Quote Originally Posted by Frédérique View Post
[SIZE="2"]I think the ostracism towards effeminacy is quite real – it may be tolerated to a certain point, but tension is just under the surface, waiting for an outlet, as soon as a crowd gathers. Weakness (perceived or otherwise) has to be hunted down and destroyed, to make the strong that much stronger. I was picked-on enough back in school to know where I don’t fit in. To me, being a “complete man” has a different connotation, in regards to gender integration, but nobody wants to hear that idea in this polarized societal structure… [/SIZE]
Your words here are very smart and sensitive to the reality of what you describe. I have experienced, albeit many, many years ago the same thing. I was fortunate that my parents took a different view of what a boy and a girl should be to those views generally espoused by society. So I also had a different connotation of what it was to be "man". For me it was always more related to sharpness of purpose but also single-minded-ness which I considered a failure. Female meant more the embrace of all that was perceived to be associated, with the flip side an emotional flowing out into the environment and loss of structure which I considered a failure. There is an enormous dissatisfaction that arises for me when reducing to words the richness of thought and perception I experience on the inside. The world we live in cannot subscribe to the imagination of reality with all it's facets but rather seeks reduction through conceptualization which makes the world poor but safe.

Kathryn