gender dichotomy
TRANSCRIPT
Tierney Cargo-Collard
This notion has been
perpetuated &
naturalized when
people see young
children acting
according to their
‘correct’ gender
norms.
Thorne (1993)/West & Zimmerman (1987)
Though
in
our
culture,
you’d
never
know
it..
Lorber (1993)
Kids learn everyday what is ‘acceptable’. How they act,
how they look, what they say, what they like, what they
do and who they love is all told to them by the culture
they live in, the family that’s supposed to support
them, and the peers they learn from…
That women are strong, smart, aggressive leaders?
That men are caring, supportive, understanding partners?
Or…Thorne (1993)
Mothers
PinkSoft
Sweet
Weak
In need of saving
Small
Delicate
Submissive
Wives
Men’s
Emotional
Irrational
Inferior
Self worth based off appearance
Tringali (2004)/Wade (2011)/Baker-Sperry (2003)/West & Simmerman (1987)
Though this is generally accepted in our
culture, it stops children’s individual
development. It influences them and leads
them to act in ways that bring them
‘personhood’…essentially, children have to be
gendered to be seen as an adult, or a ‘big girl’
or ‘big boy’. Thorne (1993)/West & Zimmerman (1987)
Aggressive
Big
Strong
Leaders
Ambitious
Smart
Brave
Violent
Rulers
Active
Persevering
Saviors
And fathers..
Hey…wait a minute…
Something’s
not
right
here…
We must be fundamentally different.
There must be two kinds of human.
I guess that’s just how things are, I guess it
really is genetic and natural. The stores
wouldn’t lie to us, right? That can’t be legal.
What will they think? How will they act? How
will they discover who they truly are unless we
tell them? How can they freely and happily live
their lives without culture telling them how
they are supposed to look/act/speak/think?!
What will become of our culture without
gender forcefully guiding our children to the
paths their genitalia have predestined for
them?!
Charles (2011)
Why is that so scary?
What’s wrong with that?
We are human.
We are not two different creatures.
Our culture has been lying to us.
Overthrow gender?
Destroy the system?
Start a revolution?
Create a new society?
Or…
Thorne (1993)/West & Zimmerman (1987)
Let your kids decide. Let them create the culture
they will be living in. Let them be them.
Ren – Nu’est Zee Zee
Looking pretty isn’t seen as something
shameful or demasculating or ‘less than’
being handsome. Some cultures use words
like ‘handsome’ or ‘pretty’ without even
taking the gender of the individual into
consideration.
*Disclaimer, these cultures aren’t perfect either..Pascoe (2005)
Willow Smith Jeffree Star Ashley Purdy
Don’t
Criticize!
Toy companies that exploit our children, and mean people
that have thrived under the strict gender norms we
enforce on our peers.. (Oh well)
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*Sleeping with Sirens –
With Ears to See & Eyes to Hear
*Nu’Est –Face
*Sleeping with Sirens –
James Dean & Audrey Hepburn