Compos Mentis

Dialogue

(I very rarely remember my dreams. However, on those unusual occasions on which I do, they are usually very vivid and very lifelike. The following is a recollection of a recent dream-conversation which I was fortunate enough to remember completely, all the way up to the moment I awoke. I have to emphasize that it was a dream, nothing more and nothing less, so I recommend against taking it too seriously. Also of interest: I'm pretty sure of the two things which brought on the dream: the first is the Socratic dialog style which I'm sure was inspired by the fact that I'm reading Plato. The second was meeting, a few days ago, a friend of a friend who identifies male though being biologically female. He and I did not talk about any of this, but it was enough to get me thinking along these lines. ~ed.)

S: "...so you see, society is far too constraining with its insistence on equating sex with gender. Gender is constructed, so it is obvious that someone can be a man even if they have the body parts of a woman."
E: "I'm sorry, Sam, but I just came in at the very end. I'm sure you gave an excellent explanation, I just missed it. If you don't mind, could you explain it again for me? I'm interested in the subject and have an overwhelming desire to understand."
S: "Of course. I said that it is plain that different cultures have different values for men and women. There are different expectations for what a man is supposed to be versus what a woman is supposed to be. In some cultures, there is not even a binary relationship: there are third genders for which we don't have equivalents. So, 'male' and 'female' are not strictly part of human biology. Claiming that they are perpetuates the traditional and constricting aspects of our culture, pushed by society, where all people are shoehorned into nice, nuclear families; the man goes out to work and the woman stays home and takes care of the children."
E: "I take it you would be against that."
S: "Of course I would!"
E: "Alright; I just want to make sure I understood you correctly. You say that different cultures have different values for gender than ours. Therefore, gender is constructed, and therefore biology and gender do not have to correspond. Is this right?
S: "That's it, exactly."
E: "Now, I just want to be clear. You say that other cultures have different values for gender than ours. So, for someone living in another culture, it is their culture which constructs the gender for them."
S: "Yes."
E: "So it is our culture which constructs our gender for us."
S: "Our culture constructs its traditional gender roles, masculine and feminine, and associates them with particular sexes."
E: "But you, for example, do not go along with this. You identify as the opposite gender to your sex than our culture dictates."
S: "Yes, that's right."
E: "So, our culture isn't constructing your gender. Who is to say that it is constructing everyone else's? It seems to me that you have several options. It might be that you are outside society as we seem to be defining it, or it could be that society, our culture, is constructing your gender-role and is not forcing people into the pigeon-hole which you mentioned. Or, it could be that society is not irresistible, that people can choose their own way against our cultural influences.
S: "Hmm... well, it's likely that society isn't irresistible. After all, I know that I'm male despite what our culture tells me. And I'm sure I'm part of this society, despite how much I would rather be in a different one."
E: "You would say, then, that culture is very influential in making gender stereotypes. You mentioned masculine and feminine roles. I think that's an excellent way of putting it. Would you say that one's culture provides a description of what is masculine and what is feminine, and makes a big push to set people within each of these categories, but sometimes, like in your case, a person can resist society's influence?"
S: "That sounds about right. It takes a great deal to break society's influence, so it would be a lot better if we changed society's values."
E: "So you would say that you are a woman, if we're using the word here to describe the biological characteristics, who has the masculine traits our culture dictates."
S: "Er... when you put it that way, it sounds wrong. Since we can say that a woman is masculine while she identifies as a woman, it's not quite the same thing. I would say in general, what you said is right, but only as it affects identity."
E: "Alright, let me try again. You are saying you're a woman who has a masculine identity. (Sam nods) This masculine identity is given to you by society, but you recognized this fact despite the fact that our culture is also pushing you to have a feminine identity."
S: "Right. There are some people who claim that they have a gender outside of society's influence, but I know that's not the case with me. That's almost as bad as the women who try to justify their misandry with pseudo-feminist rantings about how men can never understand how they feel. It seems to me that, while society has many bad characteristics, one redeeming feature that it does have is that it promotes empathy; we should all be able to at least try to understand each other's position."
E: "I'd have to agree with you on the last point, but I can't say anything about misandric women since I'm still trying to wrap my mind around your position."
S: "I thought I had made that fairly clear"
E: "You've made it very clear. Still, there was a question that occurred to me. You say that your identity is not influenced by our culture; or, what influence there is is not irresistible. This follows, I think, from the fact that you know you're male despite the fact that society pushes you to identify as female to match, so they say, with your sex."
S: "Right"
