Thoughts on Gender

I recently Tweeted an article about the flexibility of gender, and how our nation is very physique-oriented. Similar to the Caster Semenya story, the individual at the center of the NPR story had her femininity questioned and faced discrimination at a spa in Virginia. Like Semenya, it was her physical appearance which created unease amongst other patrons of the spa, and she was asked to leave. Referring back to the most recent discussion in class, gender is individual, and I believe it's an entirely personal decision someone makes regarding their gender. The people that are faced with that choice are met full-force with resistance from our culture, which places gender into two neat categories: male and female. According to our culture, both genders have two very distinct and separate types of bodies as well as a set of societal norms to fulfill. But, what happens when someone doesn't fall into either of those two categories? We've created a gender 'system', where there's no middle ground. John Sloop wrote, "If not gender perfect, then not gender pure, while keeping male and female as the perfect models". We're seeing more men and women conforming to physical looks, clothing, and interests normally held by the opposite gender, despite Sloop saying that gender norms remain largely in place. I would like to believe that we're moving towards a more accepting society, but I've voiced thoughts similar to this in class and have admitted that I might have been deluded by the unattainable idea of a nation where people can go about their lives comfortably while identifying with any gender they want and knowing that it has no impact whatsoever on anyone else's life but their own. Admittedly, I feel that there has to be much more discourse and unrest similar to the events that unfolded in the Caster Semenya story. Similar to what Sloop wrote, we'll have to participate in more "undoing" of gender before we can begin to understand what the ever-changing concept of gender means.