What are your definitions of "man" and "woman?"
To me, there’s both a technical definition and a more “human” definition. My technical definition is that a man has one kind of sexual organ, and a woman has another. However, I consider a person’s gender as what they prefer to be, be it man, woman, both, or none.
Are there any specific gender roles that you think should be there? Are there any you wish did not exist?
There shouldn’t be any gender specific roles out there, in my opinion. There’s no big difference between a man and a woman (save for maybe the fact that they’re different genders), so why should there be any specific gender roles?
Do you conform to the society's gender expectations? Is there anything you do that is not usually associated with your gender? If you do conform, is it more because society expects you to or because you identify with the expectations?
Most of the time, I conform to society’s expectations of being a man. However, I have an unnatural fear of pain and tend to cower at everything and anything that might hurt me. That’s almost the exact opposite of one of the most major stereotypes of being a man: being “macho”. The rest of the time, I conform to society’s expectations because I identify with most of them, and some because the people around me force me to.
A lot of the time when it's socially acceptable for a man to expose his chest, a woman has to cover hers. Yet when it is socially acceptable for a woman to show her legs, arms, and cleavage (think dresses), the same is not acceptable for a man. What are your thoughts about these two situations?
The boundaries described here are actually lessening. I honestly don’t know about other parts of the United States, but there are increasing amounts of women athletes who expose their chest, and more and more men who show more of their legs and arms.0
In many cases, women and girls are encouraged to embrace their masculine side, while feminine men and boys are looked down upon by society. What do you think about this? Why do you think femininity is seen as less than masculinity? How does this relate to discrimination in the workplace?
I’ve always viewed femininity/masculinity as a byproduct of history. Back in the old days, men were more valued than women. They were supposed to go out, do all the hard work, and eventually come home and have enough money to support their families. A woman’s job in those days was just to stay at home and take care of the kids. Even though the world has become more equal in a sense, there’s still a lot of discrimination between men and women (and even still an underlying message that being male is better than being female), which leads to more unfair opportunities.
Is it important to make the world a more welcoming place for gender nonconforming people? If so, how can this be done?
It’s not just important to make the world more welcoming for gender-nonconforming people, it’s imperative to make the world a better place for all people. If enough people are informed and aware of the gender-nonconforming community, more people will rise up and start to protest the inequality. Sure, there will always be people who disagree, but the most we can do now is to keep educating as many people as possible and encourage them to act.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Not at the moment.
