THE LENSES OF GENDER “Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality Sandra Lipsitz Bem | YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS | NEW HAVEN AND LONDONibrar and rn Compu Cape © 179 SW Nenond Compa Tent Sateen” eee fe The Pat rss, Rs nan S98 10 eae Rb pen ‘ener and Sono Cpa Copy st cane ip, 1reby 00 Naan Compan Copy br Me 1 Sind Frederator ed ak {Sua ie Jon Copp 1957 Een orca S ‘eens ei tp pemitenu cbr anon ash, arch od a og Into guns eh fom mer apg ©1925 le nents er ond ceri pesca be US Cap {vant uty entre pipe sin wn pri om Secin ase ant So rp Renewing Orig Ree ‘shan Pie UnielSonoct ery a are Bingen. ir Cm png Pn Dts Uton Frere fee nine [Sevres dee Paehlgy 3. Sem 4 Ege 8 Gente igi to etl rho elite om he eh Lira “Ton oper nk mt ui apr nd dae fhe mses on odin Coen fr Bo Loge be ramon ay CONTENTS Prefice wi Acknowledgments ' Introduction 1 2 Biological Esentialsm 6 2 Androcentrism 30 4 Gender Polarization 60 5 ‘The Construction of Gender Wentity 15, ‘ “Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality 176PREFACE wa recenly asked to write x re xa for Femi and Pehl 08 “how my heterosexuality has contributed my feminist polis” That ‘sy turned out tobe rather diferent fom what the dos expected Tecuse akhough Ihave ved monogamous} wih a man {love for cover mentyscven years, Lam not now and never have been hetero- ‘sew But either have Lever been ebian’orabiexal” What {mand hate bea for as ongas an rementber—~issomeone whose ‘evualiy and gender have never seemed to mesh with the aalabe Cultural categories and at—rather han my presumed heterosexual iyi what has ost profoundly informed no ony my fei po tks ao he uoretial anal ofthis book ‘When fn hat my sexuality doesnot mesh with the aable cu tural categories, I menn thatthe vexol partner dimension imp in the tte categorie of heterosexual, homoveal, and bisexual ems leelevanto my own paricalar pattern of rc atraciona and ex experiences. Although some ofthe (er few) indiidals o whom 1 thane been tracted daring ny freight years have been men and some have been women, what those indviduas hae in common has thing t do with ether ther biological sexo mine—fom mich ‘once, oe that Lam teat o Both sees, bt that my ex ‘organized around dimensions other than sex. ‘Similar when Tsay that ny gender does no mesh wth the aval be clural categorie, {mean tat since earl cdo, my Particular blend of temperament and behavior has seemed to fall ‘ute the categorie of male and female, masculine ad feminine lnded, being female has never seemed a salen fentre of my seconcep, Like bring human, fact, uta taken forgranted back ‘round fat rather than nucleus around which have constracted en em (Being a eins, on the oer hand isc a nucews) ising in 2 Becrosexal mariage and raring wo children have ls contributed o my emi plc by prompting me Yo theorize Shout andexpriment eth bothegaliarn reatnnship and gender erated chil-earing. Butt stil my subjective ens of bring ot side he categories of my cae that has mow profoundly contributed to my fein polis, because i has enabled met ee how cura tategoriesconsrutandcontrsn scl eat by proving the histor ily specie conceptual framework through which we perceve socal worl My ably to understand and to aru this insight inthe do rman of gender and sexy has evolved amatially over the past twenty years In the early 1970s, 1 fcased almost exclusively onthe onceprofandrogyny (om the Greek terme andro, meaning mal, nd im, meaing female) Beaute that conepe seemed o challenge he ‘Eada ategories of masculine and feminine a nohing befor had ter done, Byte late 1970 andl eal 1980s, however had Begun eo fee thatthe concept of androgynyineviay focuses 30 much mote ‘tenton on the individuals being both mateine ad Feriine than fn the cares having crested the concepts of mascny and fer rin i she rst place that it an legnately be said wo reproduce precily the gender polarization that it seks to undercut Accord Ing’ Loved onto the concept of gender achemasity because ‘cable net argue even more forcefully hat masculine and Fem rinty are merely the consacions of a cultural schema-—or Tens— that paris gee. Finally inthis book, theo the concept ofthe gender plang lens more compleey than id before, and expand the underving imightintoa comprehensive analy ofhow gender lenses syemialy perpetuate not only the oppression of women but the oppesion of {Sota minorities a+ well Speial no believe that there ae te tly he gender lense embeded inthe cate: gender polation, ‘ndrocentism, and biological seni “These thre gender lenses provide the foundation for theory of thw boy cular, and then pace all interct n isorkcal content oyster reprodice male power, hope his theory wil Contute an orignal apd negative contribution othe erate in Feminist stuies At the sume time, dese thee gender lenses aaa provide «coherent and accessible intellect framework for organi {ng bot the mukiixpinay knowledge ha fem acholars have seeumusted ad he inlets snd pital debates that fein fas generated. hope this rework wil hae special ave fr those ‘who are unfarn wit eins acholrsipor have not et managed “This book, then, broad ranging, aching Fr beyond my expen tne ata jachologis: The reason Ihave stepped onside the rational boundariee of my dap shat more spciliaed book could no Ive explained the tional ideological and ps chological mechs rks hat together keep the economic and pail power of soe ‘mai inthe hands of men, The ri of wing sucha ookare these: Because I poach onthe domain of her pelts my rendion of ter couse may seem luorigial on some occasions, ay ot even ing tre to he et “The rewards, however ae worth the Fsts Nocon do fly have he opportunity to place my on previous rear and theory in its proper sting 1p get en write the book that, a3 younger feminist ‘Hragging to make sens ofthe oppression of womens he oppre: Sion of sexual minorities, would have most waned to have readACKNOWLEDGMENTS {have been wring hit book in my mind for over went years ane vwngivon paper fr akmos fie. According there area numberof people istions and sources of inspiration ha | would now keto seknowledge First the Rockefeller Foundation, hose fellowship fom the ‘Changing Gender Roles Program enabled me to spend 19871085, sade year on leave at Harvard, where Icoald ea get ysl he tro ieralarts education I needed o wrt tisbook by browangin ‘he bookstore inthe mornings and reading vracously on everthing from anthropology to socbiology i the aernaons ‘Next ae the speci artles that opened my eyes toa new ay of looking a wcll. The firs, Cathaine MacKinno's“Diernce anc Dominance” enabled meta se thatthe strate of my social worl indeed an afrmatve scion program fren. To thisaree Lowe my urentemphai on the lens of androcentm. The Second, Richard Shveder Anthropology’ Romantic Rebelion again the Enlighten tment" ia mor deal chece to explain. Sie to ay thei trite introduced me to the concept of enculuration shih igure ‘rominenty in Chapter 5 and, even mote importa, provided me teh anneal context for my workonsceras ons hat 2s ‘armore congenial than anything 1 ad yet enix pachalogy. Intent me acknowledge enormous debt of gatiude 0 the evenexpaning erate by feminist scholts on gender and sex: ‘uli, Twenty yeas ago, that erature dnote, and this book ‘ould ot have been wren without it No, should ad could his book hme been writen without the regula biceymeeings of he‘Comel Women's Studies Sd Group which brought the malic PliaryHeraaeof feminist sts y doorstep and belped mero Feclcomfortable with it ally tere ae the many indvidls who helped to make his a etter bok han iewouldothersie hate ben. ncuded ere ate hove ‘ho gracoualy ead eas drafts and clarify misunderstanding thei elds of expere: Kathy Abrams, Joan Brumberg, Arshalom sp, Robert Connell Richard Dietwich, Debbie Frable, Nee Fur Iman, Carolyn Heian, Andy Hoste, iy Hal, Mary Katzen, Isaac Kratick, Bev Lipa, Will Prosne,Ezbeth Adkins Regan Glenn Schellenberg, and expel Sally McConnell Ginet and Dar Bem Abo ined here areal he ented and dedicated people a ale University Press expeily ny manuscript edo, Mary Patho miraculous exhed my verbal ex without modifing my voce. Tithe fel of pschology, academicians re so much more kel 0 ite journal ates tan woke hathismay prove tobe the oly book Tever wre Therefore, [would ke to dedkate this book tthe cght people who hive meant dhe mos to mein my ie: ny grandiothers, Ester and Jennie, for their boundless adn ‘ool love ‘ny mother, Lil for her pride in herinteligence, her love of ead Ing novels nd her honesty about much pelertng her work out Side the home (ven as. secretary) 10 het work within the home ny father, Pete, fr he blouses tthe rhythms of masculinity my ster. Bes for sharing bah a complicated family hry with sme and lifetime of gender nonconformity ‘my dren, Emily and Jeremy, fr ther wonderfully diferent trys of bing nobody ele children but mine and Darts ny husband of aot hry yar, Darl for being ike Charote {Ghats both a ood fend and a good writer INTRODUCTION oe aera re eeas ben during the pst 150 eas hidden assumption about ex and feeder min embedded in cultural dacourtes, sca nuttin, Sod ind poyches that nly and sytemiclyreprodce ale power im generation after generation. [al these assumptions the Tenses of gender Noconly do these lenses shape how people perceive, ‘ones, and discuss socal realy bc bacause they re embedded in ‘oc insittons, they aso shape the mote material thingie wn cual pay and naequate daycare “The purpoe ofthis book to ender those lenses ile eather ‘han nish to enable sto ookat the cures gender lenses ater than hong ther, forts ony when Atmeicns apprehend the more ste and aye way in which the entre reproduces male power ‘hat hey wl ally comprehen the unfinished bane ofthe fei- nistagenda “The ist ens embedded in clu! discourses, soci inion, and individual yoyehes the lens of ender, or malecentered es Thi ot jst the history crude percep that men are ‘erent superorto Worentuta more reacherousinderpinning oF ‘hat pereption a denition of males and male experince a9 net ‘tandardor norm, and females and female experience asasexspeciic ‘deviation rom that norm. ei thus not that an treated as superior fad woman at inferior but that man tres ax aman aod woman as “The vecon lens the lens of gd alrstion. Once agai, this is ot us the history crude perception that women and men are Fundamental diferent fom one another but the more sue ard insist perceived ference san organizing principe or ‘the social life ofthe cate. It hus not simply that women and men ae seen toe diferent bt that this male-female ference i super Imposed on so many aspect ofthe scl world hata clturleonne: Sons hereby forged between sex and italy every other pect of ‘numa experece inching modes of den and vocal voles anderen saya expensing emotion and experiencing wx desi. Final the third lene the len of Holl nian, which ra Sionalres and legtimizsbooh other lenses by eeaing thers athe ‘natural and ineitable consequences ofthe inti bilgi atures fof women and men This the lene that hat secured Go grad {ceation by mbaatng ts sient equtalen:evolton’s grand re ation, Aswe salle, nosing in his book denies biological as, but shat const wc ally tl. lo angue ha these fats have no Fixed meaing independent ofthe say the acatureinterprets and uses them, nor any seca implications independent of thei isorcal and contemporary context The lenses of sndrocenriem, gender polarizaon, and bilogcl sett systemically reproduce male powers two Ways. Fis, the ‘dncourses and soil intationsin wih they are embedded automat felly channel females and mals int diferent and unequal ise. ‘on. Second uring encuuratin, the oda radial tere. inesthe cultural lenses and thereby becomes matvated to construct an en ha consent