women.” I found this very interesting how other cultures can recognize mixed gendered people, but our society cannot. We constantly look down on transvestites and transsexuals, when really we should acknowledge them as a different gender. I also completely agreed with Lorber’s idea that if women didn’t need to pretend to be men to get certain jobs, there would be no need to have traditional “women’s work” or “men’s work”. I completely agree that all jobs should be open to the most qualified applicants, men or women. I think we need to get rid of the stereotypes in the workplace.

I also enjoyed Myhre’s article, “One Bad Hair Day Too Many”. I liked the fact that she spoke for herself and not telling everyone what they need to do to become a feminist. For example, she cut off her hair and stopped shaving because of her own wishes (she didn’t want to deal with the hassle anymore). She never said that a “good feminist” cuts off her hair and stops shaving. I think that a lot of people have a misperception that everyone who is a feminist needs to become “masculine” or “butch”. I like that Myhre did it for herself. I also liked that she confronted the names masculine and butch. Her definition of when women act masculine is basically how men act all the time. Yet somehow, when we act this way, we are wrong and should be made fun of for it. When we are called butch, it is because we want to be able to hold our own ground and be able to fight back. As Myhre points out, these words are not inherently bad, and we shouldn’t feel shunned for the way we choose to act or dress.

Lastly we were asked to take a path of most resistance over the weekend. This weekend, all my friends were preparing to go out Saturday night as usual, but I decided to stay in because I have a week filled with exams and assignments. I was met with quizzical looks and I felt pressure to go out. In the end I stayed in and got a good night’s sleep, but I was definitely pushed to go out when I didn’t want to.