Michael Kimmels lecture on gender differences, strongly critiques the work of John Gray. John Gray, author of the Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus series, argues that “men and women are so fundamentally different that we might as well be from different planets”. Kimmel does not agree with this interpretation, for he believes that men and women are more similar than different. He feels that men and women can and should be allies, and that the differing genders are extremely alike.
In my opinion, separation between the genders has been declining over the past few decades immensely. I never truly realized how recent the idea of making women’s gender visible was until Kimmel began presenting a timeline of events. I learned it was only in 1972 that that first Women’s Studies course was created at a University! I feel my generation does not realize the progress women have made in the past decades because we grew up in a time when women do have many rights. I do agree with Kimmel that the genders are more similar than John Gray proposes. Some men and women have the same careers, goals, classes, lifestyles, etc. Gender does not determine someone’s identity, and life choices. Yet, there is a struggle between the genders for “privilege”. Kimmel explains that privilege is invisible to those who have it but very apparent to those who don’t. Men feel threatened by a woman’s confidence, or success because they do not want to loose the privilege that some men hold over women. The media also influences the way gender identity is seen in our society from a young age. Gender is a social constructed characteristic, for example, girls play with dolls and boys play with trucks. If a child does not follow these social norms than they are seen as weird, or not normal.
One critique of Kimmels that I did not agree with was when he said “no, women cannot have it all because men already have it all”. I don’t think this is fair to say, considering how does one judge if someone has it all? I know some stay at home fathers, with a successful working wife and they do not feel that they are submissive or missing out on something. I do see how this might apply to some cases; however, I do not think it is fair to say a woman cannot have it all.
I know what you mean - that we sometimes take things we have now for granted because we have always had them. For example, we can enroll in some classes on Gender Studies or Women's Studies at our local university nowadays. We do not really understand what it was like to grow up in a time when you could not do that, thus, we take it for granted and it loses its special quality.
ReplyDeleteI think the same thing happens with me with the issue of voting. I don't really realize how hard those women fought to allow other women to vote so I don't really find it such a great thing that I can do it. I have always had this privilege, and I can't imagine life without it...so I kinda take it for granted.
Yes, and I think this is one reason why many young women do not gravitate to feminism. For them, feminism has always been "in the air." We get so used to breathing in air all day we don't notice it anymore. Thus, one of the reasons Women's Studies is important is to continue the process of educating new generations about the feminist history and the many sacrifices women made (including giving their lives) so women can be where we are today.
ReplyDelete