Not Another Aiden

Oh this is going to be rage-y.

Gender roles and gender norms and gender assumptions are a social construct.  The idea that all little girls only like Barbies and glitter and no one else counts is a social construct.  The overwhelming assumption that all women want to raise children and be mommies is a social construct.  The ridiculous amount of allowance we give men to act like neanderthals is a social construct.  That does not mean all of gender is a social construct.

If gender was entirely a social idea we would not have trans people.  If gender was entirely based on this magical socialisation all people have in common we would not have this entire group of people who exist across cultures and races and socio-economic levels that stands up and says I AM NOT THE GENDER I WAS RAISED AS.  We would not have effeminate trans men or butch trans women because we would fit into the predominant gender role construct.

Beyond that, not everyone is harmed by the way gender roles are enforced.  There are many, many people who fit in perfectly with the predominant mode of thought.  There are women who do like wearing makeup and getting dressed up and want to raise children more than anything.  There are men who honestly do want to work with their hands and play football and don’t feel the need to show much emotion.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Their ability to fit in with 1950s ideas about how people of particular genders should behave does not make them any better or less than the flamingly gay guy wearing a skirt or the butch woman in flannel or the genderqueer person who wears glittery tops with ripped jeans.  It just makes them different.

Does this mean we should simply accept gender roles as they are now?  Of course not.  Just because some people aren’t hurt by them doesn’t mean they should stay exactly the same.  Society evolves, it changes, it becomes something that people who live 100 years in the past or future can’t recognise.  That’s what’s happening now.  We had a giant revolution in which women who wear pants were no longer considered scandalous, now we need one that allows men to wear skirts and people of all genders to behave in whatever manner they see fit so long as they aren’t hurting anyone.  That has shit all to do with gender identity and everything to do with gender expression.

(via artoftransliness)