th the ‘otal malesin Sse actully have power, ofcourse andthe termmale power should thus be consred narrowly athe power ior italy el by vic, wt, heteronexul me, for ksthey who originally setup and nove primary sustain the eulral dicourses and socal inaitsons of hitmason. thus not womenalonehoare disadvan tage by the organization of U.S. society but poor people, people of colo, and sexual minorities as well, Of these several exer temic ‘ppresons the oppreson ofan and ay meno direc driver Tom the androcetrie gender polarizing, and bslogalyetentalt Aefisiion of what itmeaneto bea woman oman hat hve syste ‘ikl otgrated any analysis ofthis oppression into the race of the book Although the other oppression tat intersect withthe op Pression of woren are mentioned expiclin ony the final chapter fn social change, the applicability ofthe lnetned anal of ale power shouldbe apparent throughout Silas, Lave draw virtual all my speciic amples fom the tistor cute, and contemporary context of the United Sates. But many ofthese examples ae just a applicable to other counties that, ‘hate the historia legacy of Western eure. Accordingly, Lam sug testing more generally that the lenses of gender ae embedded in fra dicoures, soci insutons, and individual peycbes in i ‘ualy all male dominated societies, And has about rivera atone ange! “The following thee chapters introduce the thre gender lense pd luseae thei pervasiveness in both the historic and contempo- ‘ary ancourse of Western clare. {begin wth balgal essentials ‘bce Western cutee has for so lng analyzed almost all ese led eo women and men in terms of Bistogicl iference that thiscura concern with biology mus be lit rex before Hea go on ‘Aecodngy; Chapter 2, on bilgi seni, documents nd exposes the logsanting tendency of bislogal theorists o natalie thesia and economic equalities between the seaee—to mae them ‘seem natural and ineible rather dha hori constructed nd ‘modifale—vhich they do by oveemphaszng logy and under phasing the bso and contemporary sacl contest. The chap ter then otines a more interactions bohistorel, and bso ou of seal neqeai ‘Chapter 5 dociments and exposes the lens of androcentim in four ofthe ost central discourses of Western clr: Judeo-Christian theology, ancient Grek plosophy, eudian paschoanalie theory tn he history of American eal ight ‘Chapter 4 examines the lens of gender polaization by documen ing the way tat healed elds of medicine sexology pei, nd [pnehology have tether given sent and medial legacy not nly othe etal requirement thatthe sex ofthe body match the {ender ofthe pyche ut alo wo the calural preying of exchave Feterosesaliy Ke alo dunes challenge othe sient taiion Gcluding my own work on androgyny and gender schema theory) that have helped to undermine gender polarization and considers a ‘vain modern tradiion within feminist theory, sometimes how the "womam-centeed” approach, that self gender policing Incontattothee chapters, Chapter fcuseon the psycho ogy ofthe india Specialy tneouces ny own eneatrated lene theory of nial gender formation, whichis an extension and ‘Saboraton of my earlier gender schema theory. This theory analyzes encuration tel gow andeocentricand gender plang soil prticesransfer the lees of gender rm te cate othe indivi {aL alo analyzesthe process oelperepton andsefconsracion, ‘row the individual who has internalized he calure’ gender lenses econsructs3 gendered personals, a gendered bod, an andrea ‘nc hteroenli anda abhorrence of homosexual: Because not all invdual become conventionally gendered, ‘Chapter la considers the who este gender leaer and thereby construct genderaubversive Meni, This group Ie wy diverse, inching estan, gay men, andasexual. a wellasanyone whose way of living or being violates the androcense, gender porting, and biological essen defnion ofa eal woman ora Chapter 6, the final chapter of the book, articulates the mest ‘obvious pragmatic prescription that iste rm he thcoretal als ofthe bok asa whole. Here fangue that because women in meer US. society ae most nsidiousydiadrantaged by andeocenei pol ies and pracices tha appear to be gender neu eminss must ‘etrame the elural debate o sexual nequaly shat forse on malefemlediference but on how androeetie discourses aed Insitutions transform malefemle dlilrence into female tsa ‘age: Fly Langue for ore than the abolion of androceerisn gue forthe aboution of gender poariation aswell Ths hook, then, 'snoconyan exercise in deconstruction bit alo yon personal rat of bhuepring for reconstruction.2 BIOLOGICAL ESSENTIALISM Ve Cea pear een eee eee het ea sroLocieatrouies less and National Origin During many shameful period in the hor of scence, biological theorizing has been ured to natura, and thereby perpetuate, sei inequaly®Perape the bet Known example in the United Sater wae the mn tha fcns were parca well suited a lvery Because oftheir “itisic ace character” (Paterson, 1854, quoted in Frei son, 1971) Les well nown but equal shamefl was the dam hat oth the steriieaon and the migration lavs tht the government pte inch early 1900 were necesated by the delne in American Inveligencethat would neiabl follow if either eh unresiced prop agaion or immigration of certain “defecve arsine” (Brigham, 1028, 210) was allowed to continue, Inthe context of terization, dhe ‘efetve stains thatthe United Sates dia want polluting its ppl ton were toil the inmates of publ supprted or chrble in -etions, thai, the poor Inthe cone of immigration, the defective trainer mostly the eastern and southern Europeans—expeiall the Kalas, Poles, Rusian, and Jevs—who were just begining immigrate to this county in large numbers. Northern and western European in contrast, had been ismigrating without restriction for “To hoep these defective sais under contol, the United States sed a whole series ofsterlization and immigration avs baween 1007 and 1924 The Supreme Cour upheld the Virginia seston law in patclarin Buck. Bl (1927); that aw asthe que sed ‘int 19720 trie over 7,00 men, women ancien in various ‘mental hea fs. In 1924, the Congress passed the Johnson Lodge Immigration Act, which ined the proportion of kamigrams from each country othe proportion lead preaentin the US. pop Inti nthe 1890 cennat. ‘This cena, shoul be noted, was taken tefore the sit in immigration fom northem and western Europe castem and southern Europe Not ony did the 1890 quotas severe feu the mutber of eastern and soutera Enropenns wha coud oterthe country at thetime, but iceno ent years, they aso kept ou thousands of European Jews who wer ying desperately 0 expe extermination atthe han ofthe Nazi ‘When thse restive immigration lavs were pase, one appar ent moral jusiiction for them was the legacy provided by that ‘mont madern of socal cence ventions, the IQ ex. Original deve oped by Alfred Binet deny French children in need of emt help at choo, nce in the United Sates the 1 et quickly became a toolof the growing eugenics movement because was reeonsteued a, ‘ meatre of inborn inteligene. An educatiowal problem could ave teen remedied inteligence was presumably ata bh, ‘Atheinviation of he U.S. able Heath erie, Henry Goddard‘gan adminisering avery euly version ofthe 1G test to the im Inigrans on Elis Island in 1912, By 113, dhe Stanford pychologie Levis Terman had developed an Americanized yeson of Binets1Q, tex aul Known td ste Sanford Bint tex, and wo spedal ter Sion had further been developed for very Inge groupe and "iit dies" espenve By the time the United States entered the Fist ‘Wor Wa the stage waste fo tase 1Q testing ofthe spo inmate eo milion men date into the armed serves ‘nthe basis te orginal work with newly rived imaigranson ‘lis and, Godard preliminary conchided that nearly 79 percent of lian, 8 percent of Hungarians, 8 percent of Jos and 87 pet ent of Russians were “feebleminded” (1917, p 252) On the bass of| the amy ds Cast Brighaes more deintvely concluded that there Ta infact, been“ gral deeroration in the clas of migrants ‘who fad ome to this county "in each succeeding five year ptiod since 1902" (1023, p11: farthermore,the more"Nordic loon {en petod the higher the evel of inteligence (162), “Thistrly inva copelsionabout Nord blood nd intelligence wa based ona single coreation: eral thecaer a migrant had {vive inthe United Sates prio to testing, the closer his 1 was 0 that of mative brn Americans. Nevermind that an aie gral wat probabiyoreated with coming tothe Uited Sates ata Younger ge, Tving a beer command ofthe Englah Language. atending Amer ‘canschook, and having more experience wit andardized ests those ‘omens were never compte. Never min that an eater aval as probably correlated wih higher TQ for imanigrans fom each ind every county of origin: those correlations were never computed tither In the words of Cal Brigham, then 3 psebolgy professor a Princeton University ap! ner the secreary of the Callege Eaance xaminution Board and the designer ofthe Scholae Aptitude Tes (SAT) the results indicate the "genuine intelectual superiority 0 the Nordic group” (p. 180)" In recent yeas, sient have engaged in 2 running bate about whether Brigham’ sry ty played sigoieant rol the psage (ofthe Johnson-Lodge Immigration Ac, wth Leon Kamin (1974) and ‘Stephen Gould (1981) arguing that it id and with Mark Snderman fan Richard erase (1988) arguing hat dd noc But regardless ofitsin lence nthe Congres fan heimportant pat eres that, the prychologas of he period were as rac and biologkaly seni intin the aking of cence asthe polians were inthe mtking ol “Te yecoe hal ofthe inetenth cer wa eof gest sci up heat in the United States® Not oly did the aboison movement, the ffecingohe sives andthe gramng ofthe ote toblack men rata «lly aerthetelations beweenthe aces, these same event spurred Teminins ke Elzabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mow, and Susan B. Anthony to challenge the legal and socal ineguies between the Genes ab well At ealy 2+ 1845, Stanton and Mout convened theft ‘omens ight conferene im Seneca Fl, New York where Santon demanded women’ sage along witha whole range of marrage ‘form. By 1869, when Stanton and Anthony founded the National ‘Wore’ Suffrage Astocation, there wat thus the begining of ul Aedge womens righ movement in the United States, which was slready demanding not only the very same right 10 vote ar 0 be ‘educated hat ren ad bt also the very same right to speak publi, tw-own property to pracie aw and even 10 Weat pant "This ferinit chllenge wav so threteiog tothe socal order tht ‘iological theorizing about women and me intensified inthe 187s, thereby reseang tow sence i intertwined with cura ideology. The theories of four sents, or groups f ints, ate noteworthy Edvard Clark, Herbert Spencer, Chars Dati, and Patrick Geddes and. Arthur Thomo. For centre, phyicans used the concep of vil force” (C.F Rosenberg 1976, p 4} to expan such obvious iniidual ferences 2 why some people ate baer ble than others ores disease and tise instrefl environments, After the German psc and ply tolgi Hermann on Helmboltsmearured the speed of single nerve impulse in 1882, eemedrestonabl to astm that thie wal force es some form of elecial energy abd, concomitant thatthe ne ‘ous system was alf governed by the sae conservation of ene) [ripe that was aren Knawn to govern het, ight, and elector ‘magnetism. The conteration of energy princple—aso known athe fst law of thermodynaris—stats thatthe wal amoune of energy in ‘ayer alway remain constant because energy can be ner ce Sted nor destroyed‘Taeconseraton of energy principle warused tonaturlizea great, numberof rinetenth-entuy belles, including the Delt that people Should no indulge neoderaey in any single act lest they 5p ther limted complement of energy for other aces. Beianing with ‘he