Quote:
Originally Posted by Rachel
I think people have just decided that recently...
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No, people have just
identified the distinction between sex and gender recently. It has been around for a long time.
Gender is a social construct, it isn't just a distinction between male and female, it is a distinction of what
should be male and female, and how. And like all social constructs it has binaries where one binary opposite is more dominant over "the other." In this case male being more dominant than female, especially when considering heterosexuality and the concept of marriage. If I got my Foucault right (which I probably don't) all of this boils down to intercourse. Males are the penetrators and females the penetrated, because of this relation between binary opposites all other relations between the male and female must incorporate the dominant/submissive dynamics. This is how gender is constructed as instructed by the church and until recently governments and psychology. You can see why homosexualty is so troubling to accept because it throws a wrench to the whole thing. Binary opposites would cease to exist not to mention everything else that comes with it. Gay Males would have to occupy the female role of submissive and Lesbians could just buck the whole system because penetration isn't even a requisite.
Not to blame the church for everything, this happened before in Ancient Greece (and Rome probably). Homosexuality did occur but sex segregation was excessive to say the least. Men could fuck each other, as long as they were the fuckers; it wasn't considered taboo. What was taboo was getting fucked, that was only reserved to their slaves. Because getting fucked was considered being female, where a man to be considered female was/is the ultimate shame. There are some cultures which still subscribe to this notion. A man could still be considered straight as long as he's on top in gay sex. This could also give insight as to why straight males react so violently to male gay sex than to lesbian sex. Somebody's has to be the bottom and just the thought of it makes them go nuts (pun intended
).
Sex on the other hand is just a biological distinction, but it shouldn't limited to two. Hermaphrodites shouldn't have to be forced to choose one of two genders, they where born that way, who's to say there's anything wrong with them?
And to prove that the male/female choice is limiting to some people and is
not universal what do you make of the
Hijras and the
Two-Spirit people? Both have been in practised and recognized for thousands of years.
PS: My apologies if this is all incoherent, somebody more acquainted to Foucault could perhaps articulate more effectively.
Or just read the
History of Sexuality by Michel Foucault. Very, very insightful.