Opposite Sex

[Johnny Pav]

Even though I recognise that Butler’s argument is primarily a political one, it is important to recognise that it has also been confirmed through biological knowledge. There are not any concrete biological components including sex organs which predetermine behaviours and to some extent body structures. It is only through social interpellation and indoctrination that bodies and behaviours become gendered. There are no physical characteristics which are inherently sexually specific either. Men and women can both be short, tall, broad, muscular, fragile and slim.

[Timeless]

I agree with Johnny Pav, there is no clear distinction because men and women all vary in shapes, sizes, looks, hair colour etc etc. The list could go on. . .Things such as that though are genetic.

I believe that society does influence our roles in gender and how we perform them. For example, a girl who has two older brothers may keep her feminine traits and looks but may be 'tougher' than other females. Alternatively, a female who has a father who is a mechanic and therefore she develops an interest in cars and learning how to fix them, this goes against gender norms. Because of this they may be called 'tomboys'. There is nothing wrong with this, it is all down to our own individual experiences and influences we have all had from a very young age. Occurences like the two I have given as examples (both are people I know, I haven't just made them up!) are perfectly acceptable in this day and age, even though they go against what society tells us girls should be like.

Connell (2002) states that being male or female is not a fixed state, 'it is a becoming, a condition actively under construction'. We are constantly being taught gender-appropriate behaviour, whether we decide to stick by it or trying something different (a new mask Gergen would say) is up to the individual.

[Silver]

I do believe that we can put men and women into two distinct sexes, as i believe the biological difference that we have label us in this way. However, this idea of gender is completely different. I do believe that to a certain extent gender is due to social conditioning. As when we are raised girls are treated completely differently to boys. Butler, in her work, put great emphasis on language, that out gender is determined from the time you shout "it's a girl". This starts the whole ball rolling. And if we are to reject these norms that society places upon us, then we are brandished as strange. Like a drag queen, we all see this as a funny thing to do, we will go and watch a drag show, but it is not taken seriously. It is all taken as a joke. But, it is when it is taken beyond a joke, like when people have surgery to change into the opposite sex that we look differently upon it, and it becomes weird and strange. You are rejecting the identity that society has deemed acceptable.

[badreligion]

I believe that there is two distinctive sexes, but there doesnt have to be because of the varse diversity, there is a lot of room for crossover. The gap between male and female is becoming closer and the need to fufill your gender stereotypes is becoming less. I would like to live in a world where it didnt matter what sex you were but the reality is, it's one of the first ways we identify people when we see them, we do it automatically.

[07031351]

I believe that to some extent you can say that your either male or female in a biological sense (althought there are certain cases in which it is not so) but whether or not you are female or male in the way of gender is different. different cultures have different ideals of what it constitutes to be a man or woman so it cannot be a universal thing. Butler also states that because of culture we have different ideals on gender and have been forced to adhere to this. I also agree that if we didnt have stereotypical ideals of what it is to be a man and a women that gender roles and opposite sex might not exist.

[calling_stars]

I do believe that is a brute biological fact that we are either male or female, but this is only on a biological sense. As far as mentally (Butler's idea of 'gender') the boundaries are extremely fuzzy. I feel this simply because I have a few gay friends who vary between being very 'effeminite', and what would typically be seen as heterosexual (a.k.a very masculine). But unlike Butler I don't feel that their personalities have turned out like this simply because of society.

[katiet27]

Having studied biology and gender in the past, I am aware that defining gender as just male or female chromosomally is not always possible.  There are many people out there who have a label of gender forced upon them that aren't necessarily true to their genetic make-up.  This could be true of those who are trans-gender too, there may be chromosomal anomalies on their sex chromosomes that make them feel inherently of the opposite sex. 
But I could talk for donkey's about genetics...... (as my fellow seminar attendees sadly discovered, I had my "geek mask" on that day)

Butler's idea that gender is performed I wholly agree with on an identity level.  On a biological level, not so much!

[bumblebee]

I think that Butler puts across a valid point that you cannot simply divide individuals into two distinct sexes. However I do feel that simply is the key word there. Like all categories not everything will fit into one or the other, take for example the category of age. Someone who is 16 is legally allowed to have sex, but mentally they may not be able to cope with such a thing. Therefore the category of legality of the age to have sex is a generalisation, it does not mean that everybody has to fit into the category of having sex at 16 (for the first time), some have it before or later. Not sure if age and legality were the best example, but my point is that categories are generalisations and often based on stereotype, but most people are aware that not everyone or everything can fit into a said category. Essentially I do not believe that biologically it is a brute fact that we are either male or female. We alike ourselves to one category more than another in physical attributes, but generally forget to consider other attributes such as desire. Plus man and woman have different chromosomes, but as Butler discusses others have a combination of chromosomes or simply lack a certain one to make them defiantly male or female.  If sex did not exist then neither would gender

[dell_boi]

I believe that Butler puts across some very interesting points, including the distinction between men and women in their simple forms. But i believe that there is more behind the general understanding of women.

‘The existence of a gendered social order depends upon the division or distinction of gender itself.’ This was written by Jackson and shows that the the social standpoint of being a woman revolves around this cultural based understanding of gender.

I am quoting this because i believe this understanding that there is a masculine hierarchy, in social understandings, gives a social understanding to a claim that you can either be a ‘natural’ woman or an ‘un-natural’ woman. Which does not make sense in the claim that men do not have this stereotype.