History 465- Post 1

Looking back on all that was discussed  this past week, the comparison of gender and sex and how we conceptualize both in our society generated the most thought and reflection in me. To be honest it was a little unusual delving into the realms of philosophy, sociology, and even the sciences in a history class, but soon after discussion began it was obvious how clouded my perception of gender in our own culture is, and how necessary it was to “flush out” where these perceptions originated in order to better understand gender and sex relations in a different time period and geographical location.

It is truly difficult to step outside one’s self and examine how one’s own perceptions developed through a lifetime of socialization. Undoubtedly, I am largely the person I am because I was nurtured that way, but even so I tend towards certain things that are exactly opposite of the background I come from, that can only be explained by something genetic. Where do my ideas about sexes and gender come from? Partly from what I am told by society, but also partly from my own observations. Our society tells us many things about what certain sexes can or cannot do, but many of these are actually confirmed to be truth, although some are not. Our society is often discriminatory as to what a man can do versus a woman in the working world, or in the social world, or in a marriage, and such discrimination is typically wrong. On the other hand, there is no doubt what is biologically classified as a “male” is superior physically when compared to what is classified biologically as a “female”. No female (scientifically defined) has approached the standards males have achieved in almost every area a human can be tested physically.

This leads undoubtedly into the discussion of people like Caster Semenya who seem to be somewhere between a male and a female biologically. Are there only two sexes? Well no, not technically. As was discussed in class there are likely 5 or more, but any sex other than male or female is classified as being the result of a genetic error because other sexes account for such a small fraction of the overall population and come about as the result of the body acting as we perceive “abnormally”. Interestingly we often view such abnormalities as bad things whereas other cultures throughout history often looked favorably upon such occurrences, claiming them to be acts of God. Such different viewpoints can only be explained by differences between our society and others.  This ties in to the statement I initially made, which was that it is necessary to be able to step out of our perceptions and examine how they came about, because by discovering the origin we discover the reason for the way we act and the choices we make, and our understanding of OUR society is much greater. Likewise, when studying gender/sex relations in Latin America if we are able to discover how they came about and why they were the way they were, we will gain much greater insight into the historical events that took place. We will better understand why they took place and will understand the role of relations and its impact on history.