November 24, 2012
Payton Schwarz
Dear Mother,
People are born with a specific sex. You can't change
that, you're either born a male or a female. But that does not
necessarily define you as masculine or feminine. There are specific
gender roles that are associated with either. These roles are placed on
one via society, whether it be from your family, friends, school, church, etc.
Our distinction between one another is culturally adapted with specific
traits. Take Ancient Rome for example, homosexuality and orgies were accepted
among the social elite and part of everyday life, “The prestige of Greek literature and art made
homoeroticism seem urbane and sophisticated.” This society, obviously, had
different contributing factors to the creation of their social norms, as did
we. Unfortunately, ours is just a tad
bit more restrictive.
Here in our country of the United States, we seem to associate gender directly to one's sex. If you have a penis, you are ordered to be manly, rugged and enjoy cars/guns. Or if you have a vagina, you must be sweet, decorated with makeup, nurturing and passive. But what happens if someone steps outside of those gender barriers? Our gender roles are so intertwined with us in our society that we don't notice them. But the second someone DOES, we are quick to judge. Think if you saw a full grown man, walking down the street in pumps and a halter top. You would immediately take notice of him over everyone else on the street. Why? Because he's "weird", we have an immediate prejudice against that individual because he doesn't fit the roll of a fully grown man that we envision in our minds. This could be derived from the Christian upbringing our nation has had, “And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver.... And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. (Leviticus 27:3-7)”. Literally, there in plain English, the Bible states that a woman is worth about half as much as a man. And being in a country where all of our nation’s leaders have been Christian, there is good reason to believe there is religious input when it came to forming our nation. Take a look at how the Christian faith has been derogatory towards people that are “different”. The Ku Klux Klan has very “Christian morals”, which they employed through violence and bigotry, also the Spanish Inquisition was establish by Catholic Monarchs to ensure “orthodoxy” of its people through sadistic torture.
In World War II, women had to take up a "man's role" of building airplanes, tanks, bombs and more to fuel the war, and our eventual success. Even though temporary and brief, this gender roll adaptation shows the fluidity and effectiveness of an androgynous society. Unlike us here in America, there are cultures all around the world that have much different roles that what we assign our citizens. Native American tribes in Northern America have what is called "Two Spirit", which is someone who has qualities of both male and female. They would wear the clothing of both genders and perform actions that were of both genders as well, such as cooking and hunting. They were held in high regard and held positions such as healers, match-makers and foretellers of the future.
Here in our country of the United States, we seem to associate gender directly to one's sex. If you have a penis, you are ordered to be manly, rugged and enjoy cars/guns. Or if you have a vagina, you must be sweet, decorated with makeup, nurturing and passive. But what happens if someone steps outside of those gender barriers? Our gender roles are so intertwined with us in our society that we don't notice them. But the second someone DOES, we are quick to judge. Think if you saw a full grown man, walking down the street in pumps and a halter top. You would immediately take notice of him over everyone else on the street. Why? Because he's "weird", we have an immediate prejudice against that individual because he doesn't fit the roll of a fully grown man that we envision in our minds. This could be derived from the Christian upbringing our nation has had, “And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver.... And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. (Leviticus 27:3-7)”. Literally, there in plain English, the Bible states that a woman is worth about half as much as a man. And being in a country where all of our nation’s leaders have been Christian, there is good reason to believe there is religious input when it came to forming our nation. Take a look at how the Christian faith has been derogatory towards people that are “different”. The Ku Klux Klan has very “Christian morals”, which they employed through violence and bigotry, also the Spanish Inquisition was establish by Catholic Monarchs to ensure “orthodoxy” of its people through sadistic torture.
In World War II, women had to take up a "man's role" of building airplanes, tanks, bombs and more to fuel the war, and our eventual success. Even though temporary and brief, this gender roll adaptation shows the fluidity and effectiveness of an androgynous society. Unlike us here in America, there are cultures all around the world that have much different roles that what we assign our citizens. Native American tribes in Northern America have what is called "Two Spirit", which is someone who has qualities of both male and female. They would wear the clothing of both genders and perform actions that were of both genders as well, such as cooking and hunting. They were held in high regard and held positions such as healers, match-makers and foretellers of the future.
Think of what a genderless society would look like. It would be a society where there would be no
masculine or feminine. Everyone would do
the same things, and look similar as well.
Could you imagine a world where men and women play with dolls and wear
makeup, then later that day go change their oil and play some football. There would be no prejudice because the only
thing that would be separating the two different parties would be their sexual
organs. Sure biology takes a roll in
influencing people’s likes and interests, but there would be no definition as
to which activity is either masculine or feminine. People would be free to do what they please
without fear of repercussion from their peers.
Sincerely,
Payton Schwarz
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