March 25, 2009

• Thoughts from Psych of Gender

  So, as many of you know, I take a Gender course at my college.  Well, in class yesterday we watched two YouTube videos that I haven't been able to get off my mind.  Today in math class, I wrote the long reflection that's written here (underneath the YouTube videos).  These videos are the exact ones we watched in class.  We unfortunately didn't talk about them (boy would I have talked) because we ran out of time.  But yeah.  Here ya go. 

  Description of video one: Scientists now believe that there is a physiological basis for homosexuality, although this is not entirely genetic, as these twin studies show.

  Description of video two: Most people are able to guess an individual's sexual orientation with a surprising degree of accuracy by observing his/her mannerisms, speech patterns and general masculinity or femininity, even when the individual in question is at a very young age.

  
  **I just want to note that the following is a collection of rough ideas, not well researched or otherwise documented points.  I'm really doing little more than thinking out loud, or allowing you a glimpse into my written journal**

  The reason I have no "gaydar" is predominantly because I refuse to give stereotypes any credibility.  The last guy I dated [when this would still be considered a heterosexual pairing] was extremely feminine, yet he defined himself as 100% heterosexual -- and while society has been challenging him on that for years now (and even while I would like to challenge him on that myself at times), if that is how he identifies than who are we to say he is otherwise?  In the same vein, I know extremely "masculine" homosexual men.  This leads me to believe that there is no such thing as "stereotypically gay" so much as there are only gender stereotypes and those who contradict them.  In the case of the child Adam, who is what we would consider stereotypically female, we don't respond to this by labeling him transgender (literally "across" or "beyond" gender), we respond by labeling it as "gay". Furthermore, we assume he will grow up to be homosexual in orientation and remain male in gender identity (mooshpitmatt on Xanga is an example of the exact opposite, identifying as transgender yet heterosexual as he is biologically male and likes females; correct me if I'm wrong, Matt).

  While the woman interviewing Adam does, admittedly,  describe his behavior as "childhood gender nonconformity" she also follows that description with stating that "research shows that children with extreme gender nonconformity usually grow up to be gay."  This seems like a popular conclusion to draw, but for people like myself it is hard not to wonder where in the grand scheme of things causality lies.  Are gender non-conformity and homosexuality really that closely linked?  Is it really homosexuality if he never fully identified as male or as a boy even from his earliest years?  Do children not grow up being taught exactly what the woman here is saying; that if they are exhibiting such distinctly "opposite sex" behavior than they must be gay?

  Now, I don't want for this to sound like I am blaming society for making a person gay for one second; I don't believe that it is nurture (or at least not nurture alone) that "causes" homosexuality, but I do think that society's ignorance of gender deviancy and tunnel vision on sex and sexuality really may play a part in this on some level.  Saying that because he is a feminine boy he will be gay plays into the argument for complimentarity; and, while not readily accepted because it is still homosexual, it is still accepted because it presupposes that for every "feminine" individual there must be a "masculine" individual there to compliment them.  Society doesn't do the smallest job trying to hide that it feels this way, and so, I have to wonder... do gender deviant children wind up identifying as homosexual later in life because they have been being told they are homosexual (maybe not explicitly, but implicitly) their entire childhood?  I mean, maybe the two really go hand-in-hand and that childhood gender deviancy does directly correlate to homosexuality.  But excuse me for thinking that is... "too simple." 

  When we say a man is "stereotypically" gay, we are almost always referring to effeminacy (male femininity);  we never say "wow that was really gay" to two men kissing, more often we say "that was really gay" about a man speaking with his hands while wearing pink.  Similarly, we don't read women as gay unless they are in some way masculine: they either present masculine or have masculine mannerisms or have a very deep voice or short hair.  It is the individual's inability to adhere to gender stereotypes that has them labeled "gay" and in actuality has *nothing* to do with their orientation.  Most statements speaking of one's homosexuality (most things that would have you label a person "gay" -- or even straight) have nothing to do with their sexuality and everything to do with how well they adhere to the gender stereotypes for their gender.  In my experience in the GLBT (LGBTQQIA?) community itself, even queer folks can't get over the reality that some "stereotypically gay" (ie. marginally gender deviant) folks are actually heterosexual.  Why is this.

  It is masculinity and femininity that are the stereotypes, not homosexuality and heterosexuality.  We understand the latter group to be more of a... life foundation, and the lives built off these orientations are understood to be varied and diverse with nothing in common between them except for, well, the gender of interest. (We have no "straight" stereotype, do we?  If there is no "straight" stereotype, how can there be a "gay" stereotype?)  Femininity and masculinity, however, as stereotypes cannot be so "varied and diverse" else they would not be stereotypes; stereotypes are, by definition, fixed and rigid perceptions -- in this case, gender stereotypes are fixed and rigid (and pervasive; especially to those who believe there is a biological foundation to them).

  Further reading you can do on how masculinity and femininity are stereotypes can be found here. 

  • 9:01 am
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