androgyny
/ gender : page 2........
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androgyny / gender : page 2........
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... riding home on the school bus... passing this sign by the side of the road that said "Men Working in Trees." Why must we know the sex of the people in the trees? Do they have "Women Working in Trees" signs?
Thelma, age 14, from the novel Crazy Eights by Barbara Dana (1978)
~ ~ ~ ~...
Amy Bloom, a practicing psychotherapist as well as a fiction writer, investigated the experiences of three sexual minorities: Female-to-male transsexuals (FTM), heterosexual cross-dressers and the intersexed or hermaphrodites. .... 
..
..Bloom argues that for those of us who are different, "normal" can become a kind of tyranny, making deviance the final price of self-acceptance.
With these essays, Bloom introduces us to those who live on the boundaries of our current understanding of sex, gender and sexuality.
In the same manner that historians argued that the frontier shaped American culture or that economists posit that change occurs at the margin, Bloom suggests that our own sexualities will be altered, ultimately, by the explorations of those who live in uncharted territory.
from post-gazette.com review
by Timothy Haggerty, December 22, 2002Bold Type: The book is filled with stories of people who are transsexuals, cross-dressing heterosexuals, and hermaphrodites -- were you able to come up with any grand conclusions? Amy Bloom: ... What was really interesting were all the things that I didn't even expect to learn about -- things like the nature of marriage, anxiety and the erotic. ...
One thing that I was most surprised to encounter is that the transsexual men and women that I met were just men and women, and I can say that they were men and women without quotation marks or caveats.
from Bold Type interview by Jenny Lee
....Normal : Transsexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops,
and Hermaphrodites With Attitudephoto from Mothers Who Write interview
by Cheryl Dellasega, Ph.D.~ ~ ~ ~......
Ellen DeGeneres - on being among honorees of the Glamour Magazine
2003 Women of the Year Awards :"I'm shocked. I thought I was a woman all those other years."[Access Hollywood, Dec 25 2003]
photo by Alexandra Hedison from The Ellen DeGeneres Show site....book: The Funny Thing Is... by Ellen DeGeneres
~ ~ ~ ~
 .. .. I happen to think Tarantino's kung-fu divas are a great deal more original, even "womanly" than they have been given credit for... As the avenging bride of Miramax's "Kill Bill: Vol. 1," Quentin Tarantino's kung-fu epic, Uma Thurman slices and dices her way through a whole passel of chauvinist pigs and female villains, and, in a different, more realistic vein, Cate Blanchett in Buena Vista's "Veronica Guerin" is an Irish reporter, who, in a recklessly courageous crusade to uncover Dublin's drug ring, gets herself threatened, beaten, shot and killed. |
 .. .. Revenge or devotion to family might be the one motive by which we can accept violence in a woman, as in Charlize Theron's joining the robber-gang in Paramount's "The Italian Job" to avenge the death of her father. Molly Haskell - from her article
: From rape to revenge - Women's roles in 2003 broaden the view of what
it means to be female, books by Molly Haskell : Holding My Own in No Man's Land From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies |
related article: Warrior Women On Screen - by Douglas Eby~ ~ ~ ~
At 10, I tried to act like a boy so I could go fishing and not have to do dishes. At 15, I wept over a broken nail and feathered my hair until it hurt. 
..
..At 21, desperate to be taken seriously as a lesbian, I got a crew cut and tried to change my walk from a sashay to a saunter.
At 24 I made a movie that proclaimed me "dyke" once and for all, and now I am a girly girl with the innards of a truck driver. ... I'm a bad girl in good girl's clothing. actor writer director producer Guinevere Turner...
[quotes from imdb.com]photo from afterellen.com interview
by Sarah Warn, August 2003 - about Turner writing for
and acting in the Showtime series "The L Word" [site]~ ~ ~ ~
Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean"
and "Charley and the Chocolate Factory"
 .. .. Clearly, I'm not the crowned head of pop culture. But, like the most accidental of triumphs, I've been dubbed cutting-edge. How, exactly, am I justified as "cooler than thou?" Well, the answer - simplistic, offensive, even bizarre - is that I'm bisexual. According to teen sitcoms and popular movies, I'm endearingly "different." |
From
"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" to the lightweight lesbianism of "Wild
Things," queerness seems like the newest public fascination.
