Support's Blog

Society likes to (generally speaking) adhere to a system which splits gender into t wo distinct roles: Man (masculine) and Female (feminine). It’s often referred to as the Gender Binary system but not hard to see how this system presents limitations and can be problematic to those who do not clearly identify with one gender or who see themselves as being outside the gender binary system all together. Some scholars criticize and reject the standard gender binary because there is evidence that humans do not exclusively exist as “male” or “female”, but that rather a spectrum can exist.

As one who sits comfortably with my gender, identity and sexual preference because it fits within traditional western views I can sometimes be oblivious to the plight of those who society does not accept as they are. The more I educate myself on these things the more I realize the daily discrimination some people must feel… and shouldn’t we here on Fuckbook be open, honest and accepting of all sexual identities and be sexually free to be ourselves (within the limitations of the law)?

I discussed briefly a few blogs back about Omisexuality (or Pansexuality); that is the sexual attraction or romantic love towards all gender identities (not limited to the tw o genders of the gender binary system). The concept of Omisexuality/Pansexuality is that it rejects the concept of the need for a specific sexual preference and recognizes that the world exists with more than tw o genders. There is a saying ‘love is blind’… it should read, ‘omisexual love is blind’ for the fact they are able to fall for a person based only on their character (perhaps good looks too) and without subconsciously needing them to be of a certain orientation or gender.

Even the terms heterosexuality or homosexuality become problematic if you do not yourself identify with one gender. The unfamiliar terms of Androphilia (attracted to masculinity) and Gynephilia (attracted to femininity) are used for such people as trans, intersex or genderqueer.

Genderqueer? Do I hear you say? I’m going to quote direct from Wikipedia here.. because I couldn’t make it read any clearer if I tried;

“Genderqueer people may identify as one or more of the following:

• having an overlap of, or blurred lines between, gender identity and sexual and romantic orientation.

• tw o or more genders (bigender, trigender, pangender);

• without a gender (nongendered, genderless, agender; neutrois);

• moving between genders or with a fluctuating gender identity (genderfluid);

• third gender or other-gendered; includes those who do not place a name to their gender;

Many genderqueer people see gender and sex as separable aspects of a person and sometimes identify as a male woman, a female man, or a male/female/intersex genderqueer person. Gender identity is defined as one's internal sense of being a woman, man, both, or neither, while sexual identity refers to an individual's enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to others.”

So how can society move forward to acknowledge and create an inclusive environment for all mankind (oh the irony!!)? Does the Postgenderist movement have valid points for elimination gender roles all together?

In July 2012 Gopi Shankar, a Gender activist and a student from The American College in Madurai organized a postgenderist, genderqueer meeting. Gopi said apart from male and female, there are more than 25 types of genders.

Postgenderism is not concerned solely with the physical sex or its assumed traits. It is focused on the idea of eliminating or moving beyond gendered identities. In a traditional gender construct one is either a man or woman (regardless of their genitalia), but in postgenderism one is neither a man nor woman nor any other assumed gender role. Thus an individual in society is not reduced to a gender role but is simply an agent of humanity who is to be defined (if at all) by one's actions.

One of the earliest expressions of postgenderism was Shulamith Firestone's The Dialectic of Sex. It argues,

The end goal of feminist revolution must be, unlike that of the first feminist movement, not just the elimination of male privilege but of the sex distinction itself: genital differences between human beings would no longer matter culturally. (A reversion to an unobstructed pansexuality Freud's 'polymorphous perversity' - would probably supersede hetero/homo/bi-sexuality.) The reproduction of the species by one sex for the benefit of both would be replaced by (at least the option of) artificial … would born to both sexes equally, or independently of. either, however one chooses to look at it; the dependence of … the mother (and vice versa) would give way to a greatly shortened dependence on a small group of others in general, and any remaining inferiority to adults in physical strength would be compensated for culturally.

Imagine a world where no barriers existed due to gender roles…freedom or confusion?