Hey there. As you know, I’m going to school for psychology. This semester I started taking my first psychology class: The Psychology of Sex and Gender.
So, far, it’s been very interesting, especially with everything going on in the United States today. Add to the fact that my child has come out as Pansexual as well as Non-Binary, and the timing couldn’t be any more perfect, either.
Anyway, so given that I hardly have any time to blog right now, I figured I would share what I’m doing. Every week, we read two chapters out of the textbook, and then as our weekly assignment, in addition to a quiz, we submit a Discussion Post on the Class Discussion Board. Modeled after Facebook et all, classmates are required to comment on two other posts besides the one they bring to the board. This is the topic question in bold, and below that is what my own reply is. I’m not going to bother sharing with you the comments I left on other classmates, or what the other classmates have commented on mine, for obvious reasons. But, if you’re interested in getting a glimpse into the world of Psychology of Sex and Gender, here it is.
What are some advantages and disadvantages of upholding the ideal manhood? What are some advantages and disadvantages of upholding the ideal womanhood? In what ways does the ideal manhood compare to the ideal womanhood? Do they share any advantages and disadvantages in common? If so, what are they?
I was torn on whether to answer this question or the one about what I learned about genes and chromosomes contributing to intersex, because pretty much 90% of all that was new information to me, and reminded me just how magnificent this universe tends to be.
I’m choosing this one because frankly it’s been a very long day for me at the job and I’m exhausted, and I would be basically paraphrasing the section in chapter 3 where they talk about the genes and chromosomes. This one seems to come more naturally to me.
I was raised by a single mother who didn’t just play the role of hunter/gatherer as well as caregiver, but even went back to school, got a degree, and changed careers when I was a toddler. Needless to say, my mother did away with every stereotypical role society had tried to assign her. Growing up in this way, I feel, put me at an advantage when it comes to rejecting any sort of gender norms – at least from the female side of things.
As a man, and as a husband and father, I can speak from experience that during those times (rather recently, thanks to COVID) where I was out of work and unable to play that “ideal manhood” role out, I felt inadequate at best, and downright useless and depressed at the worst.
As you can see, just off of this one example, upholding the “ideal manhood” is a double edged sword. I can’t tell for certain how much of this is engrained societal pressures and how much of it is evolutionary and biological. And, I literally don’t have a basis with which to understand the “ideal womanhood” if any part of that includes not joining the workforce or furthering your education. So really, I’m not even sure what the “ideal womanhood” really is. And, I gotta say, I was surprised to learn that all those times I soothed a crying baby, my testosterone levels went down. So if upholding the “ideal manhood” means passing off that particular responsibility to the woman, count me out.
In short, both have disadvantages, and that boils down to limitations. As far as the advantages go, I guess both would have those as well, mainly being the satisfaction of fulfilling some deeply ingrained part of who you are.
J.R. Sorensen 