The Gordo Blogga

Formerly known as "Untying the Gordian Knot"

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Gender perceptions in the modern world

Generally speaking when I find a fascinating book I add it to my Amazon Wish List. In this case I do not think the book is actually worth obtaining, but I did find the following observation (from the Amazon.com review) fascinating:

"Turkle shows how playing with gender in cyberspace can shape a person's real-life understanding of gender. Especially telling are the examples of the man who finds it easier to be assertive when playing a woman, because he believes male assertiveness is now frowned upon while female assertiveness is considered hip, and the woman who has the opposite response, believing that it is easier to be aggressive when she plays a male, because as a woman she would be considered "bitchy." Without taking sides, Turkle points out how both have expanded their emotional range."

While these observations are by no means universal I do think they reflect some of the unease and inferiority people can feel in their own gender.

6 Comments:

  • At 4:08 PM, Blogger Rama said…

    I don't need to be in cyberspace to take on typically "male" characteristics... though it is probably easier for a man to take on "feminine" traits virtually...

    Stupid socially acceptable labels for gender.

     
  • At 1:08 AM, Blogger z said…

    yup... but whatever we think of them we do have to toe the line somewhat in following these rules.

     
  • At 8:41 AM, Blogger Rama said…

    You know... a book to read that touches on this topic (a good deal, actually) is "The Chalice and The Blade" by Riane Eisler.

     
  • At 3:41 PM, Blogger z said…

    hmmm... "In her scenario, as women once venerated were degraded to pawns controlled by men, social cooperation gave way to reliance on violence, hierarchy and authoritarianism"

    i dunno... it sounds just like another one of those 'men are to blame for all the ills of society' and 'if only women were in power' theories.

    if these egalitarian and peace-loving societies did exist they were not evolutionary viable as their destruction proved all too clearly. human is a savage beast, formed into one by millenia of evolution. it will take us just as long to naturally breed out some of those 'evil' traits, which funny enough exist only because they gave us an advantage in the past. arguably, they may do so in the future as well.

    still, i wouldn't be against selective removal of some of the more "negative" traits. of course, the problem is that as screwed up as it is the system does function fairly well right now. start taking out some of those traits and you usurp the system, fundmentally affecting other areas that could not be foreseen.

     
  • At 8:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    'they were not evolutionarily viable as their destruction proved all too clearly'
    Careful with the social evolutionism there.

    E

     
  • At 10:41 AM, Blogger Rama said…

    Yes, there is a bit of taint of "if women ruled the world...", but I found if I ignore that particular bias, there's some validity to her points. (you know me, not exactly the spokesperson for hardcore feminism)

    "it will take us just as long to naturally breed out some of those 'evil' traits"... Is it possible to breed out the evil traits? Can we actually develop a list that everyone agrees on? And if we do, won't these most likely be the traits that those in power exhibit, thus making it nearly impossible to breed them out, since Darwin so eloquently stated "survival of the fittest" and the 'fittest' are those that dominate others? Dominate as in control... not exactly a trait I'd like to see continuing... the desire to control others...

     

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