So, today my subject of choice will not necessarily lean towards anything specifically about college. I found this topic to be extremely interesting and interesting enough to share on my blog (since this is a place to write, am I not correct?). Now, I am not pointing fingers at anyone in this blog post. Do not be offended because I am not putting anyone on a pedestal. Hear me out. You may find this post to be an eye-opener.
A couple hours ago I was reading my homework assignment for my Women's studies class. This chapter was about gender. Let me guess, you saw the word gender and instantly came up with an organized list of what gender is all about -- male and female, or as this book calls it, "masculine" and "feminine." I am not a Feminist or anything of the sort, but many points in this textbook, Women's Voices Feminist Visions, strike my fancy. Everything this book has to offer makes the wheels in my brain start to turn. I love it. Being a woman myself, I believe that we should get treated equally etc., etc. And then there is that word -- equal. It rings a bell in the highest of places. Equal. Equal as to be similar or even act as one. This chapter about gender talks about how our world defines masculinity and femininity. Men are supposed to be tough like warriors, ambitious, strong and full of will-power. Women, on the other hand, are described as being delicate, vulnerable, caring, cautious, sexy, and anything else that sounds girly enough to be categorized within the "feminine" column. Separating different objects or ideas to fit in these certain categories are also something to be highlighted among what it means to be a girl or boy. When you think about it, it is like the world has each and every one of us attached to strings. The fingers (or society/culture) jerks us around until we fit naturally into the plot. No wonder why people rebel so much against views. I wouldn't like being thrown around either.
Obviously, there are ways to get around the customs. For example, you could start social movements, form groups and organizations to showcase the equality we all have. These people just do it in a different way. I like that idea because I can relate. I am a person who goes with the crowd, but in a very different direction. I write in a different voice than I speak, I am going to learn to skateboard even though I don't look like the type of person who would do that at all, and I do some unladylike things, but who really DOES act like a lady nowadays? If you got gas, then you gotta' let it pass, bro.
There are a few things that set our equality apart, however, like sports. That bugs me. Oh, a man is supposed to be better at sports because men have authority and blah blah blah. Here is something I would like you all to think about as you read this: there is NOTHING that literally sets us apart from each other. If you want to get all scientific, then it would be true to say that male bodies are genetically made to be stronger because they are the ones who are supposed to protect the family. Women are made to bear children. BUT, as you can see, both male and female are interrelated. We humans were made to take care of each other; to live through everyday to make a living. We all have a brain, a heart, blood, skin, and bones. Is there really anything that can separate us? If someone were to cut each one of us in half and stitch us up together with another half of someone else's body, there wouldn't be much of a difference. The only thing that is really different is our genital areas. We couldn't help that fact now though, could we?
So what if our culture suggests that men are better? So what if problems arise from such things as masculinity and femininity? SO. FRICKEN'. WHAT. Be whoever you want to be, but here is what I have wanted to say all along: JUST BE HUMAN. All humans aspire to do one thing and that is to live. Why complicate that? Haven't we all been equal to begin with?
You can think whatever your little heart desires, but maybe make room for this thought. Think about the world and think about each other. Are we different or are we all human?
Love,
Tiffany G. Carwile
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