Okay. I’m only going to get into this briefly because it’s a shitstorm waiting to happen and I don’t feel like wearing out my delete key when the email starts flooding in, but here goes.
For those of you who have previously insisted that life is somehow more “interesting” without gender roles, and that to ignore them is a sign of maturity or enlightenment, I’d just like to say: Give it hell! Whatever you feel like you want to do to be happy, I am 100% in support of, as long as it doesn’t damage or retard my persuit of a freshly toasted bagel or a cup of coffee.
However, to say that gender roles such as they are are purely based on societal pressures and not on any biological wiring is pure hogwash.
Follow me along one example, just for giggles:
I think we can all accept as fact that the primary goal of any species is to replicate itself, to continue its “way of life”. In the case of humans, that means eating bagels and wearing watches. In the case of giraffes, that means walking around and eating leaves. There are many viable means of replication of a species which mother nature has invented, but one of the most successful involves the notion of gender.
Now, in the case of mammals, this replication procedure is carried out by two different genders, which we will call male and female for the purposes of discussion. The male mammal injects a fertilizing agent into the female, and her innards use that agent to turn the eggs they have lying about into the beginnings of a child mammal. This process of making a child takes time, however, and means that the mother of the future mammal has to endure what is known as a “gestation period”. During this period, the “mother” (or female) has to carry inside her body the gestating child.
From the standpoint of replication and propagation of the species, this is wasted time. The mother can not be impregnated again until after she has had the child she is currently carrying. This presents a problem, but thankfully mother nature has had the benefit of millions of years to roll the dice on coming up with a solution, and one has been found!
The male of the species is able to impregnate as many women as he can get his hands and/or genitals on! Thusly, it is possible for every potential mother to be impregnated at any given time with only one fertile male on hand (within reason, of course. There’s only so much time in a day, ladies.)
So, here we have the beginnings of the acceptibility for promiscuousness on the part of a male. I think you guys can interpolate from here, but I would like to point out that I think pretty much all of our social picadillos have a biological root. Feel free to cite anthropological studies to the contrary, though!
Am I making sense here, girls?
Hi. I'm 
This is just my opinion, but I think that when women say they want to be considered equal to men, they mean equal in terms of rights and responsibilities. Burping and farting in public is less of an issue to myself and most of the female persons I know than is, say, being told we belong at home cooking and cleaning and taking care of the kids. The media reinforces the stereotype that women are the caretakers of the home and men are the breadwinners. It's subtle, but it's there. I use commercials for Clorox to illustrate this point. It's always Mama who has the magic of Clorox. Whether it's in countertop wipes for the kitchen or color-safe bleach for the laundry, it's always Mama using this cleaning product. Why can't Dad do a load of laundry for once? Or clean the kitchen after his wife has spent two hours cooking for a family of five? It does not shrink the penis any to show a little consideration for someone you love. Another commercial really sends the point home. I don't know if they show this one anymore, but I used to see ads for EZ Bake Ovens as recently as this year. It's always a little girl taking something out of her little oven and feeding it to a little boy. What are we trying to do, convince them while they're young that this is the way it is? Are we trying to make sure little girls grow up wanting to be housewives? What if a little girl wants to be President? Will she be convinced to give up her dream for a more realistic goal of wife and mother? This is the message we're sending our children with these commercials, and this is only television. I shudder to think of what other types of media are doing to us.
Your argument is sound. Or would be if it weren't for the little omitted fact that our planet is far too overpopulated as it is. Desert hopping mice? Go ahead and breed! Humanity? Deal out Implanon and pray for the best.
Granted that we have biological attributes and these have an effect on our behaviour, isn't it also the case that the defining quality of human beings, that seperates us from other animals, is that biology is not destiny? To give one example, some men go their whole lives without ever having sex or even masturbating, as a way of dedicating their bodies to God. Now, whether or not you think this is a crazy way to spend your time, it shows that men are not simply slaves to their cocks; given a certain kind of acculturation and exercise of the will, they will behave in a way totally contrary to their biological programming. The question that that opens up for me is, what kind of acculturation do we want? Given that some part of gender roles come from biology, and some from our culture… well, we have some say in that culture bit. We don't have to take what's handed out. So, um, yeah, that'd be my reason for saying, it's worth thinking about whether or not we like the current state of affairs in gender-role assignation.
