Our culture is obsessed with gender. From the moment a new life enters the world, we feel the need to bombard them with “appropriately” colored gifts as a way to reinforce the gender we have assigned. I was aware of this phenomenon before starting work at a baby store, both from my experience as a babysitter and from my gender studies background, but I wasn’t fully aware of how serious people get about their child’s gender. We carry a variety of items in our store, including clothing that is both clearly gendered and gender neutral (or so say the colors). Despite the obvious trend of pink for girls and blue for boys, it still blows my mind when people refuse to buy something because it’s the wrong color. Continue Reading →
Gender Issues
Recent posts
Semen-Eating in Papua New Guinea
This semester, I took an anthropology seminar called Anthropology & Sexualities. We spent each three-hour class meeting discussing various practices around the world that have to do with sex, sexuality, gender identity, and rituals. So, when Kate announced to us that we were jumping back into our theme weeks with a “Sex Around The Globe” theme, I was pumped! It took a pretty serious process of elimination to figure out what I wasn’t going to write about, and finally, I settled on the fascinating rituals of male rites of passage in Papua New Guinea. The Sambia of Papua New Guinea are one of many cultures that practice rite of passage rituals. Continue Reading →
To Sauna Or Not To Sauna?
The sauna, or a heated room wherein one can sit and sweat for health and therapeutic purposes, has become well-known in Western health clubs and spas, though it originated in Baltic, Scandinavian, and Slavic cultures. Each region has local variations: some saunas are wet and humid while others are bone-dry; some feature bundles of birch branches that you can use to massage yourself; and in some places, attendees leap into icy lakes or roll around in the snow in order to stimulate blood flow between sessions in the heated room. This all sounds good, right? But would you enter a sauna with the opposite sex when everyone was nude? I did. Continue Reading →
Child Support Discount?
If you’re anything like me, you have a frequent shopper card for each store on your keychain and more cards in your wallet (related: is it just me or are the frequent shopper stamp cards becoming extinct?). A reverend friend of mine jokingly told a client that if he got married five times, the fifth wedding ceremony was on her – and she ended up performing a free wedding ceremony. So, with this in mind, I can see where Desmond Hatchett is coming from (although I don’t necessarily agree with him). Skimming Yahoo News the other day, I read about Mr Hatchett who is hoping for a break on the child support that he owes for his 30 children. Raising kids is expensive, so I can understand why people request child support (I have two dogs, and that easily adds up – I’m not ready to even think about how much debt I would be in if kids entered the picture). Continue Reading →
Men And Women, Sex Drives, And Misogyny
We are still trying to understand what differences, if any, exist between men’s and women’s sex drives, and how these differences might impact social differences. The problem gets trickier because it looks like social expectations impact how often men and women will report feeling aroused, as discussed in this Kinsey Confidential report. Researchers found that men reported thinking about sex quite often (though not as often as the “every 7 seconds” stereotype), while women reported thinking about sex pretty often too… but they might’ve under-reported because of social norms that are more permissive about men thinking about sex than women doing so. Why does this matter? Continue Reading →
Social Media And Gender: Pinterest
This essay on the trends in women adopting social media, focusing on Pinterest, highlights the gendered attitudes about blogging and other internet activities that tend to foreground “masculine” activities over “feminine” activities. I wonder: is it truly possible for a website or a blogging topic to be gendered? I know men who bake and women who enjoy motorcycles, so why would stereotypes be so lively on the internet? Follow us on Twitter @mysexprofessor. Follow Jeana, the author of this post, @foxyfolklorist. Continue Reading →
Cross-Dressing Couples
“Switcheroo” is the name of clever project a Canadian photographer, Sincerely Hanna, snapped of mostly heterosexual couples in their regular clothing and having switched outfits. The result is both amusing and thought-provoking. Many of the photos show, for instance, that even when women aren’t wearing skin-tight clothing or really short skirts, their clothes will look that way on their male partners! Go gender bending! Follow us on Twitter @mysexprofessor. Continue Reading →
Why You Should Watch Miss Representation
Why you should watch Miss Representation:
1. Because girls and women make up about half of the human population and matter.
2. Many of us are so used to violence & misogynistic attitudes that we don’t even notice them anymore. 3. Girls see themselves, over and over again, as part of sex and violence and not as often as people who, through, hard work, intelligence or political influence make significant change in the world. Continue Reading →
New Research On The Gender Pay Gap
A new study indicates that, contrary to popular belief, women have begun to ask for raises as often as men – but they are less likely to receive them. What starts as an insignificant or nonexistent pay gap between the genders thus widens over time. One important implication of this research is that it’s not women’s fault that the pay gap exists; women aren’t being shy or reticent as commentators on this issue have argued in the past. So, once again, we have to look for larger systemic issues (and hopefully do something about them). Follow us on Twitter @mysexprofessor. Continue Reading →
Beautiful Women (Who Were Born Male-Bodied)
This list of 10 gorgeous women (who were born male) helps show how subjective gender is. While the models do conform to normative beauty standards, the pictures are also thought-provoking since they depict people who are beautiful and confident – regardless of which biological sex one might assign to them. Follow us on Twitter @mysexprofessor. Follow Jeana, the author of this post, @foxyfolklorist. Continue Reading →