I’m so used to seeing, over the past couple of decades, groups of boys skateboarding or one lone girl skateboarder amongst a group of boys. Recently, though, I’ve seen a few groups of girl skateboarders walking (with boards) or skateboarding around San Francisco, and I have to say it’s refreshing. It’s cool to see these… Continue reading Girl skateboarders are cool
Tag: gender roles
Stupid husbands and smart wives on TV
If you’ve seen any American sitcoms featuring het couples in the past ten years or so, you’ll probably have noticed that it’s common for the show to portray the husbands as a stupid but endearing oaf who likes beer, barbecues, watching TV, hanging with the guys, and ogling women; and the wife as a smart,… Continue reading Stupid husbands and smart wives on TV
Threshold of Pain
I just did a Google search for “threshold of pain men women.” One result was “Women More Sensitive to Pain than Men”; another was Women are the Hardier Sex…. Funnily enough, both results were from the same news site. Those findings confirm what I’ve long suspected, though. When people say (and they often do) that… Continue reading Threshold of Pain
Double Standards
This essay is in response to the following letter, which was originally published in the August 2004 issue of San Francisco magazine: Lesbians with Attitude After reading Diana Kapp’s “The L Weird” in your July issue, I couldn’t help but think how hypercritical the lesbian women in the story are. They struggle to tolerate “clueless… Continue reading Double Standards
The Slut/Stud Double Standard
Everyone—even backlash-prone, conservative anti-feminists—agrees that there is a slut-stud double standard. Do I even need to tell you what that double standard is? I don’t think I need to explain it. You’ve heard it a thousand times, probably. People do tend to disagree about whether that double standard is justified in any way. Some people… Continue reading The Slut/Stud Double Standard
Fighting Gender Role Boundaries
While there is a difference between sexism and the reaffirmation of gender roles, the two are certainly linked. I realize, as most feminists have to concede, that there are inherent differences in trends between males and females. The question, though, is whether we should exacerbate and exaggerate such differences or just allow the “natural” ones… Continue reading Fighting Gender Role Boundaries