 From the first moment that babies are wrapped in pink or blue blankets, or even when prospective parents are planning the nursery. Society begins its inexorable moulding of male and female individuals into one of the two “appropriate” gender roles. And to me as a Frequent Flier the flight attendant’s cheery question “chicken or beef?” seems like an extension of that colour coding. I am always on the look out for someone to challenge the expected pattern. A red-wine-with-beef-woman for example is always refreshing, though vegetarian pasta with sparkling water seems to be growing in popularity for everyone. As our gendered experience begins at or even before birth we are all, in a sense, life-time gender experts. On the other hand as gender is such a core element in our identities most people take it as a given; as something that does not even need to be analyzed and understood. It could be said that we are all actors with a less than full understanding of the script we have been handed. Occasionally, we get some whispered instructions from the prompter’s box, in the form of “nice girls don’t…” or “a real man wouldn’t”. But that’s about it all the help we can hope for. You might well ask, What is the point of increasing gender literacy? Why not leave well alone? One good reason for being a gender literate is that gender differences affect everything we do whether we like it or not, and we should all understand that process. Gender literacy gives us a better understanding of the world around us, by enabling us to decode some of the less obvious messages, as well as by making us more discriminating consumers of the vast amount if information and misinformation in the popular media on women and men and gender issues in general. We should be able to make up our own minds as to whether Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus, or not? Over the last three or four decades an ever-increasing body of professionals has emerged who have as their actual full-time career, expertise in some aspect of gender equality; women’s human rights, labour and pension laws, gender and Free Trade Agreements, gender and HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence , media effects on gender stereotypes and so forth. As gender has become increasingly recognized as a field of expertise the information and the language it is couched in have become increasingly specialized and esoteric. It was ever thus. The same is true of course of lawyers, doctors, accountants, IT specialists. The difference is however that unlike these other fields…medicine, law, accountancy, information technology….. we are all gender practitioners, and expertise in gender is something that none of us can do without. The purpose of this site is to bring to the surface this unconscious expertise and at the same time to “domesticate” the expert knowledge which has become paradoxically arcane and inaccessible .It is not (primarily!!) intended as a pulpit from which to proselytise but hopefully will provide some food for thought and perhaps a roadmap whenever you find yourself at a gender crossroads! It is fundamentally intended to be fun. Hopefully some gender experts who have become highly specialized in some aspect of this complex field will also find here some useful resources. I’ll also be inviting some of “our own correspondents” in different parts of the world to share their views and activities in this space. Cambodia and Kosovo are already signed on & I hope more will follow. And lastly we have the News page where I’ll be posting items of topical interest and inviting your comments. Looking forward to seeing you all soon! Jane Hailé IMAGES CREDITS IMAGE 1 “We don’t believe in pressuring the children. When the time is right, they’ll choose the appropriate gender.” © The New Yorker Collection 1995 Robert Mankoff from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. IMAGE 2 “Despite my best efforts, you’re still the man and I’m still the woman.” © The New Yorker Collection 1996 Edward Koren from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. IMAGE 3 “Sex brought us together, but gender drove us apart.” © The New Yorker Collection 2001 Barbara Smaller from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. IMAGE 4 “It might be considered a hate crime, so tell me honestly. Did you shoot your husband because of his gender?” © The New Yorker Collection 2000 J.B. Handelsman from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. IMAGE 5 “On second thought—you hunt, I’ll gather.” © The New Yorker Collection 2007 Michael Maslin from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. IMAGE 6 “There’ve been reports of an increase in chatter among the women.” © The New Yorker Collection 2004 Tom Cheney from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. IMAGE 7 “I’d love to join you in saying horrible things about men, but I used to be one myself.” © The New Yorker Collection 2000 William Haefeli from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. IMAGE 8 “Every now and then, I get an overpowering urge to wear a cowbell.” © The New Yorker Collection 1995 Danny Shanahan from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. |
The Judge & the Hijras Brussels, February 1st, 2010 Full citizenship in sight for Pakistan's transgender community read more The Joke's in the Gender Brussels, January 31st, 2010 Stanford University researchers discover that men & women produce & consume humour differently. read more Vive La G-Spot! Brussels, January 31st, 2010 La Belle France Contests Anglo-Saxon Attitudes to the G-Spot read more Sarkozy Struggles with Burka Ban Brussels, January 27th, 2010 France seems set this week to settle for a partial burka ban. read more International Olympic Committee stumped by 'intersex' athletes Brussels, January 24th, 2010 The case of South African athlete, Caster Semenya, diagnosed has having an intersex condition continues to generate heat if not light. read more Reclaiming the F word Brussels, January 10th, 2010 The Guardian newspaper predicts an exciting year for feminism with a bumper crop of new books, films, plays and marches read more We did it! Who did it? Brussels, January 6th, 2010 The Economist declares that women's economic empowerment has been achieved with only a modicum of friction read more South Africa's President Marries Again Brussels, January 6th, 2010 Jacob Zuma, the polygamous president of South Afroca gained his third First Lady on Monday (04/01/2010). read more Appointment of female gay bishop threat to the Anglican Church Brussels, December 8th, 2009 The appointment of Mary Glasspool as Assistant Bishop in the diocese of Los Angeles has provoked protests from the Head of the Anglican Church read more You are a beauty, you Fifi! Cairo, December 7th, 2009 The first women-only café (ahwa) opens in Cairo in response to the male-dominated traditional cafés which are such a feature of the region as a whole. read more |
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by Gender Centrict I web designer
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