Philosophy and Gender: Bri Blake

 I really appreciated these readings by Julia Serano. She opened my eyes to so many things that I never realized or even thought about before. Some of the points she made reminded me of that Ted Talk by Paula Stone Williams. Both women were able to give us the experiences they had while living both as a man and as a woman. I also think it is important that Serano discusses the way that transgender women have been maligned within our society. I think one of these reasons may be due to the toxic masculinity that dominates our culture. If a man finds himself wanting to align with more "feminine" things, then there is something wrong with him. Transgender women are not deemed feminine enough and often said that they are just men in dresses. There is also a stigma around straight men being attracted to a transgender woman and calling that man gay. Serano discusses some of these difficulties that specifically transgender women face in this society. She talks about the way that medi...

 I will admit, there were many parts of the reading by Asta where I found myself confused. I feel a lot of the other works that we read were debating on whether or not gender is something we are born with or if it is more pushed on us by society. There was a debate, but I felt a lot of the pieces we read said gender was more of a social construct rather than something that we just are. I felt that Asta was arguing the opposite of that. That we are what we are. It is not that people cannot identify as something else or anything like that, but a person is what others deem them to be. It is all about popularity and the way that you are perceived by others. On page 29 she talks about a married couple. If there is some legal matter involved in their marriage that does not make it official, then they are not a married couple. They can act like one, call themselves married, and whatever else, but it does not actually make them a married couple. I think that is Asta's main point. We can ch...