Videos about gender identity
This week's topic is about gender identity and we were assigned to watch two YouTube videos. The first video that I watched was a short animated film based on a true story by Sugandha Bansal called "A Little More Blue" and it was about how the soul of a girl was born into a boy's body. From childhood, she knew she was different and was afraid to be her true self due to the fear of what society might think like being neglected or unaccepted.
The second YouTube video I watched was Gender Identity: 'How colonialism killed my culture's gender fluidity' - BBC World Service. This video interviewed Francis Geronimo from the Native American Navajo community in New Mexico who identifies as a two-spirit individual, specifically called masculine feminine where the soul of a girl is in the body of a boy (similar to the animated short film). The video also interviewed Leher, a 23-year-old, from Delhi, India who was assigned a sex 'male' at birth, but changed her gender medically when India's Supreme Court recognized a 'third gender' or 'sacred gender'.
What I got from both of these videos is that it's not uncommon that people don't identify with the gender they are assigned at birth. I learned that for other cultures gender identity is a very fluid thing and not the westernized idea that gender is a binary thing of just male and female. For example, in Indian mythology, their scripture describes 20-28 different genders. So I agree that colonialism has changed the way we perceive gender identity/sexual orientation, it makes it seem like anything else besides male or female is frowned upon. Gender identity is important because it's how someone expresses their internal and individual experience of what they identify with in their soul. I think gender identity defines us by giving us another way to express what we feel, it can show our values and perceptions. The 'typical' characteristics of a male are they do all the hard work, are typically making all the money, and are known as more athletic/strong. The 'typical' characteristics of a female are they do the cooking, cleaning, and caring for the kids.
I was also very surprised to learn that the gender binary is more closely related to Western cultures than it is to other cultures. Other cultures accept gender fluidity, and I wonder why there is still so much prejudice against those who do not identify themselves with the gender binary. Watching these types of videos on topics that aren't really talked about has also helped me open my eyes and be accepting of those who are not like me. Gender identification is significant because it is the means through which an individual displays their unique interior experience of who and what they identify with in their soul. Gender identity, in my opinion, defines us by providing a different means of expressing how we feel. It can also reveal our beliefs and worldview.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was also surprising to me (but in retrospect, not surprising) that the binary idea is so connected to colonialism, especially in America. I believe here it likely goes back to Manifest Destiny and the idea of taming the wild (both the wilderness and those considered 'wild' aka the indigenous peoples of North America) and perpetuated by Hollywood. When Rudolph Valentino was a big star, he was often 'accused' of being too feminine and European by American men and yet beloved by American women. John Wayne became the archetype of the white male hero. Violent, no-nonsense, tough guy. It takes time to undo brainwashing, which it was. Propaganda from a particular point of view. As the saying goes, it's easier to fool the people than to convince them they were fooled.
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