In earlier times there were clear definitions of being a man and a woman that were widely accepted and understood. Men have penises, women have vaginas. Men make money and provide for the family, and the woman tends the house and the children. But, now it is not as simple as that, we have driven away from our primal roots of doing what we were ultimatly built for. Today, gender is understood on a scale. We have come to find that one's outward appearance does not reflect wether they are a man or a woman. This is where we do need to some what depend on gender roles, when someone feels a certain way, because they know that is often the way women or men behave or feel because we have an understanding of gender roles, but we are not limited to that. We understand that there is a sliding scale of feminine and masculine traits and that having more of one or the other or anywhere in between is not bad, as long as you are comfortable in your own body and accept yourself.
Understanding how much humanity you already have would be the first step in regaining or achieving it. I think that first step is the hardest for a lot of people to truly look at your humanity with a magnifying glass and truly asses. Once that happens, I think elements such as sacred spaces, spirituality, and really understanding your own opinions and beliefs on the world can get you on the road to regaining humanity. This of course, is all relative because understanding your own humanity and owning that may be completly different for someone else and require a different path.
I find it interesting that you focused your post mainly on gender roles, where in mine, it played smaller role in what I had to say. I do agree with your statement that there is still gender roles in society, but they can be changed without being questioned. These days, people can change their sexuality completely with surgery and people can be openly gay without being casted out from society. I feel like the only difference these days between a man and woman is what Emily V. said, their genitalia.
ReplyDeleteOne question, how do you determine "how much humanity you have?" This part confused me a little. I agree that a person who accepts sacred space, spirituality, philosophy, and art has humanity, but what measures the amount of humanity?
Their was one spelling error, "wether," but other than that, I agreed what you said and enjoyed reading your post.