Posted: Aug 30, 2010 3:58 pm
Beatsong wrote:Well since starting this thread I have asked a couple of people what they think and while some agree with me, some don't.
My wife in particular was absolutely certain that she feels female, and that having shaven legs or getting her nails done involves a pleasure that goes beyond the things itself, into reinforcing her sense of femininity in general. She reckons I'm unusual in not having similar feelings about masculinity.
But the way she described it, it was like the pleasure came from positive feedback from society, confirming her femininity. It's like the difference between us is not so much how we feel subjectively, but the fact that she takes categorisations from outside herself and personalises them, whereas I don't, generally.
I was just recalling that 1980s feminism was full of conflict over these issues. Some feminists saw gender as entirely a social construct, yet others seemed to argue for an essential femininity or femaleness. They tended to be derided for being 'essentialists', yet they had a rather interesting reply, that social constructionism tends to dissolve the notion of femaleness or femininity.
I also recall (without reference) various research projects on playground behaviour, which seemed to argue that whereas girls flock together and socialize, boys stand around sullenly, kick footballs and lumps out of each other.
But that doesn't really tell us whether these behaviours are also socially constructed.
Of course, anecdotally again, many parents swear that boys 'instinctively' reach for the toy tractor and the gun, and girls reach for the doll. Surely there has been some more substantial research on this?
I think the research on male brains might throw some light on this (Baron-Cohen), as male brains seem to be rather emotionally switched off and dissociative. This research also seems to predict that men will tend to be atheists more than women (although some women have male brains).