The mother states: "If my daughter had dressed up as Batman, no one would have thought twice about it. It seems there are much greater implications for boys who stray from their expected gender role than for girls. And this theme has recurred throughout our readings. When Healey discusses this in his book Homosexual Desire in Revolution Russia, he mentions several times that "feminine" lesbians and "masculine" homosexual men were considered less "sick" than "masculine" lesbians and "effeminate" homosexual men. However, between the latter two, the "manly" woman was much more likely to be tolerated, or even respected, by society. Masculinity in women endowed them with productivity, authority, and loyalty, while male femininity was considered entirely negative and often associated with backwardness and weakness. Clearly, even now it seems, it is is considered much more serious for a man to forsake his prescribed gender role.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/when-boys-dress-like-girls-for-halloween/
(There are links to the blog and the CNN video at the bottom)
I think that boys and men are definitely under a lot of pressure to follow normative gender roles and to look for masculine role models. Although girls are under constant pressure to fit the standards of femininity, it is considered normal that they find male role models. It is ok for a girl to look up to a man, but it is not ok for a boy to look up to a woman. This goes back to the historical hierarchy that puts men over women. In Harvey´s book we see that “masculine” women were seen as a sign of the revolution, however feminized men remain further stigmatized. Spurlin mentions how important the image of a masculinised nation is, and how gay and lesbians endanger to feminize the state and thus destabilise the nation. I think that this is the problem with boys dressing as girls on Halloween.
ReplyDeleteBecause our society holds a view of positive masculinity as an opposition to negative femininity, it is okay for girls to “look up” to men, in a way that is not ok for men to look up to women, because they would be looking down. We can compare this to the example given by Laqueur, of girls engaging in masculine behaviour being able to pop a penis, while men involved in feminine activities would not loose their penis, because nature moves towards perfection (towards the male), and never towards imperfection.
Anyway, going back to Halloween. It is interesting that when you grow up, men dressing up as women might be seen as funny, or as reinforcing their masculinity by representing something they are not (feminine). However, a child that dresses up as a girl, is seen as a sign of transgenderism in the same way than gay men dressing up as women are seen as expressing their own latent desire to be from the opposite sex (We can see that the idea of homosexuals as having the brain of the opposite sex.)
In the video the psychologist chastises the mom for "outing" her son. The whole thing might be embarrassing to him later, but I don't think he's exactly been "outed," except as someone who likes to wear girly clothes- which is only a big deal if you make it one.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like "girly" characteristics are just devalued in society, but reluctantly accepted if girls display them. Many liberal feminists have set their goals as women achieving what men have, leaving female qualities unattractive for everyone. We had "Take Your Daughter To Work Day" encouraging women to show their daughters what it's like to be a mom with a job - but no "Take Your Son To Housework" (or something) Day, showing boys how to rethink their gender role.
...I just looked up Take Your Daughter to Work Day online, and it turns out that it was changed to Take Your Daughter and Son To Work Day, which seems to defeat the original purpose, given that it was created by Gloria Steinem and Ms Magazine. It's also brought to you by Barbie!