Gender

[earwicga]

"Gender originated as a feminist concern; men were the norm and women considered "the gendered sex." Rather than attacking the binary, feminism emphasized redistributing power more equitably between the two sides."
Riki Wilchins

Discuss.

[wastingaway]

Stopping inequality is more urgent than exploring gender boundaries.

[Sakura]

Feminists emphasize acknowledging misogyny for what it is, and the ways it oppresses women. THis is the path to liberation.

We have a long way to go...

"Equality" is a term bandied around a lot by governments and corporations. "Equal rights" these days are often used by men to oppress women in some way. (Prime example: a woman who is forced to pay half the rent out of her maternity leave)

[Pogleswood]

I think that feminism is naturally about the redistribution of power - attacking the gender binary would be a pretty slow and clunky way of obtaining eg equal employment rights etc for women.
I do think a side effect of the fight for equality is more thought about all issues relating to gender.(But as I typed that I did think - yes,and it is all coming from women...anyone got any good links to men thinking about the nature of masculinity?)

[msrisotto]

Exploring gender boundaries is a part of feminism as gender boundaries are enforced so rigidly to force women into a defined and often submissive role.

[MillyR]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvZee1gh3N4

This is a (long) video of Robert Jensen talking to a men's group. A lot of it is about pornography but he also talks, and finishes on the topic of what it means to be a man in a misogynistic society.

I agree on what he says (but will try not to reiterate). It is the role of 'man' that needs to be challenged - men are the problematic group. Women cannot challenge the binary entirely because we are a disadvantaged group and need to identify as a group in order to change society.

He has similar arguments about race - it is white identity that needs to be examined and changed, not black identity. His concepts have led to a big change in how I perceive myself as a white person and as a consequence how I behave.

[sethstarkaddersmum]

Pogleswood - yes! F-Word piece about book by John Stoltenberg

[Pogleswood]

Thanks,MillyR and SSM.
Every time I come on MN at the moment I find something else I want to read,or another topic I want to follow up on - all the other things I should be doing are a little neglected at the moment!