But I've got a problem with this keen social attention: I don't want to be a girl from "Wild Things." Moreover, my gay male friends devote themselves to issues beyond Diesel jeans and the battle against clashing colors. Certainly, I commend the growing homosexual presence in mainstream media. But, more than anything, pop culture's vague, generalized assumptions of the "average" queer person don't promise sexual equality. Rather, they often render the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as acceptably different. In other words, queer folks are portrayed as ornaments, even accessories. I'm not ready to be a cheap handbag. Ilana Fried from
her article
Not all in LGBT community can be seen
|
~ ~ ~ ~
 .. .. It has been shaped by my experience growing up and living as a male in America. As a boy who liked literature more than football, for example, I often felt on the outside of the young-boy macho in-crowd, a vantage point that ultimately enabled me, I think, to see many things about gender more clearly and notice many other things that I would otherwise have missed. |
I've
also had to come to terms with my mother and father and how their lives
and our relationships were shaped by the choices they made within
patriarchy
as it shaped their generation.
I've had to navigate the aggressive ritual displays of status competition among boys and men. I've had to move from avoiding men as dangerous and untrustworthy to, during five years in a weekly men's group, rediscovering what men can be beneath the distortions of patriarchal masculinity. Allan
Johnson - from preface to the book -
|
~ ~ ~ ~...
What worries me the most is that most men are so weak. Because of that they act like they don't care and like machos - because they are too fragile inside. They're scared of confrontation and afraid of so many things. And because of this they build up their life so they have to deal with their feelings as little as possible.
I find feminine men unbelievably sexy. But most men are completely incapable of getting in touch with their feminine side. What am I supposed to talk about with a man who doesn't know what it's like to be a woman?
Salma Hayek ....[imdb.com]
~ ~ ~ ~......
"I Wish I Were" U.S. Navy Recruiting poster
For the terms sapphic and lesbian , we owe Sappho, the first famous lesbian... An aristocrat who lived on the Greek island of Lesbos during the sixth century B.C., Sappho wrote poetry about her passion for young women. And lucky for her, she was also a renowned arts and culture teacher for girls who drew eager young female students from all over the region.
Plato dubbed Sappho "the tenth Muse" for her writings. In the Middle Ages, the church was less generous, branding her a whore and burning her poems.
Esquire, April 2004 / painting: Sappho, 1877, by Charles-August Mengin (1853-1933)
....related book: The Sappho History - by Margaret Reynolds
~ ~ ~ ~
..
..
....Erica Jong. Sappho's Leap: A Novel[from review by Rachel Garret :] Pro-feminist, spiritual, poetic, tolerant and highly intellectual, Erica Jong [above] has written numerous novels that deal with women, men, true love, lust, bad relationships, good relationships, the list is endless.
Her novels are of the highest literary caliber, and the erotica she writes goes far beyond sensual pleasure. It becomes a religious experience. "Sappho's Leap" is about the historic lesbian poet Sappho... who encouraged free love, female independence, equal rights and a lot of modern ideals that were considered unorthodox in her day.
Sappho was enamored with women, as well as men, and this quasi-historic novel does not merely serve to titillate the reader with her erotic adventures, it is instead a great portrayal of the great Greek poetess, a mystic journey back in time and a fervent celebration of life. ...
A good read for men and women alike, this novel is sure to touch you with its humor, sadness, and profound wisdom. Viva Erica Jong!
~ ~ ~ ~
AfterEllen : What's your perspective on how easy or difficult it is to be a gay woman and work in the entertainment industry, and how has that changed over time? Does it seem like this varies by job type (i.e. actress vs. director vs. editor etc.)? Stacy Codikow : I believe, if you believe in yourself, your talent and your drive, that you can make it anywhere. Lots of people feel that they must fit in and that is what is dictated to them through their career. I have never felt in my career as a producer and writer that being gay in anyway hindered my opportunities. ///
People should look out for, help and guide anyone whom they believe in. As gay women we need to empower and support one another. That does not mean because you are gay you should be entitled to anything...
AfterEllen.com interview, April 2003, with Stacy Codikow, Founder of POWER UP - designed to "promote the visibility and integration of gay women in entertainment, the arts, and all forms of media."
~ ~ ~ ~
...
