I've been watching My Transsexual Summer on 4OD and while I felt it was an interesting show it raised a question in my mind: Does gender belong in the modern world? Obviously there is a use of sexual differentiation (trying hard not to make a maths joke here) in pair matching for parenting, but is there any real need for the traditional two genders?
The current system we have is what is known as the "gender binary" ie. two distinct genders. This is similar to the now outdated system of sexuality, gay or straight, which was replaced with gay, straight or bi, which is now being replaced to reflect the growing understanding that a large number of people don't feel they fit into any of these categories and a better model is in fact no model at all. Sexuality is now often considered a non fixed construct. Gender on the other hand is still seen as rather solid by many. While many people are completely fine with transgender people they might still have a certain degree of uneasiness towards less traditional gender roles. Someone who feels they do not fit with other gender roles might consider themself genderqueer. While I usually think of myself as male and I'm comfortable with that gender role, I also am comfortable with genderqueer as my gender identity. I should also note that gender identities get much more confusing the more you look into them, far beyond my own knowledge.
But nowadays any definition can feel limiting and self-fulfilling. It is now considered healthy by many to experiment with sexuality. Perhaps it is time to experiment with gender too.
2 comments:
Am just catching up on your blog and came across this post. Have to ask if you knew there are 7 different genders that are recognized officially - yes, I learnt this in uni, during the writing and sexuality lessons.
I think I did read that somewhere, though to be honest it could have been any number I read. It still shows a bit of pigeon-holing, but it's a lot more progressive than a lot of places.
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