Do you need to be a man to be a man? (III Gender-7 in Anthropology) PicaPica Gender and Society (25)

In the dichotomous sexual norms of modern times, there is almost no room for intervening in personal temperament differences and imagination. Love is separated from sexual intercourse and procreation, love is interpreted by psychology, sexual intercourse is interpreted by biology, and reproduction and procreation are interpreted by medicine.

The third chapter (parts 19 to 25) of PicaPica’s series on gender and society is to study gender from several important concepts in anthropology. When reviewing this topic from the perspective of reflecting on one’s own culture, the outline of the gender system in our time will also be surfaced.

1 Imagination of people and gender in works of art

Today, with the development of reproductive technology and genetic engineering, artificial intelligence and robotics, the imaginary field of "manufacturing human beings" has undergone unprecedented changes. Sperm and eggs are extracted, fertilized in vitro, and fetuses can also be grown in artificial wombs instead of in a woman's body. Cloning by transferring the nucleus of a somatic cell to an egg and using a chemically treated egg to create an embryonic cell, cloning through parthenogenesis is also possible.

The game Detroit: Become Human discusses how to become a human being, and the boundaries of human beings are also shaken with the development of technology. Where do you think the line between robots and humans lies? Will the line become blurred?

That said, reproduction and fertility are now starting to be discussed apart from the female and male bodies . It is even technically possible to create xenogeneic embryos mixed with germ cells or genes from other animals.

In addition, the imagination of robots with machine parts mixed in the human body is becoming more and more realistic. The modern age, when biology defines humans and anatomical genitalia divides sex, seems to be facing signs of being shaken.

In the world view of the artwork Cyberpuke2077 series, technological products can be used to change the body structure.

While the possibilities and limitations of reproduction have taken on new dimensions with the development of science and technology, the human upbringing of birth remains entirely within the sociocultural realm. This is also the reason why the discussion of reproductive technology and life science is outside the field of social ethics and cannot become a value-neutral scientific issue.

Humans, as walking apes millions of years ago, can only survive today through a huge parenting investment and through collective living. In industrial society , parenting and collective life are oriented towards ideals and values that abstract individual rational choices, but actually depend on the reproduction of specific sexual function ideologies and division of labor systems.

Modern society is structured by dividing the sphere of labor , with women entering the sphere of the home in contrast to the state or the market. Belonging to the domestic realm may seem anachronistic since women are responsible for childbearing and nurturing. However, the modern family is different from the pre-modern family. The functions of production, education, and social network have disappeared.

The family has become an extremely personal space based on love. In addition, unlike the public sphere, which competes and evaluates in the name of individual rights and interests, the family is also a space where the logic of sharing and altruism applies. This hypothetical ideology prescribes the sexual role of women excluded from the public sphere (motherhood) and the sexual expression and experience of women to that end (sexuality). And the woman within the family is revered as motherhood and morality of the mother .

As a result, in modern society , although women are socially weak, they may be morally superior , and although they are fragile, they are powerful mothers, becoming an ambiguous existence. Discussions on abortion show that the inclusion of women in the category of modern humans is considered a dilemma.

A pregnant woman is a situation in which two people coexist in one body. In the event of a problem, whose human rights are given priority to the woman or the fetus is the focus of the abortion debate. That is to say, the ideal of a modern individual who recognizes personal boundaries through individual bodies and mobilizes his rationality to make rational self-interested judgments (body and mind are of the same origin) does not "naturally" apply to women who carry out pregnancy and childbirth . "

Bridge Baby in the artwork Death Stranding is a seven-month-old fetus taken from a brain-dead mother by caesarean section. The Womb of the Dead Mother facilitates the connection between the world of the dead and the BB, enabling the operator to sense and detect objects between life and death when physically connected.

In many ways, motherhood is the core ideology that constitutes the sexual expression and experience (sexuality) and sexual function of modern humans. "However, the social meaning given to women's bodies , especially the meaning of motherhood, varies from society to society in every era.

The ideal female image in Korean society is also a filial woman 열녀효부 in the Confucian society of North Korea, but it has become a good wife and mother in modern times, emphasizing motherhood. Historically, maternity has operated complexly in a pattern of gender relations between men and women, plus family relations, plus social group relations such as race or nation.

2 Maternity and the evolution of gender expression

Pregnancy, care, nurturing and education related to modern motherhood are closely related to the reproduction of labor force in modern industrial society. It can be both an obligation and a right, and the role of women in relation to motherhood is ideological. Because, as a person with a uterus, as long as they are women, everyone has the altruism and devotion to childbearing and nurturing, but this premise gradually becomes that the responsibility of being a mother is not a matter of choice, but a destiny.

As a maternal existence, women are in contrast to productive men. The primary responsibilities of men and women are divided into public and private spheres. This division will also have an impact on the social activities and status of men and women.

