Category Archives: gender
Sometimes Long Hair Is For Boys
Anne Hathaway
Andre Agassi
Women may wear their hair short because it’s chic or easy to care for. And some guys favor long, sexy locks, a la Andrea Agassi — before he went bald.
But some women cut it short to express a more masculine sense of themselves. Just as some men — cross-dressers — don girlish wigs to bring out their feminine side.
So hair holds symbolic meaning: Long is feminine; it’s for girls. Short is masculine; it’s for boys.
Except when it’s not. Read the rest of this entry
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Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze
Della Calfee. Ass Like That
Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.
That’s what art critic John Berger famously observed.
But some feminist artists have turned the tables in the exhibit, Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze:
With a gallery filled with men stripped naked this body of work exposes women’s cheeky, provocative and sometimes shocking commentaries on the opposite sex (which) may make the viewer squirm a little. But that is precisely the point.
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A Sexy Halloween for Grade Schoolers?
Check out the change in Halloween costumes over the years. Girls are learning that a big part of their job is to look sexy. And they’re getting that message at a tender age.
Now that’s scary!
Then and now images, via Sociological Images:
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Short Hair is for Boys
By Trang Le
I am a girl. That is a simple fact.
But six years ago I cut my hair short and everything changed.
I still dressed the same, acted the same, walked and talked the same. (All admittedly tomboyish). But suddenly everyone saw me as a boy.
All because of a haircut. Read the rest of this entry
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Men Wearing Dresses to Feel Whole
“Vivienne”
All I want to do is to be able to be myself every day.
That’s from “Vivienne,” a man who cross-dresses in part to get in touch with his feminine side and feel whole.
Wearing a dress helps in the same way that actors use costume to get into a part.
But it’s unsatisfactory, he says. Read the rest of this entry
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The guy should always pay?
A young man and woman are out on a first date, and everything is going swimmingly. That is, until the check comes and the man’s card gets declined. With no cash and a bad credit card, what’s a guy to do?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2eqb2in1jI
Those words are from Tarnished Sophia, commenting on a scene from the ABC television show “What Would You Do?”
TS points out that the woman could have paid, or that people could have suggested that she pay. But no one does. She goes on:
But wait…it takes two to tango, and two people definitely ate the lunch and desert from this meal. Yet time after time the scenario runs it’s course without a single onlooker taking a moment to remind the gal that she has a wallet of her own. Instead, different men and couples voluntarily pay for this broke Romeo and his cheap Juliet. (Except for one segment, where no one offers to help, the woman leaves, and the man is left to wash dishes to pay off the meal.) Throughout the episode, female onlookers are heard to say that “this is his last date” and they “felt sorry for the girl”.
So what do I think?
The sort of sociology I do looks at how society gets in our heads — so much that no one feels like they have any choice outside of social scripts. That seems to be in play here. Read the rest of this entry
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Men Have Torpedos; Women Have “No-No’s”
A Rhetorische Torpedo
By Raissa Mbassa
Have you ever thought about slang for our privates?
Some of my guy friends call theirs a “pocket rocket” or a “torpedo.”
Let’s see, a rocket is an incendiary weapon, while a torpedo is a tube-shaped bomb that’s fired underwater. Both cause tremendous destruction to whatever they’re aimed at.
It’s all painted in glorification. Victory. A magic stick of supernatural powers. A man’s best friend. Read the rest of this entry
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His & Hers Objectification
Check out the side-by-side comparisons that show how strange it is when women and men get the same sex object treatment:
Women don’t seem to objectify men the way men do women.
It’s not that we’re any better. We just aren’t bombarded by a steady stream of sexualized and fetishized men and man-parts — that unconsciously seep into our brains. Thus, when men are turned into sex objects, it can look ridiculous.
But why’s objectification a problem? Read the rest of this entry
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“You run like a girl!” That’s a bad thing?
You’re a girl, Hermione
“You’re a girl.”
Is that a good thing or bad thing?
More than half the population are girls, or were girls. And girls can kick butt.
But some people don’t seem to think it’s such a good thing.
I was watching the movie, “Sweet November,” with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, where a little boy is taunted, “Your girl!” for making a small-ish boat.
Really, girls can make badass boats!
Or, Arnold Schwarzenegger called George H.W. Bush’s presidential opponents “a bunch of girlie men” back in ’88. Read the rest of this entry
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World Cup Fever Ups My Man-Quotient
I love soccer
By Alexander Medvedenko
American men haven’t said a word about soccer all year. And now we are all obsessed with the World Cup. FIFA “experts” have come out of the woodwork and Facebook posts are filled with tournament analysis. Guys have a favorite team, know the stats, and wear team jerseys — even if the team is not in the Cup.
When the World Cup ends it’ll be 11 months before you hear the word “soccer” again in the States.
It seems guys are basically lying to each other, talking it up even though few are really into the sport. Read the rest of this entry
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