I think the more commonplace we can make people being honest about their sexuality, the better off it will be for human rights and civil rights for everyone. It would be naive of me to think there wouldn't be some negativity around [my coming out]. The show ["Married... With Children"] has received to date several pieces of hate mail. But I consider that low number is progress.
I think if there is going to be some reaction it will have to do with money. That's what fuels our industry. That's what so many decisions boil down to.
Amanda Bearse - from interview by Douglas Eby / photo from AfterEllen.com page
~ ~ ~ ~
| I
don't know how it is for guys. For girls, it's fine [being gay]. Here's
the thing I notice: When I was coming up [in the entertainment
business],
nobody could be gay, or you were a freak.
Now girls fake being gay. You know, they make out [with each other] on Girls Gone Wild. They're not gay! It's just they know it turns men on. So it just figures, by the time I'm gay, it's chic. But I needed chic 15 years ago! .... I did always carry that [worry], believe me. I never wanted anyone to say, "You know, that dyke can't write." They could say, "That girl can't write," but I never wanted it to be presupposed I couldn't do it. I can write men. I have trouble writing women! This is back when it was a real compliment - producers would tell me, "You write like a man." And I'd think, "Well, hey! Thanks, I think!" Coming up, you get insulted and the poor guys don't even know they're insulting you. .... I guess you just assume people know [you're gay]. I mean, that's the best gossip going. |
 .. .. It's interesting to me how people think that if you're gay, you're left-wing, and it's like, No, each one of us is different. Ann
Donahue-
writer, executive producer of tv series
from
article
: CSI: Crime Scene Insider - by Anne Stockwell,
photo: Ann McGrail (left) and Ann Donahue [wga.org photo by Scott Roeben] |
~ ~ ~ ~....
Innovation and overall regional economic vitality also are closely associated with the presence of gays and other indicators of tolerance and diversity, such as the percentage of immigrants and the level of racial and ethnic integration. Why? Creative, innovative and entrepreneurial activities tend to flourish in the same kinds of places that attract gays and others outside the norm.
To put it bluntly, a place where it's OK for men to walk down the street holding hands will probably also be a place where Indian engineers, tattooed software geeks and foreign-born entrepreneurs feel at home.
When people from varied backgrounds, places and attitudes can collide, economic home runs are likely.
Talented and creative people are mobile and demanding: They won't go (or stay) somewhere just to take a job. Lifestyle factors weigh heavy. The cities they prefer tend to be those that prosper.
..
..
from article Gay-tolerant societies prosper economically -
by Richard Florida [USA Today, 4/30/2003] -
linked from his site: CreativeClass.org....The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and
Everyday Life - by Richard Florida~ ~ ~ ~
 .. .. And if we don't deal with it, we're not going to survive as a species. Because from that issue of gender emanates violence, hierarchy, homophobia -- all of the social ills we deal with. We call them many names, but they come back to this one notion: that men are above women. Anything that challenges that notion is scary. You can trace any issue back to hierarchy, patriarchy, and power. |
We
just finished our G-CAPP conference [Georgia Campaign for Adolescent
Pregnancy
Prevention gcapp.org]. We had a
workshop
called "Faith and Sex," or something like that. There was a wonderful
Baptist
minister who talked about androgyny.
He cited research that showed that the most resilient people in the world are androgynous. They accept both their masculinity and their femininity. He had a graph that showed that 10% of people are totally homosexual, and 10% are totally heterosexual, and the other 80% are somewhere in the middle. And the healthiest people are right smack in the middle. I knew this intuitively, but I think it's so interesting that there is now scientific research to prove it. The different degrees on the spectrum are fascinating, and the more it's accepted, the healthier the society is. Jane
Fonda....-
from Jane
Fonda on gender - interview by
|
*related page:.....social reactions / interactions.....~ ~ ~ ~
...
[Jane, a successful record producer, is played by Frances McDormand, left, in "Laurel Canyon" -
directed by Lisa Cholodenko, right]Jane is sexual but kind of androgynous in a way, and I like that she incorporates both femininity and masculinity and she uses that to find a place for herself in a masculine profession. I think women working in professions like that can identify with that need, which is a not-so-roundabout way of saying I identify with that.
Lisa Cholodenko.....[Soma, Feb 2003]
~ ~ ~ ~
| One
aspect of identity related to giftedness is androgyny, a concept
developed
by Stanford University psychologist Sandra Bem.