Bear with me kids…I have not slept in 48 hours or so and I may not be totally logical now…or maybe I will be…lets find out! I don't really buy into gender roles being assigned by society as an inescapable entity. Sure, there are images that you are fed from magazines to television to fairy tales as a child that reinforce the basic “Suzy Homemaker” image of females, and the “Breadwinner” image of males, and things that go with it. But from the beginning there have always been those who did not feel any obligation to follow society's dictates for their behavior, proving that it IS possible to be who you want to be under difficult circumstances *say, back in the 1800s when being a female doctor was considered vulgar and a reason for social ostracization because the woman was taking a masculine role by being educated, working AND not fainting at the sight of blood*. If it was possible for someone to do it then, it is MUCH easier to do it now. So I don't buy into that concept that people are too pressured by society to be someone they aren't. If you want it…you'll do it, or you'll just put up a good show about supposedly wanting it. I am a strange mix of female and male roles…and I will be the first to admit it. I am a girly-girl, C-cup breasts, curvy hips, a notably sized ass, hair litterally flowing down my shoulders and past my ass…not even close to masculine in build. However, I love to lift weights *I was the only girl in a class of 30 guys in high school to lift weights for a grade* and I am good at it. I am strong. I like to horseplay, my right hook is wicked when I am pissed, I practically come at the sight of a finely cared for Mustang *God how I love cars* I love hockey games for the violence *blood and vomit will bounce on ice you know*. I suffer from the male “fix it/save you” complex. I want to fix people's problems, save them from their problems and if I cannot I get frustrated as all hell. I also love the color purple, horses *particularly my own*, romance novels, dresses, wearing make-up, being cuddled in front of a fire, enya's soft flowy music, flowers, chocolate, boys with pretty eyes, stuffed animals, and God. and I take every bit of that with me when I go to my world literature class, a hockey game, out on a date, into the gym or to bed when I read myself to sleep. I had no problem literally walking into the weight-lifting room and putting down a bouquet of flowers, talking about literature with a friend of mine and squatting with 200 pounds on the bar. I am feminine when I can be, when I feel it is appropriate, such as in public, on formal occasions, or when I am attempting to not embarass someone around me, but sure I fart while I read Jane Eyre in bed at night, and yes, when my friends are congregating in my room for pizza at 3 am I will compete with Jennifer and Ryan to see who can belch the loudest…but I know when that is appropriate and when it isn't. I am not stupid. That is why I don't let things like people's expectations prevent me from being who I want to be whenever I want to be me. all in all Jim, I'm not offended that you flip out when a girl belches in public or tries to drink you under the table. Thats just who you are. I am bothered by the comment
“If you're better at the things I am good at than I am, then what possible reason could there be for us to be together?” from your last entry
You should not be with someone because she can outbelch you, or fix a radiator faster than you, nor should you be with her because she cannot do it. You should not let what she can DO have any bearing on why you are with her…or at least, thats how I feel about guys being interested in me. It should be about the words that come out of my mouth, the way I am able to let them say whatever they want and not make them feel stupid for saying it, the way I know just when to hug him and tell him that his Communications professor DOES have it out for him. So…I strongly hope that you don't date girls based on something like that because I really get the feeling your a decent guy and it would suck if you did that.
So…I'm still sleepy, did I succeed with the logical?
I'd rather have a taco than a burrito…
I had something important to say, but then I started to think about tacos and I forgot it…
damn you tacos!!
As tempting as that argument is, evolutionary psychology is just a theory. I've also heard it said that it's in the mother's best interest to have as much sex as possible, so that no one male knows who the father of the child is, and all of them then stick around to help raise it, thus (potentially) passing on their genes to the next generation.
ok people. one thing you can't get past which makes us different. girls have boobies and vaginas and boys have penises.
so unless you really want switch (and i understand that some people do) why don't you just be happy with what the hell you are and go eat some burritos. In the end, its the burritos that will bring us all together.
too many words…I think i'm going to go impregnate some females.
wait, what does this have to do with burping?
…But who are all these promiscuous blokes going to be promiscuous with once they've got their women up the duff (given there's an average of one each to go round)? The only option seems to be promiscuous with each other. Hodgson, are you trying to tell us something? This isn't your subtle way of outing yourself, is it? We have a right to know.
Nikkers. Where on Earth did you get the idea (idea, not “fact”) that the world is overpopulated? Nonsense.
fucking update already. wish me happy birthday or something.
You are such a shit-stirrer Jim.
“The male of the species is able to impregnate as many women as he can get his hands and/or genitals on!”
Beautiful.
Why do humans dwell so much on “should” in ways that don't apply to our survival? I'm just myself damnit. Whatever that may entail. The only time I get pissed off at “male repression” is when I feel repressed or unfairly judged by them. But dude…that's not that often. We gotta do something about equal pay for equal work, though…
i don't want to bash-apparently i chose a controversial day to say hello and i like what you say.
i'm also found at http://emofaerie.diaryland.com
good luck with the hate mail
having a cock is no excuse for acting like one.
this is the same logic that thinks that women shouldn't be allowed to work outside the home… because they're naturally programmed as the nesters! they can't leave the house, they have to keep the nest fleeced and look after the kids!
biological excuses for things are also reasons for people not to take responsibility for their own behavior. i'm really disappointed hodgson.