gender discussion

sex (biology) and gender (society) are both very interesting topics to me and i could write volumes about my experiences, observations, or just plain curiosities.

the process of gender typing occurs even before we're born as our parents and relatives prepare little rooms for us with gender appropriate color schemes, toys, furniture, clothes, decor. the second we're born, we are wrapped in pink or blue blankets and our heads are covered in a matching lil hat. we pick up on these gendered things at a very early age and experience a range of feelings from being at true harmony with or complete incompatibility with these laid out norms. we're even handled and played with differently as young ones. girls tend to be given less freedom in play (remarkably sedentary!) and are typically directly supervised (and helped/guided) whereas boys are encouraged to go off and play rough and tumble fostering their perceived "needed" independence. compare the good 'ol girl and boy scouts and their activities as an prime example - girls sit and do crafts, play with dolls, have bake sales, sell cookies, sing -- boys go camping, build fires, hike, canoe, and the like. by seeing and doing, all of this enters our psyches in one way or another and we learn to associate...we're all products of this sort of constantly morphing societal machine which takes our action/appearance and spits out a reaction to it, thereby molding our actions and appearances further. the fact is that the majority of people DO fit into these roles and norms we've created or they wouldn't still exist, but enough people do not, and those individuals need to be recognized and given an emotional/societal/political/religious freedom to express that. this scenario also creates a deep rooted value system of beliefs because we begin to build upon our gendered foundations from day 1. it seems the deeper we go or relate to one or the other, the more rigid the expectations we put on ourselves and others to conform.

it's comforting yet saddening to know that individuals' differences were often celebrated in many (eastern, native american, african, etc) cultures prior to colonization by the western *civilized* world. i think the influx of patriarchy, outside power and rule, and religion mostly set the bar for the yet accepted morality and normality we see today - man and woman - woman for man - man with woman - etc. we've rolled with this notion and dealt with the effects of it for far too long. we are definitely continuing to challenge all of this as openly as possible, but as we all know, change takes lots of time and energy!