THE LOGISTICS OF GENDER
“What do you wear at the beach?” That was the first question that a mate from work asked when he found out about a colleague’s decision to transition. The starting point and the destination of the journey do not matter. What mostly fascinates people is not the reasoning behind an individual’s informed decision to transition, but how it is pursued.
In fact, there is no difference whether one starts their journey with XX chromosomes or with XY. Since people are not able to know what’s in your DNA at a glance, they are not keen on exploring biology and how medicine and technology might be able to assist in any adjustments required. What really matters is what you look like and most importantly what conclusions they can draw from your appearance.
Writing this article from sunny Greece I can’t help it going back to the example of the beach. Why a top to support one’s breasts is so important? And why does the lack of breasts in a padded bra matter so much?
Gender norms make society have certain expectations from male or female presenting individuals. Mums are eager to put on bikini tops to pre-puberty young girls, even though there is no breast development, simply because they are assigned female at birth. Dads secretly can’t wait to find out that their son can efficiently change a flat tire. If these examples seem to be taken from a Victorian novel, have a look around in popular media. Tv hosts are mostly feminine looking girls with perfect bouncy curls and newscasters as well-suited men with broad shoulder and deep voices.
It would be interesting to explore how would today’s society treat Louis XIV if he was strolling the capital’s high street with his prominently heeled shoes, symbol of wealth in the 17th century. A symbol of masculinity that turned to a mean of sexualisation for women as soon as cameras and media came to the picture. Another example would be men from African tribes wearing skirts and makeup to attract wives in local ceremonies. The man seen as the predator in the West seems to hold a more passive role in those cultures letting the women pick their spouses first.
On the other side, the Navajo culture embraces ‘two-spirited’ individuals. Masculine women who are considered being sacred beings, chosen by the community as representatives of this tradition, equally wealthy with cis-men, living their life as the opposite gender with the ability to marry a wife and also if preferred have sex with the opposite gender, too.
Examples as such clearly demonstrate the social aspect of gender rather than the biological side of transitioning. Today most transgender individuals seek medical assistance and surgical interference to alleviate dysphoria caused by undesired body parts. But for some of them, though, starting hormone treatment or going under the knife might be a matter of social recognition.
Hopefully, it will all change as technology and social media evolve people in discussions about the matter and raise awareness regarding acceptance and equality. For the time being, I am grabbing my towel and running to the sea. In swimming shorts and t-shirt!
Author: Theo Panaritis
Join the Dialogue on Gender at our cross-disciplinary salon Aug 16th 2016 at The Book Club. We will have a stellar line-up of speakers talking from the perspectives of anthropology, social theory, the transgender community, campaign against sex robots, feminist philosophy and politics of the body, porn culture and gender equality through theatre.
‘Male or Female: Is Gender a Social Construct?’
Recent MRI research shows there is no such thing as a ‘male’ or ‘female’ brain. Brains cannot be divided into gender based categories. Some features of the brain are more common in men and some in women. Hardly ever is a human brain exclusively male or female. This research challenged how society divided people into categories and how it justifies treating males and females differently. What makes us feel male/female? Is it innate or imposed. Are we all simply just Human?