publcton of Eavard rk Serie Edenton 1873, the conse ‘auon of energy principle wat weed tonaturaize the anfemint bebe that higher education was nota suitable acy fora woman Clarke's bse thesis was straightforward, Thenervoussstem asa fixed amount of energy. Any energy spent onthe developent of one organ neces ede he amount of energy stable ower fam. Because euation divers a womans energy from the develop nen of her eproducve organs othe developmen of he ran, ti harmful toa womans heal Education is especialy harmful ding menstruation, because a woman's reproduce organs normally 1 (hte he mort energy 8 hat ine “Thee that eduction might be dangerous to a womans repro: dive stem wae voiced by several ater noted wes ofthe ate inetenth ander twentieth cecuies,inclding the British psych firs Henry Madly the Bets philosopher Herbert Spencer, 2nd the American prychologi G. Stanley Hall Like Clarke, these writers ‘rere ll reacting oa les two else social changes taking place in hei counts: (1) increasing numbers of colges and universes ‘xereopening their dors o women and 2) the elite women educated In thea insituon wee giving bh o fewer efspring than thee ss laatedcounterpan. Inthe United Stats, thi diflerence in ferity was exacted by the ever-growing number of immigrants, whose Fer ates wer high-k those of the lower scioeconomieclases generally At apparent rik in bot counties were thus not only Vi tovan snd of womanly behavior but lo what C. Stanley Hall later termed race sce (Hal, 19041919, p. 605 "Tomake bisargument gain women education, Edvard Clarke misapplied to a woman’ body what was essentially the fist law of ‘thermodynamics. To createa theory of evolution tat woud ature siraly every hierarchy in Victorian society, including the roles of wmnen and men, Herber: Spencer (1852, 167, 1876) inadvertent Tevered whit was estentaly the end Iw of thermodynamics and ‘ombined that reversal with an optimise eading of Malthus (1798) 186) population theory. Spencers theory of evoution maybe al ut forgotten today, but inthe Ite nineteenth century twa even more infleial han Darvin “The second ln of thermodynamics sates dat een though the total amount of energy inthe universe alas remains constant, tat energy Becomes less an es tefl ver time. Spencer argued, in Contest, tat fr biologie and socal seems alike, the “perience of force" the conservation of energ)—aays ad inevitably pro Gres progress. More specifically, the perstenceof fore lay and ‘neviabiy proces shit fom uniformity to speciation, aca be scenin bth the esohison of humans from singleclled organi ane the evoluson of a cls and sexbased division of aor from an (frend sell organization Toa rein to htc that ‘roution i inherently progrenive, Spencer reinterpreted Malthus Population theory arguing thatthe harsess ofthe rug fre tence amid saree remurces ineialyprodces, not the misery and sic that Malthus predicted, but the suv he ites, Appling tis "progestive” theory of evolton co class and se, Spencer concoed tha th existence of acan- and ected dvson of aor in soit biologically ordained. He alo coche ha fogy bas molded the clstes andthe sexes ofthe respective sca roles, maling men more compete, for example, and women more rurerant. So muturant and charitable has biology made women fact that they must now be denied the righ to we, fo they might inesfere with the nacaraleoure of progress by giving sate hep 0 thove who would otervise be unable to survive Inthe struggle for fexstence- As this tortured argument against women’ suffrage makes flee, Spencer was inthe foreont of that cera soc oN ‘ment known a Scat Darwin. "Tada, Herbert Spencer is mach les known for his evolutionary ‘theory than fr his use of esoudonarythinkngto promote aconserva tive soil agenda Indeed, the poll we of evlutionary thinking he te nineteenth centr should rights be elled Spencer, be ‘ase lat ily eae Spencer evaonary theory that ea ‘to polieal purpoes, not Darwin moreover, Darin himself wat ‘ever much of soll or pot activi Sal was Darwin whose ‘theory and evidence gave sletificleginacy tothe eonserative pa ‘5 of the period, ae tas albo Darin hone evoaonay theory sured the et of time(Chale Darwin (1890/1952, 18711952) was much more inter ‘sted inthe evolution of ain an plant species tha inthe evaition tf human social organization. Like Herbert Spence, however he too Consercted theory of ealon that naturalized te seal inequa. ‘ies inherent in Vicoran sien: arwis evoutionay theory has three primary ingredients end ‘ew variation among india the selecton”—boe "natural and exal”—of certain variants and the continued survival of en the selected variants, natural seaton, it atu tht some marae te ote succesful than ohersin relation othe piss conaonsof| Me: hence, those variants ar moe ikl to surive ad to produce ofspring. nsexua election, tieasumed that ome vans are mace Sucre han ers tng: hence, tote variant ae alo more Tikes 0 produce oping Arthough sews inequaty not inherentiniher of thesetwose- lecon processes, Darwin dition aloe always presupposes that the males ofeach species ate subject to more selection thn the females ‘and that. aves the males ofeach species are also more high {soled than the females Ae Dasa hmslf putt, les ae ebjers 0 ‘nore sexual election han females beease, among oer things they fave both diveaway orhiltei ria andexeteor chat thee sual pariner (18711989, p. 399), Liew, they are nabet 1 more ‘otra selection than females becuse, among other thingy, hey hase to "defend thi female, a well as cheir young, from enemies of all ings ando hans, fore jimsubuistence (Thi requis theaid ofthe higher mental aces, namely bneration, reason, invention, ‘rimagination.‘Tese various faci wil hr have been coil Putco thet and selected during manhood” (p. 560) “Theresa of allthis unequal selection among humans hat man ‘an aun "higher eminenee, im whatever be takes up, than ean tvomar—bether requiring deep though, respon, or imagination. of reel the use ofthe senses and hands” (. 560 Put some i Fereny,“man has imately become superior to oman’ andi foreunte for women that men pass on their characteristics 0 thet hughes, avell aso theirs because others its probable that ‘man would have Become at uperorin mental endowment to woman, the peacock in ornament plumage to the eaten” (p. 557) ‘Ahough Darwin ws worKingon fis thery of evoton a bout th same tine that Mendel was discovering the principe of genetic, and ainough modern evolutionary biology hs adapted Darwin’ orig ralinsght to accommodate thse genetic principe, Darvin himself new nothing al above gene. fat, be was 3 rm belive in he Lmatchin idea that an indivi inherited from x parent al he characteris that eater generation had acquired during thei fe times which were somehow transmited through thet ood the sperm andthe eg Tn the lt decade ofthe ninteemh century, when the Geman biologist August Weismann andl others rt suggested that an nn vase expeiences did nrafet the par ofthe sperm o egg thats Felted to Reredi—vhich Weltnann called the germ plasm—some ‘cenit inferred tht the diferenes between nomen and men could tot have ceed hora 31 Darwin had proposed. Conder for txample, Pick Geddes and J, Ath Thomwon, who argoed the ‘he germ psn remains constant from generation cogeneration, then the diference between ales and ferales must he sold fe hull ‘nd mt alio stem rom dilernces inthe sperm and egg thems. ‘And chit ancien ferences inthe sperm ad egg might there be ‘Wal as anyone can pani se the spermand ismeabalim are"Sat- boi” that “cine, emerge, eager pusionat, and variable” The gg and is metabolism. om the other hand, ate “anabolic” Ut pats, contereatv, agg, and sable (800, p27) Forgetabou natural and rexil election working ly overtime to alec diferent characteris in males and females, respecivey Forget stout the alloo-iberalmplation of Darwinian theory that sex ferences might even be mode over ime through the wan Imisson of anew life experience, ike higher education. At Geddes fd Thomson so pocticlly pot cin 1890, "Whac was decided among the reinore Protozoa cannot be snl by an Act of Paament (260. [As noted eal it wat not for purely scenic resons that 30 many sents engaged ino much Holga theorising abot women find men between 1870 and 1920 Bu a8 guy a8 they were of mat Tang ena inequaiy twas ever the cet alone wot ison ‘of rca reaity wa distorted by biologi ese, Quite the on tran Seeing trough his lent ate much 3 par of the eral zl fist that even feminists ike Santon and Anthony fll back on she premise of inborn ac ference when they thought tight farther thei argument for fenale slag.“The pancular blend of ansfeminis pote and belgie theorising ‘hac prevalled in the United States athe rm of thea entry had begun to decline by 1920. although many ner ett continued 12 Find biologie accounts of both sexual ciference and sexual inequality sore plausible than the evidence waranted, ance wat grahally becoming #0 much more grounded in wellentoled empire search—and after the Naz era. s0 much more ware of ho blog ical theory of group diference could be sbused—that feof he tu Inajor figures in bslogy were theoriing about any group diference, Incuding he diferenceSerween women and tet, betwee 150 and “That period of bilogeal quiescence ameto an abrupt end inthe Tne 19605, when the cl right and omen’ iberation movements ‘again threatened the tablished social order, mich athe abolition land women’ rights movements had done a centy eal, One of the ‘rt boogicalchallenges othe cl ight movement came in 1959, ‘when Artur Jensen argued agaist Headwart and eter compens ‘ory education programs anateinthe Haran Edun! Review ented “How Much Can We Boost 1Q and Scholastic Achievement” (One ofthe frst biologie challenges othe wore Heaton move= ‘ment cane in 1970, when Lionel Tiger argued in an ate ened “The Possible Biological Origins of Sex Diriination that the cx clusion of women from “the major poll, conomic and milkaty decison making procemesof our me” reve no fom male chain Ismor from oer process ofoiaiation” but from genetically programmed behaioral propensity” for males to create bond with ‘ne another "These bonds ate intinsically related to pot, ex nomic, mila, pole and other... power and dominance centered subsystems... (ad) equal feral colleagues—evenone—, respectvls®Akhough ‘most people ae fair wih thee two historical periods a8 they are ‘described in the Old and New Testament, ey fe know how oF wy for when thetestaments cameo be writen This histor portant to the analysis of androcentriam becuse involve the replacement of 2 goes wth ago and alo the defining of woman athe other. That SS iecontates the gene of wo ofthe guiding symbols of Western male dominance—she patricks. decidedly masculine Gd a the ‘sl iferir female who tempts the male fom the at of igh ‘eoumes Sanda 1981p. 215). “The Jewish eligious experience begun in the scent of sven reenthcentury when Abraham eportedy made the st covenant ‘ih he go of sal ply ale Yabweh, For the nex four hu “red year 40 Yate ae primarily the god ofthe Hebrew tbe ‘own a Jada, but the other Hebrex tribes worshiped im a well along vith many caer gods and goddess, inchding Asersh, who ‘asthe prototpe forthe ereation-goddes ofall the andent Middle Ensern people. The only tus unin the Hebrew iba histine ‘were mle ccumaison andthe probibison agin human acre, at ‘bodied nthe tory of 36 ‘Aira long pert of ensvement in Egypt, the Hebrew bes snerefeedin he thirteen entry 26, at wich time they left Egypt Tor Canaan under the aderhip of Kose. Because te Exodus ara tives clea emphasizes Mose receiving of the Ten Commandments Irom Yahweh and Mose anger at the Hebrew for ther conningfascination with other dite, a symbolized by he golden calf eo ts have general regarded Mocs asthe found of