I'm not a gender or LGBT activist, in fact I've been mostly avoiding the recent trans debates regarding sport etc. But one thing that it's reminded my of and I haven't yet seen a discussion about, is whether we place too much emphasis on defining the difference between being masculine and being feminine. I'm not talking about biology here, more superficial appearance and activities/work one chooses to do.
I've always found it odd how there's so many labels for heterosexuals (of either gender) that apparently are outside what's expected for heterosexuals to look like and do. Let's look at 2 for now which I hope illustrate's what I'm getting at; tomboy and metrosexual. If you look these up in any dictionary the explanation is pretty stupid in my opinion: basically a heterosexual that acts like the opposite gender or a homosexual. But what exactly does that even mean? Why should so many activities be considered masculine or feminine; if a woman wants to work in construction or be the next MMA champ why do we need to label her anything different to a woman who wants to be a model or pro chef? Similarly if a guy wants to be the next great ballet dancer or fashion designer, why should we care? Unless an activity cannot be done on the basis of biology, more power to you.
I understand that some guys just like "guy stuff" and some girls just like "girly stuff", no issues with it, but I can't help but think that if there wasn't so much stigma around this there would be more openness and common ground amongst friends, couples, family for enjoying activities they like together, without needing to do them in little sub-groups deemed acceptable. Anyway, let me know what you think.
Updates
1 y
Just thought I'd add, from my own experiences, my girlfriend and I both have "masculine" and "feminine" interests, and the result is that we can enjoy them together instead of looking forward to the next Girls Night Out or Buck's Night to do what we actually want. We've never been gay, bisexual, and definitely not trans either (imagine that) we just like what we want and don't really care what others think about it.
Are we too focused on differences between masculine and feminine?
Post Opinion
3 Opinion
Like
Share
Follow
What is your opinion?
Add Opinion
Superb Opinion
Anonymous
(30-35)
1 y
Because these things *inherently* hold a masculine or feminine aesthetic. you can’t just switch it off or switch it to the other.
Definitely, but don't you think it's a bit of a slippery slope, I mean what exactly makes an activity masculine or feminine? It can change over time too
Our impression of them, but like how we associate certain things with colour for example. E. g blue is sad, red is angry. The human experience makes these things what they are. They can change across time and between cultures, but just because it’s a social construct doesn’t mean that you engineer it — a mistake the frequently made by social engineers thinking they can control gender or race or anything else. It’s. A mentality of “if it’s in our minds then let’s just change our minds”. But it’s doesn’t work like that. Convince everyone to *naturally* see blue as the colour of anger, then you’ll probably be able to change their perception of other things as well. Until then...
