The Beauty of the Gray and Rediscovering Pleasure

    In Connell's "Making Gendered People," the social truth that one cannot exist without participating and interacting with a highly gendered society was especially striking. It is incredibly difficult to partake in nearly any activity in this country without adhering to these constructs, especially as one difference (namely reproductive) "is assumed to be reflected in a whole range of other natural differences: in strength, sexual interest, physical skills, recreational interests, character, and intellectual." These inequalities exist to such an extent that it begins to become impossible to discern how different my interests would be had these social restraints not existed. By rejecting our current dichotomy and accepting the fact that "modern Western societies distinguish five sexes (based on genitalia), three sexual orientations, five gender displays, six types of relations, and ten self-identities," our culture can begin to celebrate gender gray-areas, rather than admonish those who are not able to fill our own narrow boxes.
  Sexuality is a major area that is slow to recover from a conservative culture. The fact that are less than half as likely as men to reach orgasm during sex is one example of how women are still feeling ashamed of being sexual entities. Women are expected no have no libido whatsoever, simply relenting to a man's demands out of a feeling of duty. Men receive pleasure while women offer it to men. Their joy lies solely in the ability to please a man. These facts are obviously flexible, as ubiquitous resources allow women to rediscover their bodies. It will be interesting to see the changes in this arena in the coming decades, as sex education, birth control, and abortion are surely not topics set to be resolved in the foreseeable future, if ever.
    I apologize for the winding and convoluted nature of this blog entry. I blogged as I was re-reading the article and it's pretty easy to see where I would get frustrated. It is truly amazing to see how much of centuries-old dogma has been dredged through history and is still seemingly omnipresent in our culture.