She does not view femininity and masculinity as opposite poles of a single continuum, but rather as parallel sets of traits. An androgynous person will have high levels of both so-called masculine traits (e.g. independence, autonomy, dominance) and feminine traits (warmth, awareness of others' feelings, expressiveness). .. A number of psychologists and others have commented that creative people and gifted women tend to be more androgynous. |
 .. .. Studies of creativity make the point: creative people have both higher-than-average self-esteem and higher-than-average degrees of androgyny." from article: Gifted Women: Identity and Expression |
...
~ ~ ~ ~
Gifted women tend to be highly androgynous, and because they defy so many of the expectations of women in traditional cultures, they are oftentimes labeled, if not misdiagnosed, in some negative way. .. they tend to combine qualities that we tend to ascribe to both genders. So for instance, you get women who are highly sensitive and highly empathic and compassionate (which are all components of psychic ability), combined with high energy and high drive, high independence and autonomy, which are qualities that the culture rewards in men but not in women.
So in some ways, the pathologizing comes from the fact that gifted women, by their very nature, don't fit the narrowly prescribed gender roles. And not just in a developed country like America, or Canada, but also in developing countries, where roles are generally even more traditional.
Kathleen Noble, Ph.D. - from*interview
Julia Roberts / Roy Lichenstein photos by Herb Ritts
from book: Herb Ritts: Work
In Piirto's studies using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), she found a reversal of preferences from the norm: gifted adolescent girls preferred Thinking (T) to a greater degree than in the normal population, and a greater number of gifted adolescent boys preferred Feeling (F) than in the normal population. book : Jane Piirto. Talented Children and Adults~ ~...she must fuse the best attributes of femininity and masculinity and so create a new archetype of heroism that speaks to both women and men.
This fusion would make her: independent without being alienated; courageous without being contemptuous of the weak; powerful without dominating or exploiting others; rational without suppressing or abandoning feeling and intuition;
autonomous within interconnected, interdependent, and equal relationships; nurturing without denying or sacrificing her own needs; and androgynous without compromising the best attributes of femaleness but affirming the wholeness inherent in all.
*The Sound of a Silver Horn: Reclaiming the Heroism in Contemporary Women's Lives - by Kathleen Noble, PhD
~ ~
Perhaps because gifted children reject mainstream values, they reject gender-stereotyped traits as well. ... Csikszentmihalyi's talented females scored highly on achievement motivation and dominance, two traits associated with males, and rejected traditional feminine values such as neatness.
The gifted boys in his study scored highly on measures of sensitivity and aesthetic values, two traits typically associated with females, and rejected the stereotypical male trait of bravado.
from book: Gifted Children : Myths and Realities by Ellen Winner
in reference to book: Talented Teenagers : The Roots of Success and Failure by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
~ ~ ~ ~
 |
Yet
another layer of sexual intricacy is added when looking at the highly
gifted
and gender roles. Androgynous teens combine feminine and masculine
qualities
in a distinctive blend, without emphasizing the traits typically
associated
with their gender.
Highly gifted people tend towards a more androgynous style, and few of them act out gender role stereotypes. As children, gifted girls and gifted boys are more similar to each other than they each are to their non-gifted, same-gender counterparts. But in adolescence, when gender roles increase in social importance among age peers, androgynous highly gifted teens are often subjected to harassment in school. Some teens have described emotional struggles that they have endured because they don't fit neatly into the gender norms of our culture. from article: Sex and the Highly Gifted Adolescent by Annette Revel Sheely [Gifted Development Center] photo of UCLA student Nkechi from book: Girl Culture |
related pages:*---body image*---identity
~ ~ ~ ~
.....
The artist and androgyny: A study of gender identity in visual arts. Abstract:
Data were gathered by means of a questionnaire mailed to 1753 artists who had been nominated for the national Awards in Visual Arts during the first five years of the program (1982-86).
It was found that artists tend to have self-images which are androgynous in terms of sex stereotyping, while at the same time, they see artists in general as relatively masculine.
It was also found that while artists tend to view their colleagues in favorable terms, they view themselves as individual artists significantly more favorably. The implications of these findings for the profession of art are discussed.
Catherine T. Harris & Philip J. Perricorne, 1988, Empirical Studies of the Arts Vol Six, Issue One
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