The idea to start basic lessons in feminism has been floating around in my head for some time now, and I came up with this. Feminism 101 will (hopefully) be a recurring bit.
Also known as the gender binary hierarchy, the gender binary is extremely prevalent in mainstream society. Its purpose is to maintain gender roles, which ultimately plays a role in upholding the Patriarchy. It does this by limiting women and men to specific roles and behaviours. In particular, men are assigned what are regarded as the dominant and wanted characteristics while women are constrained to the less favoured traits. Also keep in mind the gender binary completely excludes transsexuals. Here’s a list to provide some examples of the gender binary at work:
Male / Female
Dominant / Submissive
Rational / Emotional
Mind / Body
Strong / Weak
Other binaries may also be applied to more specific examples of life as well. For example, in medicine:
Doctor / Patient
Skilled / Unskilled (Professional / Unprofessional)
Normal / Pathological
These are only a few examples and, of course, there will be exceptions, but these hold as general rules. I leave it to you to find everyday examples. Leave them in the comments if you like.
Before I leave this first lesson in Feminism 101, though, I’d like to remind you that the binary is easy to challenge, but women - and men - who choose to oppose it face consequences. Nevertheless, it is necessary for us to challenge the norms so that we can bring the Patriarchy down and end oppression.
Posted by Derek
