My name is Sasha Sobol and I'm a sophomore in high school.
Why did I do this project?
The fact that I was assigned to do something like this for English served as a motivation. Now let's talk about my reasons to make this blog for the project. I wanted to get people to think about gender. I also wanted to use the answers I got to show that gender roles are unnecessary and are potentially harmful. Specifically, there is not "ideal" person who fits all of the gender roles assigned to them perfectly. A lot of my interviewees said they don't always conform to society's gender expectations or that they conform for the most part. The point I'm trying to make is that we are sorted into two, occasionally very rigid, boxes, that can't possibly fit everyone because humans are all different.
Why did I ask the questions I asked and what are are my opinions about them? What did I conclude from asking these questions?
Let's examine each question individually.
What are your definitions of "man" and "woman?"
When I was asking this question, I was looking for two things. I wanted to know if the interviewees had any specific ideas of what men and women should and shouldn't be or do. I also was also checking for any minimal awareness or acceptance of transgender people, as well as the awareness of the distinction between sex and gender. This question made it easy to see how much people know. All I had to do was see if they said anything about genetics/biology/anatomy and if they said anything about people identifying with a gender.
Personally, I don't think there should be any requirements for being a man or a woman (nothing along the lines of "you have to be strong to be a man"). When it comes to determining who is qualified to be considered a man or a woman, I believe it's based on the person's identity, not necessarily their biological sex, genetics, or anatomy.
As of May 23, 2013, 19 of the 34 interviewees (whose interviews are up) defined men and women biologically, anatomically, or genetically, 14 mentioned that a person's gender identity has a role in determining their gender, and only 4 talked about gender roles that they associate with men and women. While it’s great that 14 people mentioned gender identity, the fact that those people were a minority shows that there is not enough awareness of transgender issues and acceptance of transgender people, or at the very least a lack of understanding of the concepts of sex and gender. The words “man” and “woman” describe genders, not sex. Acknowledging this is key in helping trans* people.
Are there any specific gender roles that you think should be there? Are there any you wish did not exist?
This question is pretty straight forward. I wanted to know what people think about gender roles. 25 interviewees said gender roles were unnecessary, outdated, or harmful. Two people had some ideas of what gender roles should be there, two were somewhat undecided, and one doesn’t believe gender roles exist anymore. These results show that most people around me don’t exactly support gender roles.
My thoughts on this are pretty much summed up by the following: Gender roles restrict everybody and are therefore harmful to society as a whole. Most of my interviewees agree with me to some extent.
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?
I used this question to show that people don't fit in the gender boxes perfectly. 4 interviewees said they do not conform to the gender expectations, 20 said they conform to some extent or mostly conform, and only 7 said they absolutely conform without the uncertainty of a "maybe" or "mostly." Furthermore, one person believes there are no expectations, and one person feels constrained by the gender roles imposed on them. It's also interesting how many people said they conform because that's how they are and how many said they act they way they're expected because that's what is expected of them. I did not count that, however, because it's a lot more valuable to just read some if the interviews.
When it comes to my answer to this question, it's a little more complicated that either conforming or not conforming because I don't necessarily identify with either of the binary genders, which, in my mind, frees me of expectations. There are a few things I do that are typically considered masculine or feminine, but for the most part I don't conform to either set of expectations.
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?
Here, I was checking to see how the interviewee's ideas of gender roles translate to real-life situations.
My answer is that women's breasts are over-sexualized, and as a result considered taboo. I think it's ridiculous how someone can be arrested for walking around without a shirt on (it's not nudity because breasts are not genitals). As for the situation with formal wear and how women are expected to show a lot of skin in dresses and men always have to wear suits/tuxes, it's outrageous in my opinion. Not only does these gender-specific expectations perpetuate the idea that men and women are two very different creatures with no overlap whatsoever, but it also shows how femininity is not being taken as seriously as masculinity. In my opinion dresses look a lot less serious that suits.
The answers I got for here vary. 16 people said there's nothing wrong with women showing their breasts, or at the very least recognised that this is an unfair double standard. Three people agree that women's breasts are inappropriate, and 9 people had other ideas. What was the most shocking to me, however, was that two people said that the difference in roles is "because women have breasts". Basically, they did not even understand the question. They are not aware of a possibility that women's breasts don't have to special all the time.
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?
Here, I was trying to see how much and what the people know about the patriarchy system where masculinity is placed above femininity. Different people had very different responses, but for the most part they agreed that femininity is seen as inferior to masculinity in some ways.
This question is one of the things I can go on and on about, but I'll try to be brief. For the vast majority of recorded history, women have been oppressed and seen as inferior to men. It is considered offensive for a man to be femi one because it's seen as a man giving up his status on top of the social ladder. The reason it's a lot more acceptable for women to be masculine is because women's rights activists are pushing for equality for women. They're overcompensating for the centuries of oppression, which takes everyone's focus away from men's rights and needs and especially the needs of feminine men.
Is it important to make the world a more welcoming place for gender nonconforming people? If so, how can this be done?
This question is pretty self-explanatory. There wasn’t much behind it. The overwhelming majority of the people I interviewed agreed that the world needs to be more friendly to gender nonconforming people. Many pointed out that it’s already heading in that direction. Those who did not say that we should do anything about it said it’s already good enough already or that it’s not a problem in the U.S.
My answer is that making the world more a more welcoming to everyone is very important. Some of the ways to go about this include educating people and/or spreading awareness (which is what I’m doing with my project) and making gender and gender roles not as big of a deal as it is now. Gender neutral bathrooms, gender neutral clothing, etc. would also be great.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I needed to make sure that my interviewees got a chance to say as much as they want about the topic.
Are the "results" I got representative?
Representative of what? The general population of Planet Earth? Not even close. Of people in the US? No. Of people in California? Not really. Of people at my school? Not necessarily. So, the short answer is no. But it is representative of the people around me.
Another question is “Did I represent different kinds of people?” And the answer is yes. 17 out of 35 people are male identified, 18 are female identified, and at least 25 are of diverse racial, ethnic, or national backgrounds. I also interviewed people of different ages. The youngest is 13 and the oldest is a senior citizen (Pat Phillips). I admit that adults (not school/college students) are not represented too well. I interviewed 6 adults, all of which are white. Two of them are my parents. However, they are very much representative of the adults around me. Another issue is that only 2 of the adults I interviewed are male identified. The reason here might have something to do with most (but not all) men mostly being satisfied with gender roles and seeing no need to talk about them. Of the 5 men I asked to be interviewed, 2 turned me down and one agreed to interview but hasn’t done the interview yet.
On a slightly random note, not all of the people I interviewed are students at my school. 5 of the student interviewees don’t go here and only one of the adults I interviewed works here.
Who is my audience?
This is perhaps one of the most important questions here, but I don’t really want to answer it. More than anything, I did this project for myself. However, if I have to pick an audience that is most likely to be interested, it’s probably the students and teachers at my school, as well as my parents. I don’t really think I need to limit the audience, but I definitely had my peers in mind as a potential audience. I made a blog for my peers because they seem to be the most internet-dependant generation yet.