E: "But then you say that your male identity is given to you partly by society. It seems to me that the two cannot go together. Either your identity is intrinsic, self-justifying so to speak, or it is open to our culture's influence. But if part of your identity is that you are male, then your identity is open and you cannot justify your position by claiming you personally, intimately your position against society."
S: "Well, society does have some influence, but eventually it comes down to me to know my identity. It's like... like a book. In Japan, the books open the opposite way from ours. This shows that the way the book is arranged is convention. Convention influences the way 'The Republic' is printed, but that still doesn't mean that I can't know my copy from anyone else's."
E: "That makes a lot of sense... but no, I still don't quite understand. And I'm no good at analogies, so let's try something else. I'll ask you questions as if I'm society, and you answer as yourself. I, as society, provided your masculine identity, insofar as it is masculine, correct? Because you would say that some of the rest is your own, intrinsic."
S: "Right, the rest is intrinsic."
E: "But I've made this part of you, how are you sure that I haven't made other parts of your identity?"
S: "Because I know myself."
E: "But you've just claimed that society is part of your identity in the same way you are. Whether or not your masculinity is the only part of your identity which is created by our culture, I hear you saying that society has the same access, the same privileges as you do in this regard. I don't understand how you then try to claim that you have sole understanding of your identity."
S: "Well... I don't know. I just know myself."
E: "Well, just speaking for myself, I can never be content with that. I'm driven, nearly to distraction at times, for finding reasons outside of my own opinions. Usually I just wind up annoying people like some insect always pricking and pricking away."
S: "Why don't you tell me your opinion on these matters, then?"
E: "...I would be more than happy to do so, if I was sure I had a good, sound position. But so much of what I think seems to change within the next minute, I wind up changing my mind mid-sentence."
S: "Still, I'm curious. I'll forgive you your weak position, if that's what I find."
E: "You are most charitable. Let me see. I suppose I would start by looking at 'society.' What do we mean when we say 'society constructs gender' or suchlike? I would lean towards saying that society is the amalgam of the prevailing ideas that we are exposed to. How does that sound?"
S: "I suppose that sounds alright."
E: "I might be a little sloppy in my definition, but maybe it will turn out alright anyway. If this is right, then I think it would explain how society has such an influence, since we are all social animals and love to find our place, either fitting in or rebelling against, either maintaining stability or trying to improve our own position in relation to everyone else's position. After that, I think I would agree with what we said before, that our culture, this society, has expectations for masculinity and femininity. I think you can see it in language, though perhaps far less than in previous times, in phrases that portray feminine characteristics as being synonymous with daintiness, fragility, and sentimentality. Masculine characteristics, obviously, would be the opposite."
S: "But there's more to it than that."
E: "Is there? Like you said before, you can say that a woman can be masculine without implying that she is secretly a man or sees herself as a man. As regards those who do... well, let's take two people. One, like you, is biologically female but identifies as male. However, he does not have traditionally masculine characteristics. The other we'll say is biologically female, identifies female, but has masculine characteristics. The first is happy to do all of the typical feminine things... I believe you mentioned saying home and raising the kids, as some fathers typically do. The second is not. Who would have a harder time being accepted in society, or rather by those people who typically accept the ideas which make up our culture?"
S: "I suppose the second."
E: "Right. What it seems to imply, as far as I can tell, is not that society constructs gender, but that it has expectations for the sexes. Or, what would perhaps be better, given that you pointed out those cultures which have a third gender, that the expectations for society are given to those, in our case, to those with certain biological characteristics."
S: "Still, isn't that just as bad?"
E: "I don't know whether it's good or bad. I'm sure it's bad for some people, good for others, and as far as society itself is concerned, is necessary for it to continue existing."
S: "Now you're confusing me. What do you mean by 'as far as society itself is concerned?'"
E: "I'm sorry. I'm getting a little off-track, since the question was really not about society but about identity. My aim was towards the idea that gender is not part of our identity."
S: "Are you serious?"
E: "I know, but this is just how it appears to me. If I wanted to be lazy, I would just point out that the main association is simply the fact that I would refer to you in the third person as 'he' rather than 'she', but when you say 'I' there is no connotation of gender. But I hope that you will not let me get away with being lazy. The argument, I think, follows from the observation about masculine traits in women; that the idea of being masculine only occurs in the mode in which she performs actions. Let's say she speaks with a masculine quality. Her identity is not changed when she starts to speak in falsetto. 'Masculine' and 'feminine' refer to quality of actions, rather than identity. On the other hand. there is much to be said, as far as I can see, for determining one's identity by one's actions rather than by one's intrinsic qualities. But that wouldn't change anything, since the qualities of those actions would be accidental in the Aristotelian sense, not essential."
S: "You're going too fast for me to follow you... "
Finis

posted by Emmett @ 06:00