rae's blog

Felice Picano and Gay Marriage

What would life be like if we had more options? Some diversity in terms of gender and sexuality is understood. Gender is, in many ways, just a social construct, so expanding the concept of gender outside of the gender binary seems relatively possible. If humans created it, they should be capable of changing it, right? And a multiplicity of genders logically leads to a multiplicity of sexualities: It seems silly to say that sexuality is limited to women or men who are interested in either women, men, or both women and men, when we recognize that gender is not limited merely to women and men.

Figure 1          

I have learned about gender in various classes. I learned that gender is constructed--socially, culturally, historically, politically, psychologically. I learned that people’s genders need not limit what they can do. I learned that biology is not destiny; one’s sex also does not control a person’s capabilities. I learned about the feminist movement in the United States. I learned about the many ways that sexism still exists in this country. I learned to see the forms that masculinity and femininity take in society and to notice the ways in which society socializes people to fit into one of two prescribed gender roles.