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Nope. It was a jab at people whose first language is English, and who for that reason otherise native speakers of other languages.Luis, I didn't understand a single word. Was is something like "Rosa, you're stupid"?
Luís Henrique
I really do agree, but I don't think that you can speak for any "our". People are free to define their own "conception" of masculinity or femininity. We are not all one masculinity. When I hear the arguments of these men's rights activists, I think 'what on earth are you so paranoid about"?. And when I hear the feminist arguments, I basically think the same thing. But I can't really comment on what it's like to be a women, because I wouldn't know.
http://ppe.mercatus.org/
I'm not sure we are; whilst it is true that there are variations in how people define masculinity- we are still tied to the same institution of marriage and patriarchy in defining what it means to be a man. The concept of masculinity (in the mass media at least) is still derivative of the emotionally 'strong'/repressed patriarchal bread winner (or action hero/family man if it's a Hollywood movie); the heavy drinking, sexualised 'lad' culture where men to escape from family life to the pub, pool table, games of poker, etc; the irrespressable, sexualised bad boy whose animal magnetism means with a wink and a smile, he can bed any women as a sexual object as disposable as the condom he's supposed to be using. It remains the dominant cultural archetype and there really isn't anything to rival it; I'm not 100% whether that's because of the conservative ownership of the media or because radicals haven't got round to doing something about this one.
I confess I feel like women are another species too, but isn't that part of the problem? That we think the differences between men and women outweigh what they share in common; that gender roles take precedence before shared human feeling?
Yes, that's a huge part of the problem. It's a result of the process of socialization that we go through as children and young adults. Of course socialization isn't a bad thing in itself; there are cultural norms that make society more cohesive. But it seems that, in the case of gender, the differences are emphasized from birth and similarities are downplayed. I've never experienced those differences. To me everyone is just human* and it's frustrating that so many people subscribe to the ''men are from mars, women are from venus'' type of thinking.
No offense to you though.
*I have had my doubts about Glenn Beck.
no probs. It's something I want to unlearn.
Do you deny that societies have certain pervasive notions as to what are normal or expected qualities or behaviours for males and females?
It seems pretty clear to me that there are. For example, I don't see many men wearing skirts.
Come on, I thought you were better than this. There's all sorts of shit women in society have to deal with that men don't face.
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I have no idea what the men wearing skirts point is about? Would that be progress? I've noticed that a lot of "men" on this forum have some gender issues, and want to adopt more feminine norms. Whatever? Who cares?
I agree. Sorry if I portrayed otherwise. Did you watch the video yet? If so, what did you think?
http://ppe.mercatus.org/
So what do you want, female independence?Who would listen to a man anyway
http://ppe.mercatus.org/
You know, I thought that I just did not get women when I was a early teen but then when I dated a few guys, I realized that I did not have a problem with relating with women, but rather a problem with relating to humanity.
So you had to have homosexual experiences before you could relate to women?
http://ppe.mercatus.org/
No, I just realized that men and women are not all that different when you have had both friendships and relationships with them.
Gender essentialism is the enemy.
http://ppe.mercatus.org/
In itself, no, it wouldn't be a progress at all. The progress would be in the realisation that there is nothing essentially feminine in wearing skirts. So, if, as you say,
then it would be a progress if most people realised that the relation between skirts and females is merely cultural (as proved by the modern mass adoption of pants by women, as well as by the traditional use by men of skirts and other kinds of dresses that wrap both legs together, instead of separately (in Classic Rome and Greece, medieval and modern Scotland, Arabia, etc).
Of course, an important byproduct of that would be an increased freedom for people to dress as they like.
Or, of course, to pretend so in the internet, where it is safe to do it.
Homophobes certainly do, and take the use of non-mainstream dresses by men as a sure sign that those using them are homosexuals. And I very much doubt a man wearing a skirt would be allowed entrance to the Library of Congress, to the British Museum, to the Pravda offices, or to the Paris Opera.
So it seems it unhappily is a real issue, at least for those who dislike the idea.
Luís Henrique
"We should not say that one man's hour is worth another man's hour, but rather that one man during an hour is worth just as much as another man during an hour. Time is everything, man is nothing: he is at the most time's carcass." Karl Marx
I think most people really do understand that wearing skirts or pants is purely a cultural construct. The ones who don't aren't anybody to worry about anyway.
The "gender essentialiasm" thing was meant to be sarcastic. I really do think that men and women are qualitatively different, and I'm bemused that anybody would think otherwise, but also I don't think the matter is that important in the grand scheme of things; There's no tangible fix to the matter; People can always act how they want to. Men who like to wear dresses and are discriminated against will no doubt keep advocating their rights. It's not a socialism vs capitalism type issue where you can pose a solution like "hand the control of technological equipment over to workers". It's a battle for peoples perceptions .. which goes on in every individual and I assume will do so until the sunset of time.
http://ppe.mercatus.org/
