Prior to enrolling in this class, if I were asked to describe one reason I consider myself a Feminist I would say that I hate gender roles. Gender stereotypes are very intimately tied with this, but specifically, it is gender roles that upset me. In fact, as of late I've noticed that as a segway into a question or comment my husband might have about my opinions, he'll poke my arm and say, "So, you're all about not having gender roles...so what do you think about this..."
So, of course, right away, I take to this idea I'm reading that Radical Libertarian Feminists have as the solution to the gender role problem: androgyny. That's right, I identify with the radicals. They reason that if it is harmful for men and women to feel pressured to only, or primarily, express their gender-specific characteristics, than we should "permit" and encourage them to exhibit a full range of characteristics. I think in a large sense we do expect and desire androgyny, as we encourage both our little girls and boys to be cooperative ("play nice") and independent ("why don't you do it yourself?") We desire everyone to be kind and respectful, and brave and assertive, don't we? I genuinely think most of us do, but the truth is there are messages coming from every direction that enforce specific and limiting gender roles and stereotypes all the same. Many of these messages are subtle, others are deliberately overt. Often times, they are welcomed.
During the lecture I attended on God and gender, Dr. Shaw mentioned that theology often reinforces gender roles and stereotypes, despite the discrimination and difficulties members face in trying to conform. She even mentioned a bizarre trend to make Christianity appeal more to men, since there are fewer men that are active in the faith. She called this the "Macho Jesus" trend. I thought it was pretty hilarious, so I had to look this up to see what I could find. Apparently, the paintings of artist Stephen Sawyer are a large part of the Macho Jesus campaign. I guess they depict what Sawyer feels Jesus might look like in today's world.
 |
| Apparently, Jesus would be a boxer??!! |
As I see it, Jesus is actually the supreme role model for an androgynous character. He was strong, commanding, courageous, blunt, and unyielding (generally traits associated with the Masculine), while he was also full of love, compassion, meekness, forgiveness, and had a deep desire to heal and nurture (generally traits associated with the Feminine). This is the kind of character each Christian, male and female, should be developing, not a culturally painted portrait that conforms to a small picture of masculinity or femininity.
However, as much as I feel swayed by androgyny, I still believe that there are at least far-reaching biological, if not social differences between women and men. Liberal Cultural Feminists oppose androgyny for this reason, and furthermore believe that the problem lies in the fact that feminine traits are simply valued less in our society, and this needs to change. I believe that both of these ideas are true. I think that all good characteristics should receive equal value by society. Even if one sex may tend to exhibit a particular trait in more abundance than the other, this should not limit the set of characteristics a person decides to value as part of her or his own individual identity. Furthermore, society should not criticize an individual's choice, or right to choose.
Do you feel limited by the gender roles and stereotypes you've been exposed to, and what has been your response to those feelings?
I really hate describing certain traits as "masculine" and "feminine." As I understand it, there is a little bit of hard-wiring that goes into these labels (men are more dominant, women more passive), but most of it is cultural programming that doesn't necessarily line up with how people really are (Personally, I'm a bit more passive than most guys).
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that culture plays a huge role in how we construct and view gender. In my reading, I came across the idea that when exposed to things that conflict with our primary discourse of thought, people often ignore or automatically reject the new information. That seems to reveal some severe default hard-wiring that probably takes a lot of work to reprogram. I'm interested in exploring how identity, (the internal and external self) is constructed and reconstructed, namely through the interactions of nature, nurture, choice, and conditioning.
ReplyDeleteBEST POST EVAH.
ReplyDeleteJesus really is the prime example of the androgynous figure. And the ironic part? More often than not, Jesus is remembered as being the ultimate example of love and compassion aka The Feminine! Thanks for posting this Feather :D