Does 'gender' matter anymore (or will it in the future?)

[Robin414]

I don't mean sexuality (I think) but gender?

I'll make it short (and open for interpretation)...

(Yes I've been watching too much you tube and too much science v. creation stuff and I've had too much wine...)

[Kelly Whelan]

As much as we acknowledge that gender is a continuum of classifications where we can fall into all the places in between the black and white, we as a species have a strong instinctive need for gender dichotomy.

When people are flashed images of a person's face the first thing that is decided is the gender. We do this within a tenth of a second, faster than determining race, age or the well being of the person. What this sadly means is that reasoning people or society away from their traditional views of gender might be harder than coming up with some well worded arguments. :(

Here is a good video that explains the point with better clarity. It's a talk on the brain in general and what it is to be human. Skip to about 21 minutes where gender is raised.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smBHZuMuAis

[Teresa]

Robin,
I guess after a few glasses of wine gender lines become blurred anyway ! I'm not advocating we drink wine all day, but 'mI beginning to think your comment has some truth in it.
Far more jobs are being done by either gender, clothes are again becoming gender neutral, or male clothes are becoming more effeminate and women are wearing various styles of trousers more and more. I realise clothes don't make the gender but their appearance suggests it. I commented recently on schools now asking new entrants what gender they consider themselves, I'm not sure where that one is going to go but asking most parents what their 4-5 year old children's gender is must puzzle some parents and make them wonder what sort of school they have chosen for their children.

[mumpossible]

I hope gender will matter less. But actually I think the gender lines are getting more rather than less defined in recent years.

This is speaking as a parent. With my older children, now in their early 20s, it was easy to select gender neutral toys and clothes. With my younger children (under 10) it seems everything comes in pink or blue and the gender rules are quite strict. Almost every nursery item has a blue or pink option. Toy cars, legos, all have a pink option first the girls. And even adult products like bic pens often have a girls option. So society, at least in terms of consumerism, is pushing the boy or girl option far more than at any other time.

[Kate Simmons]

I'll just say it doesn't mean much to a "gender bender". :battingeyelashes::)

[CarlaWestin]

Well, I'm definitely of male gender. That's why it's so exciting and scandalous when I experience the attributes of femininity.
In that sense, gender matters for the thrill of the difference.

[AllisonS]

I think it will matter less in the future. Gender and race are similar. Both concepts make sharp divisions between groups of people. Both classes of people are visually distinguishable, for the most part. But, underneath the obvious physical differences, there are strong similarities. The DNA of an African American may be more common with mine than the DNA of a white male. Gender is the same. Obvious physical markers, but more similar than different. Of my kids, the most similar one to me (according to the family) is my daughter. Unless civilization is going backwards (it may be), science and education will lead the way and people will have weaker stereotypes of what it means to be black/white, male/female.

[I Am Paula]

Gender as a political distinction is s..l..o..w..l..y going away. Equal rights, equal pay, who does what, and where is becoming very blurred.

[Alexa CD]

Gender definitely still matters, and I think it will for a long time. The world will be a very different place when gender no longer matters or is at least not taken into account in some way. I know it's essentially a generalization in many ways but men and women are different to varying degrees in almost every way, therefore it really does matter in peoples minds and in reality. Sexuality will cease to matter sooner, but it's hard to say for either because of how quickly things change.

[JenniferMBlack]

It dose matter to many because poeple still get hung up on that kind of thing. It is still a big deal of a woman attains a rank in the military and of a woman gets elected president. There has defiantly been some blurring of the gender lines over the last decade but it still matters to many.

[sometimes_miss]

I don't see it changing. Human reproduction depends upon sexual desire and lust, and you don't have that without differences in how we behave and see each other.

[StarrOfDelite]

I wonder how long it will be befoe the U.S. Census has "Androgynous" as a choice? For me,

Seriously, I think that for the 98% who aren't transgendered, gender itself will continue to matter. We are what we are based on the chromosomal chemistry with which we are born, and on the acculturization we receive from our parents and peers.

We're finding out all the time that not only are our physical characteristics shaped by our genetic structure, but our attitudes as well. I still spend hours a week trying to figure out the significance of VMAT2 (the "god" gene), and I feel rather confident that something similr will be discovered to explain Why I am the way I am.

I'm trying to rinse all of the brain wash shampoo stuff that was implanted in my brain before I was 14, but if it's difficult for me to do, how much more difficult would it be for someone who doesn't feel Trans- or Andro- ?

[Nashmau]

i see it changing as soon as babys are born out of a tank aka when human reproduction does not involve the human body anymore.

[Alice Torn]

I agree with Sometimes Miss. In the midwestern American smaller towns, farms, and cities where i am at, i see wedding after wedding taking place, and so very many young GGs pregnant, or with babies, toddlers, and older kids. I don't see much changing around here, except me! I feellike the only guy in the local region here, who puts on dresses, and has no wife.