Jvish mono theism. Even after arriving in Canaan, however, the Hebrew ter ontinsed vo worship gods nd gress beside Yash fat, 36 ‘hey sited rom seminomadicpestols to sedentary arming they became increasingly involved wit those particular gods ad godess ‘ho could supposed enhance the fry ofthe sll—especialy Bea ‘heson of Ashera, an his consrs, Anh Sometine after 1100 ne, the Hebrew tibes in Canaan united pollo delend dhemslvs aginst heir common enemies, begin ring with he Philiines. The monarchy they formes had ee sucess sive ings: Saul who ale una 1004 ne; Di. wh ake ul 65 2c and Davison Solomon, who ruled ntl 22. dese datesare approximate Davin arian rated the Jewish atonal sat and ‘me Jerulem ts apa Because he had previously been he king of Ja, the new Jesh sae came to be dominated by Judea ess, Inching the bi that Yael a the one and only rue god ‘Ae Solomon’ death in 922. the Jewish tate pitino the o9 gdoms of irl and Judah, Judah survived fr alos four hun red years ending nly when the Babylonians destroyed Jerse and its temple in 885 Israel survived for only two handed yes, tending when the Assyrians eaprred i capt Sumi, in 722 mc During the ely part of ts history, td especially during the reign of ‘og Ahab ands foreign bor ie, Jebel the ea of Asher and Baal spread within the Kingdom. tas ally suppress in 852 however, afer polka coup and he atesinton of some fur hu re pews, The spiting apart ofthe Jest national sate was an obvious ‘tveatto the scendaney of Yahweh asthe one an onky tue god. At ‘hat eal moment, therefore, the Judean prophet whom scholars ‘ow call the Yahwst took i upon Nimtlf 0 wit history ofthe Hebrew people chat would be consistent with the months ta Vion of Moses. This history warner elaborated by many eter writers indinga group known athe Priel writers, and twas inal fase into the Fenateuch—also known as the Five Books of Moses—atd tanonzed asa sacred text by the prophets Exraand Nehemiah in spproximaely 430 “To contol the Hebrews continuing endene in non-Yawis i ‘eatins the Yai wrote a ost sl cretion sory Rather than telling of power srugge becwcen male and female dees, a most ‘her ancient Middle Eastern cretion sores di, he denied the ex tence of any god or guesses besides Yahweh and abut 0 Yah- veh many of the feats and accomplishment hat had easier been ‘rete in ral narratives to ober deities including the eration of life self Given the prolonged ieolgialwrugle ofthe Yabveh elt ‘guns the worship of other deie—the cetion-goddet Asberak ‘mong themn—some modera scholars nw se the Yai ery mas Calne represraton of God and hs very negative epresenaion of se not fo menon histo exclusion of women rom alo the one rants hat Yueh made with Inre, part oft mislon to depose the creation goddess once and fora ‘hough the Yahi eptsenationswerelater tempered tle bythe Pity writers, they basally went unchallenged unt the fist ‘through the fourth centuries. ten several roups of aly Chi: ‘ins, ao: known athe Gnowic, elaborated on wome of the Prey ‘eras ina wy dha nore orthodox Christians considered highly ete al Picking up onthe Prin verse that ead, tn the image of Cod He crested him: male and female He crested thers" (Genesis 27) 2 ‘wll as om the Prien rertes the Gnostis contracted a repent {on ofboth God and man nature that included macalne nd ei ine mens they also constructed representation of Eve as Adams ever Consistent with this more postive epresentaion of Ee, the (Groce acy permited women tobe ries bythe question of how sich an inperfect univers could have been teat by a perfect god, many Gnostes reached the truly herve fonelusion thatthe god ofthe Hebrews must hinslf bean iperfet femanation frm a Final Source nd they represented that rina Source duis 8 beh male ad Feral Because the eso the Gnosts fundamental challenged the clit monotheism and the abuolute malenes ofthe Jewish God, trhom all Cristiane ew tok to be the father of Jes Chit, the (Gnostic ens were excued from the selec i of went that were ‘anonzed asthe New Testament, Like al the other documents con ‘denaned as heretical when Chriiany became an oily approved ‘elgion nthe fourth century A, they were alo burned and thet ‘otertion mde criminal ene. The only reaton tat scholars nowt now about het texts andthe parla delogcalwruggle wincan Chitin thatthe reprotene is because tome urine iden inca poss forever 1.80 year: an Arab peasant found chemin Egypt in 191, Given what snow kn about thi earl period, however, ‘umber of ecole eer come ose many documents inthe New Testament-especlly Pauls pronouncements on women —25 jt ofa renewed and sistemas efor to expunge fom the Jadeo ‘Crisian radon all veges of female parcpati nthe priesood anda vestige of feninine symbols inthe divine, ‘The Bb! Dfton of Woman With this bi hiorcalsuvey as our backdrop, Weare now ready to analae the androcetris in some ofthe most important bial ‘eres defining woman. Eater, {dened andvocentri a the pet legng of males, mae experience, and the mate perspective, which leas defining woman atthe other Ta gested hat i defining woman athe oes, nan has radon focused on thee aspect of ‘omma'reltonship to in: (1) her diference rom, al he inferior feytvtheonineralwandad o nore that he sees hinsel a atral representing: 2) her domesic and reprodetive fanetion within the {aly or household that he sees himself snarls heading; a3) her bly stimulate nd to aisy bis ov sexual appetite, which he finds oth eeckng ad threatening All but one ofthese iat are presen inthe ibcal story ofthe ceaton, Nocony is Adam exp gten the poe tonaime—thats, define every single ceature on earth inciing woman, fom is ‘um perspective but only Adams unambiguously sido be ereatedin ‘Gos image, Eve, n conrast aninferior departare fom thi godly standard secondary beingcreated merely toes elperto Adam she isnot namer here “Then God si, “Let us make main ou image, after our likeness and et them fave dominion over he Fk of these. and over the ir ofthe ait and over the cate, nd over a the earth and ver every creeping thing that creeps upon the ‘arth So Ga crested man in his ow nage, in the image of God he crested him: male and female he created ther. (Gen si 136-27) Then the Lord God said Tis not good thatthe man shou be lone: I yell make hin a helper Bt for him” So ou of the round the Lord God formed every beat fhe ld and every Ted ofthe ai and brought them othe man wo se what he would call hem and whatever the man called every Ising treats that wat is name The man gave aes wall ete tnd tothe bide of the ar, ane every beat of the Bld: but forthe man there wae not found helper for him So the ‘Lord Gad caused a dep sheep fll upon he man and while belep tok ane of his ib and loved up is place with eh aed the rib which the Lord God ad taken from the a he Ime into a woman and brought her 1 he man. Then the ‘an si. “Thi tae one of me Bones and Res of my Seah she shall becaled Worn, beete she wastaken out of Man (Genesis 218-28) “The story of Adam and Eve fal fom grace accentuates these sera themes and also introduces the definion of woman a3 sexi temptres. The fl rom grace begins wth Eves being persuaded by the serpent oat from the forbade ree of onledge although the bial vere do not explain hy the serpent approaches Fe, rather than Adam, ohn Philpe ay in icy documented wd ofthe Eve myth thi iil interpretestheough the ages hae en “net ‘unanimouin supposing thatthe serpent, being shed, recognizes that shes the weaker fhe two humans” And wy eae the weaker? cause se is" ew than perfect approximation of her Creator: in ferior not ony to him, tat to Adam 38 wel» etton in power, rational faces, selcontol. pit, and moral strength (1988 37. The aerpent’s choice this emphases the defnion of woot an inferior departre fom the male standard "The definkon of woman ata vexualtemptress who liresman todo shat he would otherwise eschew suggested by Adan wansgresing Along with Eve. Alhough the reason for Adam uansgession i not rome in the iba vere, interpreters throug the ages have fe ‘qemly arte hit wanegresion to Eve's ev eductnenes John Philips summaries hit sexual explanation flows “Having been seduce becase of her weakness, she ale to seduce her husband ‘ecaseshe filed wihthe power ofthe Devi” AS"the speci inst ment of Satan she poses“ heightened sexuality that invita: ‘iy lures Adam to destoy the state of parade (6). Ani finally, he definition of woman ners of her domestic andreprodustv functions within the male-dominated fay is accents ied by the ponent she receives for her tanagreson. Having been crested tobe man's helper aon se is even more subordinated tnd even more defined in terms of her cidbearing Fancion, than before se ate the forbidden frat rom there of Enccedge: “Tote ‘rman esi il grestly mipy your pain edbearing: fn ‘pais you shall beng forth children, yt your dese shall be for your Insound, an he shall rule over You" (Genesis 16). “The quetion remains: Apart from Eves diohedience to God, shag esas the mature of her transgresion? What. in other Words, doe he eating ofthe forbdien ri symbole? Biba! ime peters hav offered the following thee answers, among others. | asing the forbidden ele symbolizes carnal sexuality This ince pretation iconsitene wth Adam and Eve's perception after eat {ng the ru, tht hey ae nas, Because Exe was atracted the frst in theirs place and then empeed Adam, tis ao consent ai the deinton of woman at a senaly dangerous being. 2 Tha Eve in particular ate the forbidden fut symbolizes both her—and woman’-insfcen abedience not only 0 God bt 0 man a wel, This interpretation was sugested inthe sixteenth ‘etary by Protestant reformers ike Matin Luther and John Cal- Sin who ejected “the seal endenionses surrounding the fll ‘of marty a0 mach Jewish able ae opis nonsense” (Pt lps 1084, p99, Consent with hi ew the specie punish ment gven wo Ee for her ransgresion, 15 Thar vein particulate the orbidden fuitasosymbolesher— and womant—ranty in supposing that she might conceal be ike Go" asthe serpent pt Content with this ew the whale history of the Weologialstraggle Berween the monobeiti ‘eves in Yeh and the polyheistcbeeers in oter dees ‘besides Yahweh nclding the cetion-goddes, Given this rug {le its easy to imagine that by punishing Eve so severely for fcking to emulate the divine, the Yabwa was deposing the ‘eaton goddess symbolically muchas he had eater deposed her ‘materially by removing her fom the cas of characters presen at have here considered the Ese of Genesis alongwith the Eve in ‘he andar ial interpretations of Genesis, beeause as Philips has so apy pati, Eve try eat he beat of the concept of Woman in ‘Wate cvzation”AsEverywoman” she ss ving pac of the cl ‘ural and social hitoiet ofthe people ouched by her characterization “Tatellow the pathof Exe isto dover mich abo theideniy that has cen impose upon women in Westen czaton fone would understand Woman, one must come o tris with Eve” (198, pi Busi ot jut he story of Eve thatone ust cone oer wih \Wexer though in general and the Western concept of woman a Particular, areal sed on phloophiea! nd poll eadson hat has its oot in ancien Greece, inorans generally regard the ancient Greeks a the founder of Western hatin! Noconl id ther establish the don of nd ‘ial redo and justice tat ae so fundamental o democracy but theirar, philosophy and sence served she bs Frmuch of West fer thought and cure. Consider how many pecs of American alte ate Geek in orig, inclding no only the very concept of & ‘hizen in a democracy but als the Socratic method, the Hippocratic tah he Eucian geometry. the theory ofthe Oelips complex, and tren the Olympir Gamer-—frt held inthe Stadia of Olena in ‘reste Green 776 ne In adion to all hese well-known postive contributions, how ver, the ancient Greek alo founded ation of misogyny