Wo(man)?

Ok so, in recent news there has been a revelation that a man is pregnant. Don't become aghast. Babe and his crew isn't flying yet. And hell isn't thawing out as we speak. His name is Thomas Beattie and he is trans gender. He was born a female and got a trans gender/sex change operation years ago. He married some woman and now they are having a child that he has been nurturing inside of him for about six months now. He's definitely showing.

Alright, I know that the immediate reaction of most people would be something like, "that's sick, he's/they're disgusting, both of them are an abomination", so on and so forth. However, I refuse to engage in any active discrimination against anyone. This has a direct correlation to the "man's", or his wife's sexuality, which has been maligned by almost, if not all, religions. Faith is faith and people believe what they think is right. The world has a decorated history of trying to prove that people were innately inferior to other people. And through the course of history, all of the those theories have been proven wrong. For example, centuries ago, European scientists tried to proved scientifically that native Africans were inferior to the western people. The justification of the treatment of those people under religion was an extension of that science. However, the test of time throttled that idea. And now you have scientific research being conducted to prove that there is a gene for homosexuality. I wonder if they've ever searched for the gene for heterosexuality....... Simultaneously, you have religious figures and patrons who denounce homosexuality because they believe its a sin and an abomination to God.

I don't know exactly when, but the terms "homosexuality" and "heterosexuality" were terms that were created by man and ultimately stratified people. What's funny is, no one identified with either of those social/sexual institutions before the advancement of medical technology. And in the early days of this planet, having sexual desires for and engaging in sexual acts with both sexes was prevalent. Its palpable throughout history because most King's and Queen's had concubines of both sexes. I don't want to prescribe to any ideologies about the makeup of certain groups of people because history tells us that most likely, those ideologies are dubious. Scientifically proving that people are inferior/different/sick so that the science can coincide with ethical or moral principles is an archaic and ironically, an unscrupulous idea that has never worked before.

Great Quote: "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind"
Something to think about.

Ok so, back to the trans gender guy. Yeah, because of all the aforementioned things I just said, I don't want to discriminate. But this is my problem with Thomas' situation. I was watching a clip of him on Oprah and he said, "When I woke up in the morning I felt like a man".

This is my problem with that. There is no way that one can feel like a "man" or a "woman". However, one can feel like male or female. Get me yet? No? Ok.
The only thing that separates males from females is your anatomy. Hence, your sex. However, nothing separates your gender. Everything about your gender is socially constructed. You can sit there and think of a million things that you associate with one gender (meaning not anatomical) and I guarantee you that, in theory, it can be done by the opposite sex. However, there is nothing anatomical and that is sex specific, than can physically be felt by the opposite sex.

This female did not wake up and feel the anatomical nature of a male. Nor would a male wake up and feel the physical nature of a female. It's biologically impossible. I wouldn't wake up and say, I feel like I'm beginning to menstruate. There's no way I can feel that. However, what I can feel is the social constructions of gender. If this female (Thomas) got up and felt the urge to, let's say, play with dolls (which is an activity that is associated with femininity), she wouldn't feel like a male. She would feel like engaging in something that is generally associated with "women" and "women" are socially constructed. The same goes for a female who would wake up, and feel the urge to go play with trucks; another activity generally associated with masculinity, another social construction.

My point is, this female didn't wake up feeling like a "man". She woke up and felt like engaging in activities/behaviors that are generally associated with the socially constructed "man" or masculinity. Masculinity and femininity are in the same boat with race, gender, class, and the still disputed "sexual orientation". They're all social constructions of man. None of which are or have been proven to be biological.

So when she says, I woke up and felt like a "man", I seriously question her sincerity. I think that possibly, she wanted to behave like a "man" and the social pressure of certain behaviors being identified with gender casted an internal affliction inside of her. It is possible that her actions or behaviors were close to being holistically identified with the male gender and she felt immense pressure to physically become a male. But she actually became a manifestation of the socially constructed "man". Maybe she thought, because her actions/behaviors were so incredibly masculine (which is socially constructed), that her attributes as a person culminated into being a "man". Then she has the sex change because she feels those traits can only completely manifest themselves if she is physically, male. And somehow, she actually feels relieved of the social pressure because her exterior allows her to comfortably engage in actions/behaviors that are identified with "men". And that is because, people who prescribe to social constructions of masculinity identify the actions/behaviors she engages in with the exterior of a male. Got me? Hope so. If not, here you go.

Michael Jackson. MJ epitomizes the idea of a person who felt so much unbearable pressure of identifying with some socially constructed stratified social institution, that he made the choice to alter himself physically. Who knows what that pressure is/was, but I think there's a direct correlation between his and Thomas' psychology.

I just hope that the next time Thomas Beattie is on a talk show and he says, "when I woke up, I felt like a man", that the host seriously delves into that question and finds the origin of that thinking. It would be really interesting to me. Well, I'm off my soap box for now.

Parting Thoughts:
Final Four today. National Championship freshman year?
I don't like the saying, "If you don't know, you better ask about me".
I want to get to the point where I can say, "If you don't know, you can read about me".
Potato wedges......delicious.
I just might go clothes shopping for the first time.
I miss being age 9.

Over and Out.

Oh yeah, Go Heels!