malelesbian

Femboyism IS feminism.
or a person can just be themselves without attaching somewhat grandiose political significance to a vague identity term
The term doesn't have the political significance , the behaviors that constitute the identity do. I'm all for people being themselves, but the question is, do the actions they perform while being themselves subvert the gender binary? If not, then they're probably just a trad. To avoid being a trad, you have to do something different from the actions prescribed by traditional gender identities.
 

maxi

Well-known member
The term doesn't have the political significance , the behaviors that constitute the identity do. I'm all for people being themselves, but the question is, do the actions they perform while being themselves subvert the gender binary? If not, then they're probably just a trad. To avoid being a trad, you have to do something different from the actions prescribed by traditional gender identities.
what I'm suggesting is that subverting the binary might be better achieved if no one particularly cared whether someone acts in line with what is expected of their sex, rather than with a preoccupation over who does and who doesn't
 

malelesbian

Femboyism IS feminism.
what I'm suggesting is that subverting the binary might be better achieved if no one particularly cared whether someone acts in line with what is expected of their sex, rather than with a preoccupation over who does and who doesn't
Right, but that would only happen in a utopian post-gender society.
 

maxi

Well-known member
Right, but that would only happen in a utopian post-gender society.
I agree with you in a sense: it might not be possible for there to never be *some* pushback against people who don't conform to gender norms, because there will always be some sex differences and they will produce social effects. e.g. general differences in physical strength, or the fact that only women can get pregnant. I think notions of masculinity and femininity will always exist, if only because of heterosexual relationships and dating rituals. but the level of pushback can certainly be reduced significantly from where it is now, because so many of the gender stereotypes are arbitrary and in a lot of situations sex shouldn't be relevant.

what I don't get is why the act of simply doing the opposite of what is expected of your sex, while still associating those things with the opposite sex, helps the situation - surely that's just reinforcing the binary, not challenging it? many aspects of masculinity and femininity are arbitrary, e.g. pink = girly, makeup is for women, engineering is a male career, etc.... so if a man self-consciously performs "femininity" by wearing pink and being "sensitive", it's just another way of affirming the idea that "these things are feminine". thereby reinforcing the binary even though these things aren't inherently feminine. compare that to a man who just does those things without mentioning masculinity/femininity/identity altogether. do you see what I mean?
 

version

Well-known member
or a person can just be themselves without attaching somewhat grandiose political significance to a vague identity term

Agree to an extent, with the caveat that identities seen as 'political' are usually seen as such because they've been politicised by other people in the first place, e.g. attacked by the state, denied the same rights as others.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Agree to an extent, with the caveat that identities seen as 'political' are usually seen as such because they've been politicised by other people in the first place, e.g. attacked by the state, denied the same rights as others.
This is true. However, to bring the subject back round to what it was originally, ML is a straight guy who enjoys acting and looking feminine. Maybe he sometimes has to deal with unpleasant comments from idiots in the street as a result, but you can't really compare that to the fact that gay sex between men was a crime until just a few decades ago, or the constant right-wing attacks on the right of transgender people even to exist.
 
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