that as helped 0 shape the concen of woman othe preset day. This ‘radon dates acktoat eat the eights entry, when the Gzeck poet Hesiod recorded he sory of Pandora “According wo Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on ‘amherst under oder from Zeus inorder to punish Promethevs for stating fire from heaven and ging i to men. Because Zeuss inten wae to create an ev being that all in would find desirable, Pandora was created the image ofthe goddesses, who each ave her some spec it ike beauty or grace, to enhance her acractvenss— hence her name, Pandora which ean “all i Pandora was ginenabor—ome verkontanyavase—vhichahe was sxamed never open. After hermarriage'o Promthewrs brother her ‘ars gotthe beer ofher, ands opened unintentionally eng loow alle viesnsdisesesandtroubesimprsonedheein, Whenshe slammed the Box lowed, the only hing tspped inside was hope In the ancient Greek radon js sin the ancent Judeo-Christian ea onthe ret woman om earheas thus held vesponsible othe allo Tnumaniy fom a stato parade Hesiod lived and rote nt very long after Homer. I contra mos of the wellknown Greek writers ted n the fourth and fh Centuries ne including Sophocles ho wrote the Oedipus aged. Socrates how Plato's teacher), Plato (ho was Anite’ eachet. tnd Art himel, Of hee, the wo th che most ny about the ‘ature and function of woman were Plato and Aristotle, who defined troman in much the sme way tat the shdrocenric writers ofthe Jideo-Chritin tadtion ha abo defined her: (1) aan inferior de parte fom the male add and (2) 3 subordinate within the Inale-dminated family whose specazed func were to provide legitimate her, ear young chile, and perform various domentic ‘ores. (In sddon to being androcentic this deion was com- plete clas Bound, with ers laves not even nuded in the ate sory of woman) ‘Completely missing from he wring of Pato ant Aristotle, bow ver, wa the definition of woman 383 sexs tempsret who either ures mano do evi deeds asin thease of Adam ad Eve) oF weakens him ar nthe cue of Sampson and Della. This gap in the andro entre concepion of woman probably relates tothe homoerotic of tncent Greek cre. To men He Plto and Aristotle, women were totthe centro ther thei affective ves other sexual desiresseven ‘ough defined androcentrially, women were thus aot dened in term of male ex Pla Pst conception of woman a inferior to man is early communi- ‘ated by bis own cestion myth, Human nature ie of eo Kinds, with tena "ie superior race” The original cretion actually contained no Women at all jst men each with sul ausigned ta ar. OF these ‘orginal men, ‘he mho lived well dung hit appointed ime wast return and

7 "Todiinguish the child who rly genderdsordered fom the ld wo merely fit conform to gender stereotype, DSH ex ly ser “This corde snot merely 3 Chiles noaconformiy to ecrolebehavor as, forxample.intomboyisnesin gor sss ‘behavior in boys, burathera profounddsturbancea tbe nornalsense ‘of malenes or femalenex” (p71). Caeaben wit the view tat his ‘tinction night nox be nes oleae athe pyhintrits would have tsbelieve however, the DSM reports without commen tht "in cine ‘amplesthere are many more boys with this disorder than gp 72. ‘Weshal ssn Chapter 5 that gendernonconfrming boy are much more stigmatized and ostracized than gender nonconforming gl Perhaps percsving more boy than girs a gender dhordred one vy thatthe culture expres tat soc intolerance, Ahough the rationale for intervening inthe development of senderdluordered children was tha they ae at ih for wansexua- Sin dhe empha oon sited other beng 3 rik for homosexuality ‘The evlenceeesponabl for this shift summarved in DSA “ery few" gender divordered children “develop Transsexual in Moexence or adelthcod,” bt from onesie to twoshids oF more ti boys nth the ditrder develops homosexal vention during ad tesence," 8 “ome” ofthe minority of its who “retain 3 mas ‘ale ideation” (p72). This link Berneen a genderdisorered ‘hildod ane homoxexaay i supported by Zucker’ analysis ofall ‘he sts published by the i980 tha race the development of seudendiordeted cilien into adolescence or adaltbood, a ell at by Green's more recent stud)—hence ee, The "iy Bo Sone athe Despre of Howse “Twoeaplanation ar offered forthe ow yet fra transexessloutome" (Zucker 1985) among gende-dsorderedcilten Fist ‘herapeutic intervention may ial ale the develpmmentlcoure of the dorder Second, anvetual adults are s0 much rarer sv the feneralpopuliton than genderdisrderedchidren that Eom 3 putly sata iexpons, demonstrating much of eon between the eve would noe pose unless working with very lrg sample of gendernorderedchibren, which these nerention studies have To been abe to da, Homosexuality the other hands nt rare phenomenon hence ix mich easier to demonstrate any hldhood omelates tha exist That ues train the development of gender ‘sored dldren ended up demonstrating link especial in boys, beeween adult homosexuality and what his in other coments been Gilet "gender aoneonlormy” i cldhood i aoe surprising, for at least one major reonpetiv ud of al moves (Bel, Wein- berg & Hammersmith, 1981) har lends demonststed the sme link ‘Given the lo ye of ransuexusl and the high yield of homnoaes: unleamong the children in these intervention dione pi fet ics hs charged thatthe intervention ef i an “iis ater to stamp out te development of gy ie in young chien” (Morin {© Schult, 1978, p. 142) This charge might be even more applicable to vomeone Eke Gaorge Reker—uho woud be happy t amp out omosexsaiy hich he seer at ex perversion at ar ben "old to the unwary pbc as right Benseen consenting ada” (1982, ».88)—than for someone ke Richard Green, who not ony played a ey roe in geting homowenuliy removed from the DSM bu who also ses himsel at merely ying to help eudren eho are the uxhsppy ‘sims of nent socal cntaciam an intense dination wit the sextha they realy are. Sil n neither case ithe cid Being helped 0 ope in asain wey with Soa ostracism, Rather, the child i being patholopized ad asked to aker part ofthe self that may eons st much cura espect at eligian or rac, Ae the ele Imig pt a demacratie and plural scey ike the United Sates does eal with crimination agp reigios or racial minorities by ‘king people o conver or Beach themssves. By the same ake, it ‘ould’ deal wth dseiminaton against gender tines by asking them to “arsghten ou” or have x achange operation, ris bad enough that papery may have pthologied and twented children who did noe have a mental disorder after al. But ren wort, Janice Raymond (1979) and Thomas Sas (979) have Printed out, pairs have once again used thei lest pies Power define mental Beith nd mental les in ode 0 restore the highly polariedsrip for males ane females inthis soe. They hve once agin naturalized the gender conformist std pathotgied the gender devant by cresting ne category of metalilines, om a they din an ear era with sexual inversion and homaseualy™ People who are desperatly unhappy wih ther ilo ex do reed sone Kind of hep. But cven from 3 mental health perspective, ‘ransenin would be much beter conceptialized 3 sri! patho ogy than a» an nds pathology. To uci somevrhat diferent, {tansexual woul be much beter concealed asthe underside tf the sane process of gender plarition that alo produces highly Conventional males and ferns. less gender plarsing cule, Mier all would mater much les ifthe indus perry and behavior didnot cobere into a igh genderplarized package chat rmached her or his ological ex Inada, 50 much Less would be ‘defined asmacatin oe feminine in thet place hat ex would 050 trast Tinie the Hind ofa peron that one coll be, and hence people would have much less eason tobe desperately unhappy with {he particule sx they happened 1o be born wih ‘he Decent of Mazel eit ‘n'Nomat” Chien ANhough the exitence of DSA category called Gender Wenty Di fonder of Childhood demonstrates refurb hata leas 3 smal per fentage of eidren in Ameria do noc conform othe gender srpteof the care, alma every paren, caher and developmental peat logit already knows thatthe large majority of American chideen— ‘specially those of preschoot age and earyclmentaryschoolage— sare vigily gender conforming. Children regard a broad range of arulacts and ativies as exhsvely appropriate fr only one sexo the ‘tier, and even more enportant, they strongly pele same-sex pla Inates and genderappropise tos, clothes, and sees for both themselet and thei peers" ‘Until wenty-five fears ago, most developmental prcholgis sumed hat this pattern of ety gender adkonalsm wae eaned in ‘ome fishin from the genderpoarizing practices of the sca om mui Inthe past went. ve year, however, t least one prominent‘ranch of developmental prcholgy has pled something very di Feren:namely chat tical gender tains ia ratral—and alo inevitable—by-product ofthe young cls om cope pro sexing "This maturalsng of the young chills conformity to gender serps toga in 1966, when Lawrence Kotlberg adapted Jean Page theory cognitive development othe domain of gender Although Piaget ‘ion ofthe child a an active cognitive procesor had profound nd postive, ees on the fl of pacha, Kohlberg adaption of| ‘Prager sheory to dhe domain of gender so completly ignored the gender polrnngpraces of the dds soci community that pot toad canis gender tradonaiam at almost completely emergent from the mind of the cil ‘What Kodlberg bsially argued, folowing Paget. i that young, children are not passive or mindless ps ofthe scaling coma ity at, instead, acve copie procenors ying to undersand ‘he nature ofthe physical and soil world and the ple ofthe sel ‘iin that word In ocher words, they are pattern seekers rugating to ducover whatever categorie or regularities exit in the world round them and once they cover thos categories or regulars, they spontaneously consruct a sel anda st of cal ules consistent with them or Koblberg and those working inthe Koblbergian wad, ‘wha follows from thiargument inthe domain of gender tha "snce ovis sable and easy dncriminable natal etegor” (Marin ke Halverson, 1981, p 1128, empha added, chien ae almos ine ia led by their own cognitive procesing to choose gender asthe organising principle forthe sail ues that govern their own and thet peer behavior. Quite independent of anyehing thatthe oct othe ‘ocialzing community might dot foster or tempers ow fender polatzaton, the young chile spananeosny discovers the maefemale ‘behotomy in nature and then eategorzes—and evalates—both the selfand others ines of that dichotomy. As Kobberghinself pe "tc eateorzatons determine baie valuing: Once the by ha stably ented himself as male, he then values oskvely those objects fd cs consent wt hit gener identi” (1968, p69)°" ‘Whe combined with wha is alleged o be the natural perceptual salience of the male-female dichotomy the childs natural pedection {or pater king could theorekaly explain why preschool children organize ther soca world on the bai of gender. Bul, continues the Kehibergan argument, something che about young ehiren abo leads chem wo app the male-female dichotomy vg rater than Aexiy—and thereby to become the rigid gender trdonaits hat, ‘hey umslly are That something se the childs preoperational sage of ognitve development, which lss-~according o Page—ftom ap proximately eighteen months to seven years of ae. Ths sage as 3 umber ofininsi cognitive imitations atoated ith onl wo of ‘which re relevant hie dscision Fist, the preoperatioal child isan egocentric "moral resi (Pinger, 1952), prediaporeio reat alles and vegulriesas absolute tnd univers No ditncon made beeween the phys, de soa Conventional, and the moral. Every rl 3 moral ebiation: every regularity an immutable moral lw: Kohlberg desribesthe connection teen egocentric moral reais and rigid gender traditionalism by toting thatthe "physical constancerunderying ged “tend wo be dented with divine or moral in andthe need to aap othe ps ‘al regular of one's dente defined at amoral obligation.” Ci tron think same-sex behavior s"moraly requ, and they express ini semtiment to children who deviate rm sex‘yped behavior (966, p 122, ‘Stead, the preopeatona child cannot yet mentally “revere” 2 perceptual ransformation tat has been performed on some object in the veal worlds hence he or shes unable to “conserve invariance” 0 understand hat he asc identey ofan object remains thesame even ‘scou perceptual transformations The preoperaonl child istherey perception bound, thats, facisedon the srface propre of objects End pressed ttre themas defining even when they are not. This ‘cond limitation of preoperaional thought sould make iil forthe child to understand that even when a peso’ outward a pearance changes dramatically, hit oF Ber sx remains the sume. I hou also make the child even mor igily gender conforming han be or she woul otherwise be, because fom the eilds pereption- ound perspective, am individual has to bot lok and act male oF female to actualy be male or female ‘Klien’ deepest characterization ofthe cid seems fundamen ‘alright children dose o be activ partkipants in the pres of ender acquistion, who not only fd the male-female dichotomy per epualy and emotionally compeling but who abe spontaneously‘ealte that perceptual and emotional compelingnes into arg se ‘of gender rules for both the selfand eters. But Kohbergsniplation ‘hat rill gender tradonalia i therefore x naturl—and almost ineviablefeature of enly childhood seems fundamental, wrong. For one thing, the male female dichotomy may be pereptally and ‘mosonally compelling ochilren in the ir place nox Bess of having any ind of net perceptual primacy otr oder dimensions corcategoriet bt because the gender polarizing practices of the cd's ‘cial community have made perceptually nd emotionally ompel ling. Fr another thing, een preschot children may think about gen ‘erin arg gender polarizing way not because of any preope ional stage of cognitive development but because they ave no yet learned what makes person 2 bislogkal male o female ‘Consstent with the pony that young children may find the tmalefemale dichotomy pereepeuly and emosonaly competing be Cause ofthe gender polarizing races of the sciazing community te the follwing two empirical findings, both of them replated on ‘numerous occasion. Fis aldhough full 0 percent of American var Searos ean readily stngush males from fees on the asi of rey coral coe like aire and clocking, a man a8 50 pereent ff American thee- and four-year-old sil fall to distinguish males ‘om emalesifall they have ogo onate logical natural cues ike genitalia and body phsique. Inother words, ti nor balogially mat Fal diflerence ha young American hiren find v0 pereepally fd emetionaly competing bu stray onsite gender der ences Second by twenty to went-four months of age, preschool i Gren generate mich more resi gender rales for theirmale pees tan for ther female peers an asymmetry for which there 30 ob ‘ous source in ether cognitive development or bnlogy but for which there it an obvious soure inthe cult, hich prescribes ech harsher treanent for male gender deviance sisi than fr Female gender deviance (tomboys. (Constr th the posh young children may think about gender in rig way not becaue they ae a preopersona sage ‘of cognitive development bu because they lack efficent bnogia ‘noe a panoply of empirical ndings that derive fom a recent cullenge ia developmental psychology tothe very existence of ed, ‘iver and chroncogial Pagetin-ke stage in human develo. ‘ment. cording to theteanistage thors, one man reason young children fito perform competently on variety of Pageian reason Ing aske—incating toe eas tht ave anything o do with ge ‘dete eha they dono yet have enough knowledge aout te abet matter being tested. Tet the reasoning of very young ciliren in 3 lomain where they have suficentknowledge—ask even the youngest. insur exper to reson abou dinosaurs. for example—and their reasoning wl nt look preopersiona ts mature aban als The impbeatin of his amistage argument for the domain of sex snd gender shouldbe car [even the youngest children demand the ‘mow rigid gener conformity rom themselves and ther per, they do fo: in part ot beau evar in a preoperaional sage of cognitive ‘development but because they have no ye earned or, mare othe point they have not yet ben nught-hat he geiaeonite the Alefning bute of male and female. Consent with this aniage [perspective tthe finding rom a recent sy of my on, Only about Ia othe three-year, founyeanlds, and ery Bye earls that Tested had the genital Knowledge necenary eo corey enti ‘olor photographs, the wx of four toddlers who were rie fom at Test the watt down, But of thot who dil have that knowledge, ull 74 percent cou conerve the sx of two other toddlers acon the rata changes in physical appearance that are pire oa he fl losing evo pages Bem, 1989. ‘Recent empirical evidence doe cll Kotberg® theory of gender cquiton inte question, then, but for purposes of thi paclar di Cumon, the important pone is that Kolberg naturalized gender Polatzaon, stating the source ofthe moseation for = gender polszing watch between sex and behavior within the ming ofthe reoperation child—jst as Freud naturale androcentrism bys Satng the sure of the androcetie valuing ofthe penis within the rind ofthe cepa chil Desosrcing Maslin Femininity In their on diferent wap, the peychologicl and payin die. ours on mateainty and femininity that we have been dscusing tll privilege gender radionalm and pathologie gender deviance by maturing what i exten jos conformity tthe ual re ‘quieren tha the ex ofthe bad match the gender of the pssche ‘The dacouee on mmc ferininy steamer des this noon by conceptslring gender ara bipolar dimension around which the‘human personality inevitably takesshape but ao by sigmatcng mas Cline el feminine inersa the pool rom which homosexual are ‘hie reesteds the dicoure on gender deny orders does his ‘by explicly pthologizing dldren and adults who fal to achieve the ‘uuraly required match between body and psyche; and finaly the tdacourse on gender deselopment in “normal children does this by teetng the plenotnenon of easly gender tradionaim a anal-but ineviable by-product ofthe intraon between the natural percep {tal salience af the male-female dichotomy andthe natera cognitive procesing ofthe preoperaonal dd “Tis egny of naturacing gender conformity aod patbologiing enversonconformiy eld way within the Bel of pschology unt the eaty 1970, when fein finaly ook bold in bu psychology fn he cult at large. In this nes Femin vigei, x number of feminisprchologste—myelf inuded—independenty began 10 ‘question the problematic assumption about masculinity and ferinn- ify atapprocinatey the same tine Several early contibations stand ‘uas landmark inthis grein rtiqv ofthe eld. 11970, Inge Brovernan ander colleagues not ony documented mpitialy byt aso ered the double standard of mental heath Sppled by clineal peychlogi,papchiatrits, and social workers, ‘heck breathing retemblance othe gender steretypesthen pres Benin American cline My own theoreti anal empirical research fon the conept of drogyay began in 1971, with the development of the Bem Sex Role Inventory. To years atin 1978, Ann Constas- ‘ople published criique of al the masulnyfminnty scales that ‘erhalogts had produced before 1970, and Jeanne Block publshed Sh ance about anogyny bised on her own longa research Finally in 1974, Janet Taylor Spence, Rotere Hemeich, and Joy ‘Sapp pushed ther instrament for assessing andogyay, the Pe soa Attibutes Quetonnaize." “Akhough the concept of androgyy wat not wnprolematc the cory theoetal and empiscal work on androgyny di challenge the Tongsandingpsychologal ssp aout marculi-femiinty ina new way. Becase this ary work on andeogyy was so central 19 thecal feminist crue of the gender poration within psychology ‘sel aha dics i ere in some dea then go on tothe work that ‘sae desgned to overcome the concepial imitation of andro." “The Bem Sex Roe Inventory, oF Res, apaper-and-penel elf ‘sept instromentthacassthe respondent indicate onaseven pint tele how wel ach of sity ferent abuts decries him oF he. “Twenty ofthe atrbutes reflect the defiton of acelin hit culture for example assertive independent) ent sels the defi tion of Femininity for example, tender, undersanding) nd sweny re filer. The respondent ir unaware of thee exegoris,Akhough the as appears be a standard measure of masculine 2 umber of is features del challenge the three problematic sumptions tha we earlier ace all he way bck o Terman and Mies ‘asa. Fist and perhaps most important, the masculine end feminine ‘tems om the aan were selected not on the bas of how mes and females describe themselves, but on the basi of wht nas ultra defined a gender appropriate inthe United Sats the ay 197 Judges who screened he pool of tem forthe fee were hi ete hate informant” abou the culture—to we the anbropologal ‘erm-—rating each item not by how well described themseves per Sonally baby how desirable dey chou ito bein American soe generally" forethera man ora woman. This procedure war designed {© locate masculinity and fein in the ours of the cure rather han the personality of the individual and iself constiated a ‘allege to Terman and Mies rifcacion of masulniy-ferininty as acore dimension ofthe human personaly. The procedare wleo Alasgned to accord wih concep of the conventionally gendered —or sexeyped”—indvidual a6 someone whowe eltdefition and be: havior are thoroughly interevined withthe retype deftions of gender appropriateness in is or er clare Second the scoring of heel cd not treat the secs mascine and feminine tems a chusering atthe wo oppose ends ofa single ‘mascolnty femininity sales iaend the ites were sumed toepre eno fulvindependent cals of cual defined maven ond Caturaly defined feminiiy, respectiely. Thi novel scoring pro- ‘cedure enabled indus ook the att to desde themscves at igh sn both, low in both, igh in one and ow in the eer Ins doing revered Terman and Miss bipolar assumption that an Individual most be eter masculine or feminine, bat et beh, ial, the assy conuastd convesioalyxexeyped. people not with people wa mere *crone-sextyped” (or “inverted a8 had alos sheaynbeen the cate before, bt th people who were androgynous”Both conceptually and methodologically, thee androgrnows people have been sarily defined a (1) having selfonceps that sma neous incorporate the crat deBnisons of bh masciy and emininity o (2) having selconepts that ae nt at al icercnined scala define of gener pproprntenest- In either ase, the Doni valu tha feminist sched oh contras group suggested thac rather than bring the most mentally healthy of al individual Conventionally sectyped people mighe actually be~prsonters]of gen- ter (Heibren 873. o. This ealuaon challenged Terman and Miss mental hea saimption that anvthing other than conven- tional sestyping ws evidence of patelog. ‘ach espondent othe no recnes a Feninnity Score equal to ‘he ol numberof emininypontsin ior her se concepe, 2 Mas tainty Score equal othe otal numberof macality pons in his oF her self-oneep anda Feminiity Min Masulinky Dalerence Score equal to the dference between de idiiduas ttl numberof ei- fiiy and masciniy ine Wher he ase was designe respon- tlents were define a8 sex-typed, cros-ex typed, or androgynous on the bass of heir Femininity- Minos Mate Dillerece Score with small dlerence sores indicating androgyny and lange dilference ‘eoresindeating either sexayping oF erosesexyping ‘Somewhat ae, the decison wat made to recive ch frm an ry fo thou nda eho earned heirs dflerence cores