How many of you think that the concepts of male and female as genders should be...

Contributor: Kenneth Fort Kenneth Fort
Gotten rid of all together, and replaced with simply not needing labeled identifiers? Do you think that's too extreme? Or is having classifications that people are lumped into the extreme part?

This is obviously assuming that people ACCEPTED the change. Not you forcing them to do it a new way.
11/02/2012
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Contributor: nori nori
if (and that's a big if) we can manage to completely eradicate the concepts of male and female in this generation. It won't be too long of a time before some future generation picks them back up.

as human beings, we like being able to define who we are, label it. Even terms such as 'like me' and 'not like me' still segregate people. Little kids will almost always, without fail, call the other one names. Things like 'boys are gross!' and 'girls have cooties!' there will always be the dichotomy. I can't imagine how the world would work without one.
11/02/2012
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Quote:
Originally posted by nori
if (and that's a big if) we can manage to completely eradicate the concepts of male and female in this generation. It won't be too long of a time before some future generation picks them back up.

as human beings, we like being able to ... more
This is pretty much how I look at it. We have labels so we can categorize things in our minds properly. I think this is a system where we add to it, not take away things from it.

I personally rather enjoy identifying as a cisgender female who is ultra-feminine in everything she does. (Except my mouth, I curse like a sailor.)
11/02/2012
Contributor: Supervixen Supervixen
I don't think the gender labels are bad. I also think that male and female is not a mere social construction--a lot of it is nature, not nurture. That doesn't mean I don't think that there is no room or other gender identifications, but getting rid of something that is pretty much ingrained in us mentally and linguistically is not useful. It is extreme and unrealistic.

You know, English is pretty unique in that it is very gender neutral. What do you suggest for all the languages out there with masculine and feminine verbs and nouns? Like Spanish, German, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, Dutch, Greek, Russian...I could go on and on. How do you plan to deconstruct those languages to make them gender neutral? What would you accomplish, really?
11/02/2012
Contributor: Gracefire Gracefire
I don't think it's gender that needs to be gotten rid of as much as gender roles. Gender is a very real and important part of peoples' identities - it's when people expect certain genders to fulfill certain roles that things get tricky.
11/02/2012
Contributor: - Kira - - Kira -
Quote:
Originally posted by Ansley
This is pretty much how I look at it. We have labels so we can categorize things in our minds properly. I think this is a system where we add to it, not take away things from it.

I personally rather enjoy identifying as a cisgender female who ... more
Yeah, this. People need labels. It helps them decide who to talk to or not talk to, where to go when their in a group, etc.

I'm also in the camp that enjoys being ultra-feminine. I like having my hair and makeup done and being in a pretty dress.
11/02/2012
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Quote:
Originally posted by - Kira -
Yeah, this. People need labels. It helps them decide who to talk to or not talk to, where to go when their in a group, etc.

I'm also in the camp that enjoys being ultra-feminine. I like having my hair and makeup done and being in a ... more
My husband calls me the epitome of a woman, others think it's an insult towards me, I take it as one of the highest compliments he could give me.
11/02/2012
Contributor: Supervixen Supervixen
Quote:
Originally posted by Gracefire
I don't think it's gender that needs to be gotten rid of as much as gender roles. Gender is a very real and important part of peoples' identities - it's when people expect certain genders to fulfill certain roles that things get ... more
To an extent. I don't think that gender roles are bad either. Forcing someone into them is one thing, but I still maintain that men and women are different and those roles are not just socially constructed in their entirety.
11/02/2012
Contributor: - Kira - - Kira -
Quote:
Originally posted by Ansley
My husband calls me the epitome of a woman, others think it's an insult towards me, I take it as one of the highest compliments he could give me.
I would take that as a compliment for sure. I don't see how that could possibly be an insult. O.o
11/02/2012
Contributor: Mwar Mwar
There will always be a determinate for 'sex,' which is the genitals we have received from conception. This is biological and fact. You will always have a sex, even if you change it. Gender, though, is different.

More people ascribe to a gender label than not. From sheer numbers and the need for humans to label, I highly doubt we'll get rid of them.

However, I wouldn't be surprised to see more options spring up on paper and what not.
11/02/2012
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
Quote:
Originally posted by - Kira -
I would take that as a compliment for sure. I don't see how that could possibly be an insult. O.o
Evidently, I'm supposed to be ashamed of my submissive inclinations. Who knows, really?
11/03/2012
Contributor: GONE! GONE!
Quote:
Originally posted by Gracefire
I don't think it's gender that needs to be gotten rid of as much as gender roles. Gender is a very real and important part of peoples' identities - it's when people expect certain genders to fulfill certain roles that things get ... more
This!
11/03/2012
Contributor: hanjonatan hanjonatan
i just find questions like this completely pointless. like, what does that even mean? we have no way of knowing what a "genderless" society would look like, and it's not something that will be relevant to any of us in our lifetimes, and probably not ever.

and i don't see how this is a question that's relevant to "transgender people", to be quite honest.
11/03/2012
Contributor: Ciao. Ciao.
Quote:
Originally posted by Gracefire
I don't think it's gender that needs to be gotten rid of as much as gender roles. Gender is a very real and important part of peoples' identities - it's when people expect certain genders to fulfill certain roles that things get ... more
This, exactly.

Gender isn't such a bad thing, but it's how we use it and define it that becomes problematic. When both men and women are free to look, act, dress, etc. with fluidity then it won't be an issue. Genders are probably not going away, but how we define them could easily become more broad/flexible.
11/03/2012
Contributor: charletnarouh charletnarouh
Quote:
Originally posted by Gracefire
I don't think it's gender that needs to be gotten rid of as much as gender roles. Gender is a very real and important part of peoples' identities - it's when people expect certain genders to fulfill certain roles that things get ... more
Bingo! i have no problem being labeled as a woman. i have lots of labels! i'm ok with that. They're important for how we see ourselves and how we interact with others. i feel nice and cozy in my labels. Once in a while someone will come along and try to tack on a label that i don't feel fits and that hurts and feels violating and unfair so this is something we have to be careful with. Others try to label us based on their expectations: because you are A, then you must also be B. Wrong. This is sometimes much more hurtful than anyone realizes. Even something as simple as: Because you are a woman, you must like pink, can be a violation.
What needs to be eliminated from our society are these kinds of expectations and roles that people are supposed to fit into just because of their gender. Eliminating these roles might alleviate some dysphoria for a lot of folks who don't feel quite at home in their natural gender. Many people fight these gender stereotypes, roles and expectations their entire lives and it can cause a major identity crisis.
The other issue with gender in our society is how limited our view of it is. Male and Female is really far too narrow a view.
We also need to work on understanding, as a society, that gender, biological sex, and anatomy don't always match the way we expect them to. Men with vaginas, women with penises, women without breasts, intersex, nongendered, nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid, and myriad other identities that don't fit into the dichotomy are possible but largely unrecognized and misunderstood.
11/03/2012
Contributor: TheParrishism TheParrishism
I think the vast majority of the world's population do not have any issues with the labels. It seems like way to extreme to get rid of it to fix the difficulties of a few. We just need to become more accepting of things beyond the two. That doesn't mean man and woman need to go away.
11/14/2012