gender in society

messaluna:

its absolutely ridiculous that woman to wear corsets anytime they went out in the victorian era. what pain. of course, we still do it today. wearing heels, getting our legs waxed, among all the emotional pain we put ourselves though, as well. beating ourselves up because we don’t look good enough, thin enough, etc. its never ending!!

post:

first, let me say, how ridiculous the audio of goblin market was! while read like poetry should be read, perhaps, stressing on certain points and lines and what not, the woman’s voice drove me up the wall. further more, listening to her make provocative statements like ‘she sucked until her lips were sore’ as equally ridiculous as her pronunciation. i did not enjoy the poem, ‘the goblin market’. i thought it was sexual and provocative in a really roundabout and cliche way. the analogy of fruit to women and sex, the ‘balls’ to men, etc. said and done.

second, i find the concept of masculinity being accepted/rejected in a history of feminism class resonating with me. tosh talks about on page two of ‘what should historians masculinity?’. he quotes feminist natalie zemon davis when regarding feminist history, who states ‘Our goal is to understand the significance of the sexes, of gender groups in the historical past.’ (66 tosh) while trying to ignore the ramifications of gender, and where that places you in society is a good concept, its not realistic. i understand that by doing so davis believes that we are placing less importance of your gender in society, and more on your personality, class, social situation etc, but in reality, especially from the 70’s way back into ancient times, gender was a HUGE determining factor as to where you fit into society, your roles, your class, your place, etc. it still is. we can not ignore facts. and the fact is, is that gender placed you, end of story.

i also think that individuals disagreeing that masculine studies have a place in feminist studies is total bs. the feminist movement started as a counteract to men and the way society placed females in comparison to men. so how can one ignore male studies, when studying feminism? and why would one want to anyway? both are equally relevant in history studies, and frame our modern day society today. this is where i do believe davis has good ideas. lets learn about gender as a whole, not just as strictly male or female. there are many that argue that all of history has been ‘masculine history’, and while this may have some truth, its time to act like equal adults, and level the playing field so that we can have a place in the history books, don’t you think?

this was a damn, interesting class. a lot of info on queer theory, sexuality, etc.

this picture is a basic analogy to our conversation.

post:

what i find as most interesting, particularly in the ‘facts of life’, is how loaded and how ‘dangerous’ the subject of sex is, even in modern days. the introduction of ‘facts of life’ basically starts with stating what it is, and what it is not. it makes sure to point out that there are many, many subjects and identities connected to ‘sex’ and ‘sexuality’. some of these ‘subjects’ include religion, morals, desire, etc. some sexual ‘identities’ that individuals take on are, is being a poly-sexual person, being straight or gay, etc. some argue that sex and death is the only reason we live. so clearly, the subject of sex is loaded. while the intro almost ‘pokes’ fun at sexual adviced books, having cautionary intros like ‘Do Not Read On Unless…’, this into does this in not so obvious way. The author wants to clarify, that it is not ‘this’ nor ‘that’, but ‘THIS’, in order not offend, seclude, upset, etc.

Sex is such a private and sensitive subject, that it is almost always apologized for in some ways. This intro does this, as well. It explains what it IS NOT in order to not offend as above stated, and sort of apologizes for not talking about it. It also sort of apologizes for not having all the information necessary to talk about sex in england, as well. 

why must the author tip toe around, instead of just getting to the point? why must we always tip toe around sex, instead of getting to the point. sex is good, sex is fun, sex makes baby’s, and almost everyone is doing it. the end.

fuckyeahmedicalstuff:

-The pills that women take nowadays also work on chimpanzees.

-The oldest known condoms, around 1640, were made of fish intestines.

-The Egyptians around 1850 BC used crocodile dung as a contraceptive. And croc dung is pure alkaline.

-Charles Goodyear, yes as in Goodyear tires, patentted the first rubber condom.

-During WW1, condoms in the US finally became legal. And troops ignored the advice to abstain from sex

-Some women are allergic to latex.

-Also, some women are allergic to sperm.