by scoring high in oth masculine ano label 3s indented those who earned her sal difference score by sco ing fw in both masa and femiiny. Although tis dein rade seve for eetn empirical eatons, id tend obscure thatthe snr had been desig to ditinguith conceptually and empiially Tetween two particular groupe oficial: thoe who are highly movado Rep both ther self-concept and thei behavior consistent with the cultural andar of gender appropratenes (the conven tional sextyped group) and hoe for whom the cura standardsof ender approprisines are not pricy mportnt wo either thet Seléconcep oF thee behavor (he androgynous group). ‘As T sa it the ime, and 8 [sl sc oa, the concept of androgyay challenged gender polarain i psebology ad inthe ‘American culture as almost nothing wp otha ime had done, Whereas ithod eater been sumed that mately ed eminiiy were core lmensione of be human personaly, now twas beng sages ha matin and ening were merely coral stereotypes 0 which people conformed atthe pei. Whereas chad eater been assumed that mental Beat requived men 1 be masculine and women to be feminine, now i war being suggested nt only tha eveyone cul be both masculine and feminine ut, ven more important, dat andar tf menal bealh should be genderes, Fall whereas it had eater teen asumed tht sx should determine the kindof econcept 30 Indl should develop and the Sind of behavior she or he should engage in, aon war being saggeted ct only tha a india hol be free to have her ori orn unique ending of emperament fn behavior bs, even mote important, thatthe very don of teats and behaviors nto he two categories of masculine and fe ‘ine wat somewhere beeen problematic and immoral “The revolutionary nature of the concept of andeogyy 0 pefelly raced the feist pitt ofthe ery 1970s that achieved instant Celebrity within th eld of psychology and was aso independent Alacovered and Wealized by a ess wo fens working within the humanities, the iteray scolar Carly Helbran and the poe Ade ‘nme Rich, Caran Hib intoduced her work on andropay ‘whieh wasa major Dock acing"the hidden ve ofandrogyny" (187, 3) from its source in preHelenic mth through che erature of "he tenth comer; withthe following words When a subj is highly controversial” Virginia Woolf ob- served to an audience Tore-fve years ago, “and 2ny question Shout sexi that, one cannot hope to ell he truth, One an ‘only show how ove came took whatever epiion ne does hold” My opinion i any enough expressed | believe that ‘ur fate sation es ms movement ay fom sel po- Tanaatin andthe prison of gender tovard a word in which individual roles and the modes of personal Behavior cn be rely chowen.‘The Heal toward which I beleve me should rove ibe described by the term “androgyny” This ancient, (Geek word—fom andro male an gym (female). seks © berate the individual fom the confine ofthe appropri, Taupe spectrin upon which human beings chore ‘heir pace without reard to propity or castor. (Pp) Advenne Rich provide no sue troduction but her poem "The Stanger poke fr hallLooking 2 ve looked before, sraight down the heart ofthe eet tothe ser walking the rivers ofthe avenues Testing the shudder of the caves beneath the asphalt atch ee ight mona the towers fring 2 Fee walled before Tea man ike a woman, inthe ty rn vsonary anger leasing my ight fad he detailed perceptions of merey owering fom tha anger Jt come ino a root out ofthe sharp mi ight and her them aking a dead language ifthe sk me my iene what ean Lay bot Tam de androgyne 1am te ving mind you fio deseribe In your dead ngage the lat noun, the ver suring only inthe ifntive the eters myname are writen under thei ofthe newborn child 0973, p.19) Asanyone wh ha followed the hitory of contemporary feminist ‘ought knows, the concep ofandogyny came under sever ccs lost as quickly st ad become eae, By 1974, Adrienne Rich Ta thas lead expunged her ancrogyny poem fons her volume of celles pots by 1976, sh had writen rie ritiqueof the whole concep in Of Was Bor: and Uy 1978, in The Drew of Common Langinge, soba wien en poem ened "Natural Resources" in ich she droped the word tel fom her lesco. A portion of hat, poem rads as follows “There ae word I cannot choot again: Iaionandronys Such word have no shame in ther, no difdence before the aging soe grandmothers ‘heir ini 00 salons ie a ye hat doesnot permeate the bres of cua ile B00) Although the many eiiques of androgyay Ut have appeared during the a fften years ve varied enormously with the pois ‘nd the dcpinary backgrounds of the cre tes rcs ee 0 ‘me to be responsible fr the swiftness wih which ndrogyny became diy word among so many feminist thers Fist. the history af the concept hasbeen netherso glarous nr so ender neutral as Hlran suggested in er origina tracing of the ncep: Quite the contrary Aconding to Baars Celp andogy hasbeen used throughout the tory of Wester cle asa son of ‘how the “perfect man (174, p 188) could be created, as Wisin, in other word of ow the"asclin vessel” could be il apd flied byfeminine emotion nd physical” (p.152- In the“brave new world cofrmle androgynes(p 197), men could thus be androgynous wile ‘women would sll be androcenrlly defined in telaton t9 men. Many sa) this androcentic history and emphasis are represented in the term elt which pcs andro before ye Second, and even mote smportant, the concept of androgyny ie simsitancosty 0 gender neutral so opin and 0 dvoid ofan re ‘connection to historia eat that it does even acknowledge the texlence of gender neque alone provides conceptual or bisor iatanapsic that inequality. Thi fle shows up roe esr in the ‘evenhanded testent of macuniy and femininiy. Alhough both rmen and men' activites have ben the acs of cultural aie inalest alltime and places, te concept of androgyny’by ise does nahing © point this negualy at. Nor does cake women and women's ac {kis more valued or men and mens cvs es valued, ‘Apt from the to evenhanded erestment of what mle an fe smaes have represented historically the concept of androgyy isthe rized at too private and too persona level 1 be of ay ale pol tally. The eimination of gender inequality wil requ istetional ‘hangs, not jut perinal change. By foeusng onthe peton rather ‘an the patriarchy, sndrogyny protides no concepts or poisanalysis of gender ineguly in fact. it ders atetion away from sich anaes Finals the concept of androgyny reproduced thereby re fier—the very gender polarization hat eek townderat Ie oes hie ty atu nascliny d femininiy obe concept givens fot set peronalty stractres; by emphasing the eamplemenarty of ‘matulny and fein, which, ar, implies the naturalness of Ieterosextality and by fcaningsteton on the male feral distin tion ke ater tha on, the ats oF pore tinction Ahough shink theres some rah inal ofthese erigaes—and khough ny nn seseof the lntation ofthe concep had taken me ‘beyond androgay sear 51977 when 1 began to do work on ge der schematics, 1do not ed any ofthe eiiques so devastating ‘to js the extsion fending frm the feminist acon Ye, “ogy bas apparent had an androcentric story; ut nee not te uaedandrocentrcaly—and bas not been used androcesicaly— tr moders feminist. And ys, andvogyay is devoid of any anlsis of ener ineqiality, whieh x why have so much enjoyed Belg able, a {hisbook, oily dics he conepe after fll nano of andeo- ‘cers, But eenifandrogyny does ito theoire gender ineqaly, itisnoc without poll consequence. Ata certain Miso moment for feminixt heorts, and even tod or many people confused about how tobehaveea man ora woman, androgyy provides both vision ‘opi and a model of mental heal that doet nos require the nd ‘ual obanih from the self whatever attributes al behaviors the ‘altar may havestereotypiall defined as inappropriate for hisor her ex. To my mind, that revolution nthe discourse a he culture as {die worthy poll scomplishment “This reference to masculinity and Femininity brings meat las 0 ‘he thre erique ofandrogyny: i refs the gender polarzcon hat it seks to undercat. Here [think tinction has o be made nt only enwcen diferent wersof the androgyny canept bu als between iS lilerent meaninge For eaty androgynytheort Hke Carl Jung (1958), mascutny and femininity were concepualy dened a ‘deeply enbedded personality structures whose complementarity 0g ited the naturalness of heterosexuality: and androgyny was ise ‘efined 38 the briaging together of those two complementary SUC ture within ethers single peron ora heterouxsal mariage or ltr verter ike Carlyn Helfrun and myself however, ma aliniy an femininity were concep x stereotyped definons “embedded within the cultural dseoure, rather than a5 personal ‘trues embedded within the individual and sndrogyey war weal Aeined the absence of ay concern withthe cultural definisons of Imatulnty and feminine than a the negation of ase igvandfemininiy Pat somewhat diferent the "oral ofandrogyny ‘vs that "bhair should have no gender” where behavior includes ‘ne choie of ecu pariners (Bem, 1978, p19) do nothin, however, that the concep of androyny adequately convey that masulsity and femininity have no independent or pal fable ea Androgyny neta focuses move on the india Dring bch masculine aed feminine ann the atures having cre sel the concept of masculinky and femininity inthe ft lace Hence, androgyy ca legimatel e sid epruce preci the gender polrzton tht it sels to underut andro d0 50 even nthe row Femini of eaters 101977, oconsey more forceful tht masculinity nd eminity are cultural lenses tht polarize ely I hited the focus of my research from the concept of androgyny to the concept of gender ‘Schematic information procesing, or gender schematic Simp pt, cider schematic isthe interning ofthe gender plariation in thecakure, the learned readies to see reaiy acarved naturally into pre ex and gender eaegoies,notcarved whether natal {tunarurlly—intosome cher set crtegoris cs theimposton of iendertintd dasietion on socal elt. the sorting of persons, a Thus, behaviors, and other things onthe basis ofthe polarized def ‘sons of masculinity and femininity that prevalinthe clear, rater than onthe bass of eter dlmensions tht could serve equally wel “This focus om gender schematic information processing emerge in pare, fom my more general theory of ow male and female new broths bcome conventionally masa ad feminine als, a theory [own ae gender schema theory Bem, 19815). Gender achema theory pple to the domain of gender the sme ideas about the ineralia. ‘om of aural lenses that I il develop re general in Chapter 5 Specifically, gender schema theory argue that because American cul tree gender polarising in dacourse and isso istiutons, ‘len come tobe gender scheme or gender polrzng hem {elves without even teal it Gender schematic, tm helps lead children to become conventionally exsyped. Thats in imposing1 gendered casfcton on realty, chilren etalunte dierent ‘sas of Behaving in erm ofthe cura defnions of gender appro: Prtenes and sec any 9a of behaving that doesnot match their sex Inconzast to Koblbergscogntvedeeloprnental account of why ‘hldren become xectyped, his erative account situates he source ofthe cits mosration for snatch between ex and behavior nat ib ‘he mind ofthe cid, tn the gender polarization ofthe ular ‘As teabife example of what ft might mean 1 be gender che mae consider how acolege student at Cornel mig: go abou decd ing ich new hobby ote outrom among the many pssibiliies hat are aralale, He or dhe could aes how expensive each pouty Sthcheritanbedonein cold weather, whether tcan bedane between tnd among cates, exams, nd erm papers, and so for In Eka, [New York=where the seasons ate destbed only semifceoly at inter and Jule anoers wal of these questions would make ning an obvious choice. Being gender schematic, however, means ting ready to lok this decision through = gender polarising en “Thestaent woutdask eal on, What sex" isthe hobby? What sexam 12 Do they mach? Ifsex and obby match, then the hobby woud Be considered further. I at then would be ejected forthwith, By shin the focus of my research fom androgyny to gender schematic, I wanted to etabsh that marclinsy and femininity ‘ere in my ve, cultural constrictions ako wanted to do with re ‘earch on individual liferences wii a cuore what antbropologie reuenly ry todo wth the ferences bee cultures, Justa they sue thediferences beeen cultures toduminate, expose paris Tarcahures way of organiing rai no my theoretic! aed empirical ‘work gender schematicty wasan attempt to ee theferences be tween genderschematicand genderaschematc people within Amer- ‘an culturetlluinateorexpose, not just the ender sebemasiy of ‘ectyped people particular bt the gender polation of American ‘kre in generale thus concepaizing the sextyped peopl a ny escrch not just as genderschematc individuals bu as highly en- ‘ulturated nates whose mode of prosesing information could serve 2a yindow into the consiousnes ofthe eulture nv a whale" "Ths novel neo intiviual differences mace good senae metho logically cso, ae noted earlier, people are dened at conven: ‘inaly exyped on the nen and ony thelr sel essptoncon- form othe bighly polarized deinons of gender ppropratenes that premtlin te culure, Put somewhat diferent, people defined asx ‘ped om the asnt coud jut a nll have been defined highly en ‘trated with respec to gender. When succesful, both strategie Tookng a cultiral cierenesortndival iferences-—marage ‘expote previously invinibleculkral lentes. That they enable wt Took athe lenses of «cute rather han though them by showing previo unimagined akernaives and tere teaching stat acu {ures nonconscou—anddominant=vay of organising realty snot the only nay of organising realy [Usher a feminist moral tothe conepe of gender schematic is thus nt at each of s shouldbe eto explore bah the masculine snd the feminine within curves, li rather tat, in ou curren Iori context, te culturally constructed dichotomy between as Calne and feminine need not™and shold not—be reproduced in biter theinsrumente of eultereor he denies finda The preely the sane feminist moral that i impli ina ee ceri terpretaions of androgyny In the history of ferinist thought tbere has ben longstanding split ‘between the minimizer of male female dference, ike Carolyn Hel: ‘bruand ysl tho gecko undermine whatever ender pariaion ‘exis in caltual discourses and acl insttios, and the maximizes ‘of male female ference who seek o reli, and thereby cera, Thos asprs of female experience tha have een denigrated or re dered inssble by an androcentrc ior. This can be seen i the frst wave of feminist advocay, when the minimizes ike Hizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony argued that women should be rated he right to vote on acount of thes being more Uke than Unlike men, and the masiizers he Ley Stone argued tht women shoul be grated the righ to vote on account oftheir nique at btes—incuding their nurturance and thei beer developed ene af ‘moray, This spl can ale be sen inthe many vais of feminist, ‘theory tht have been baling eachother since the emergence ofthe cond wave of feminist voce in the 1960 "rho the minmiaes ha = heyday daring the androgyny era ‘ofthe late 1960sand earl 1970s, much ofthe feminist dour oF the1990 has been ganized around the elebraon of female dflence andthe development ofa crt of maui. The major conta tors tots maiming dlscourse hve pocaaysagreedon the source ofthe male female ference hey pontulate, uc they bave been very tnuch in agreement about the values the content ofthe proton ‘ally ale nd female "eandpoina” (Harding. 1986) or "oles (Gl fan 182), ‘What virally al of the woman-centered heoriss have wen a2 ‘womans special vrei her aly to easly transcend he many Ite ie ns and aril polaris that men ate said to alos compulsively inven, For Jean Baker Miler (1976 tsthusa woman’ ‘pai to develo and grow dug relonship, ster than to ae tie dichotontue independence and dependence, hat entra for Carl Giligan i is seeing 4 world comprised of relationships rather than of people sanding sine. a world that coheres through Inuman conneson rather than hroagheyaters of les" (108, p29) far Filry Rose, ee the uiyng of "Rand, rain, ane eae” 1985, p78) rather than the separation ofthe mana fromthe mental ome the emotional “This tendeney to sce everyone and everything as interconnected and hence eding ta be in Balance ha impairs nt onl for 2 ‘romans psyche ander interpersonal relationships but alo forthe ins of values that se would be inne espouse atl he Sind of Instone cat she would be inlined to build. Had women been the ‘ones withthe power to consract the dominant clara stitutions i thus follows ftom the woran-entered perpecive that we human beings would now be in much es danger f destroying both osraches dnd our planet than we are; we woul also hae a racy diferent “Conception ot only af sence and moray bat of jst about every ‘ther domain of man ies welt i his sion of rave ‘ew world constricted by women ta devin equ of the cu ent world, which wat bulk by men, According t0 these woman Centered thera, the problem wih men andthe insktions they til that they are logeer oo concerned with separation, dom- ‘ance and ierarhy and not concer nest enough wil conned ‘ns, nual empowerment, and barron ‘Because he woman-cenerd theorists are michlesin agreement shout the soureof the postulated male-female diferene than about Insconentand aie, they make arange of sumptions abou orgs from the biologically een dhrough the hiktdeslopmental 0 the soil prehologal [tthe mor biologically cena end ofthe specrumare people lke Advenne Rich (1976) and Mary Daly (1978, both sem emphasize the metaphysical nature ofthe female body Adrienne Rich, te qjte her once san, sys that asthe inhabitant ofa Female boy ‘he fins “the boundaries f the ego. much es crudely definable than che word inner and ote sagge” Infoxeaing here i often, astong sense of inrpene ‘ton of fecing the meng of the wal of es as psa te emotional longing deliver the one person inc the eter, barring he boundary between body and bod The ent tion wth another woman’ organm rife were ones own sone ofthe most intense interpersonal experiences: nothing tc ther “inde” me of “outde”at ich moment. In preg ancy Lexperence he embryo. something inside and tf tme, yet becoming hourly and daily more separate, on isa) toecoming separate from me and ote. - Fa from exit Ing inthe mode of “inner space” women are powerfully and ‘ulnerably attuned both 0 inne” and “outer” Because or ws ‘he roare continous, not pola. (Pp A7—8) {am eslyasking whether women cannotbegin tl dnt through the body, connect what hasbeen so crcl song rized great snental capac, hardy sed our highly Aeveloped tate sense: our gens for ose observation: out ‘completed, pain-endring, muipleatred psa. ‘ch world women wl aly crete new ie, ringing for ot only dren Gf and as we choos) Butte visions, and the thinking, neceiry to sustain, console, and ater human exis tence new relationship to the universe (Pp, 220-202) “Taking more developmental perspective, n conta are people lke Evlya Fox Keller (1985) and Carol Clgan (198), who argue, following Nancy Chodorow (1978), dat in dierent way, both West crn sence (Kelle) ad Wesern morality (Ciligan) have become 3¢ Comite to objec ae they have been—that i commited to the separation of weil from other and of eset fom obj pa, ‘econ the payches ofthe Western mals who consucted those do.rmsine were shaped by a motherinfne relationship that mole eoly made separation een and connectedness problematic inal aking + more soca psyhologial perspective on mal female iference ae whole variety of woman-centered theorists who sg. in one way or another, tht wht shapes womens and me's thfering consetons fray are their differing postions in soi. For mos of thee more stuatonlly minded people, inching Jean Baker Miler (1975, Sarah Rudich (1980), Dorothy Smith (1087) ly Rose (1988) and Benina Aptheher (1089), what seems 0 loom largest in the "daiines(Aptheter, 1866) of a womans postion in sect is het caregving role in the dvson of labor, inetding her ‘xperenceof mothering For thers, ining Nany Hartsock 1988) Sri Sandra Harding (1686), what Seems 1o om largest i er daly Experience of Being subordinated—or what ell aol cll “on the targa” Marginal intr, presumed :0 produce an “oppon- onal eonsciousnes (hooks, 1984) Ironia these a three theo- ‘its could alos be considered minimis forthe focus oto mich fon the diflerence of being a woman but on the uilerence of being marginalized." “The woman-entered, oF difeencecentered, dicnure of the 1980s emerges corrective notonl tothe long hiory of ndrocen: trsm in Western culture but alto to certain unfrcunate aspects of feminist sheorsing i the lat 1950s nd early 1070s. The largest Chuded the emphasis om female oppreaion. or paarehy—which {vented women avitime—and the emphasis on gender neutrality nd rogyny, both of which ested women eal bt invisible, Gen the Celebration of women in the feminist dicouse ofthe 160s, women Se certainty nt ivi any longer. nor ae they any longer tepre- fenved merely a icine. The quesion must be ated, however Has ‘his maximising dacoure managed to expose and thereby drat any ofthe three emis thathave erential shaped the ve of ales nd females since the beginning of Wester culture, or hat merely reproduced those lenses in et another cones? In my ova ie the Wvoman-entereddcoure ofthe 1980s ha igorouly, and unforae ‘ately, reproduced both gender polarization and bnogial een iam athe same tne, however, ha been tray provoative—isome what problematical so—with respect to androcentil, With respec to gender polarization, the casei leat. Fora fis emphasion a woman’ nique sity to anscend the arti polar ‘ie that men ae sic inven, he woman-entere perspective hat secompletely polarized women and men along wth what it define at the male and female modes of rlating to reali, that for al prac ‘porpses bath men aed momen areas nied by hemogenizd sont ‘women who are being denigrated, and granted osha he words msl andjominiiy are not being sed exp shes ae not ‘eal women being celebrated and real men being piored, These ho tmogented vison are but the ips ofthe olrire, gender ac tare of andronenei ‘With respect to bolgial exsenttism he verde isa ile md ier because ofthe diversity among the theoriss on the quesion of origins. Thi divert ntistanding, the woman centered theorist oncenirate so much more onthe peyhologieal erences between tales an female than on their dering cl ante they spend Til time debating the all-important question of whet thor pyc logical diferences come from, and they make those paychologcl di ferences sem so imately conneted wo the exenceof wa nen tobeeither male or female that inthe end the impact ofthe discourse isto make the prychologial ferences beeen males an females seem natural, not acaly constructed. “Thisbringsus, fall othe sue of androcentrsn- we read the ‘roman-centereddaconte soften senso ive bengpead—tha {asa deripton of empirical dilferenc between real males rea femalee—then what we ge, unforcuately isa problematic milly delicous disruption of the androcentic les. The dstupion is tilly delicious because it revert the andres value sytem, ‘making women and women modes of functioning the las of eu ‘ural ae, rather thin men and mens modes of fontioning Ae the ‘same ime, however, the dapton problematic, Deca is jst at ‘nied nd distorted asthe lens ic inended odaupe. Put ome What aierenty, feshand blood women and men aren al a good tnd orl, rapestaly, nor at hestagencons, a the woman-cetered icone seme tmp ‘On theater hand, we read the voman-