Maternity is a term for defining relationships that varies according to the cultural context. In Filipino society, mothers of immigrant workers are separated from their families and work as nannies in Singapore or the Middle East, and regular remittances of living and school fees are the role of mothers. (김민정, 2012) However, Korean society believes that mothers cannot be separated from their children. Therefore, when children from upper-middle-class families study abroad, their mothers accompany them, and their fathers take care of the family’s livelihood. It has become a new norm to live alone in the country. (Daddy Goose 기러기아빠).

That is to say, there are many ways to define social roles through the functions of men and women's bodies. This diversity is not random or accidental, but formed in the relationship with other social systems and value norms.

On the other hand, with the development of today's medical technology, it is possible to change the body gender and choose the social role (Gender) according to the individual's sexuality.

Actor Tilda Swinton is a queer, playing roles covering various genders and images, with a temperament and acting skills that do not require gender distinction

The modern Enlightenment dichotomy of body and mind has encountered the era of cutting-edge medicine. Even if we want to maintain the gender dichotomy, we need to admit that the social situation that can change gender identity and expression is a situation that must be allowed.

For example, from performing oversexual surgery , changing the gender that I do not agree with to the gender I expect to be. Two transgender heterosexuals are presented as a man and a woman, but the two have over-gendered. Also, stories of married transgender men having children etc. are repeatedly reported. These are real situations that have emerged with the development of the times.

Ha Risoo is a South Korean transgender singer, actress, model and announcer.

Therefore, it is necessary to discuss the issue of legally allowing registration and changing gender, redefining marriage and family relations beyond heterosexuality, the factors involved in gender determination and the significance of classification, etc.

From the development of human beings to the present, culture has been changing along with the way of life of human beings all the time. For the sake of new life phenomena in the current era, they should also have their own place in the culture.

Thomas Beatie (37 years old at the time) , who became a man after leaving his uterus for sex reassignment surgery , lived with his wife Nancy in Arizona, USA, and gave birth to three children in succession since 2008.

Let us return to the concept of culture and the concept of culture in gender studies, as a concluding discussion of the gender part of the PicaPica Gender and Society series series on anthropological perspectives.

3 Who does your body belong to?

Overseas Chinese will miss Chinese food, and the older generation of Chinese will lament, "How can foreign bread be called rice?" The so-called Chinese stomach is that culture determines what is considered food. But how are sex and gender defined and identified?

The diversity of sex and gender systems introduced by cultural anthropological research is an example of specific tribes or ethnic, national, and class cultures, where the concept of culture is united by area-based social groups. So, in an age of globalization where life increasingly crosses regional boundaries, is the existing concept of culture still useful? If so, how can we learn and grasp it?

With the gradual popularization of life and the increase of information exchange and interaction through the Internet, culture is detached from the regional basis and is also re-understood as a concept that follows people who often move through cyberspace. (Clifford, 1997)

Historically, the concept of culture is the product of the establishment of European citizen states, a concept to explore and establish new social relations and order in order to get rid of the religious and royal order of the old age. In addition, it is a product of the process of bringing the right "pagan" or "savage" into the category of "human universal" during the colonization process. Moreover, it is a product of the formation of the modern nation-state that protects national legitimacy and promotes national unity.

However, in today's social changes with the increase of transnational relations, personal identity cannot only be placed under the influence of a single cultural circle. In fact, it is ideal for the modern individual to choose his own values and way of life away from the region and kinship group to which he belongs, beyond class or generational boundaries.

The brown sugar and rare milk pizza is also a kind of cultural fusion. While shocked, many people said it was delicious.

4 Can I be both Chinese and Taiwanese?

Strictly speaking, modern individuals who belong to plural social categories or social groups, no matter who they are, can have plural identities culturally. In the late modern society where social and cultural boundaries are more frequently crossed, it is not an exaggeration to say that each individual's individual lifestyle can constitute a different culture. And it is precisely that gender may be almost the last distinction left in the modern social and cultural boundaries that do not allow crossing boundaries. The current gender system pursues an equal relationship between the sexes and even allows the choice of gender identity, but the distinction between men and women is still very important.

However, it is necessary to consider that, in fact, sex or gender itself is a meaningless category, that is to say, it is meaningless to distinguish gender in a vacuum without social relations such as country and class, race, religion, age, and position. .

Similarly, the various explanations of modern social science, especially the explanations of political economy, will have many deficiencies and incompleteness if they do not consider gender, marriage, and sexuality. The establishment of the modern state, the reproduction of class, the strategy for the rise of individual social status, the transformation of the welfare state, and the survival strategy of breaking away from the state in the era of globalization are all closely related to the specific norms of sexual role or family composition and the use of family relations. .

For a long time, human society has included various functional contents such as the principles of family and kinship, the temperament of men and women and the way of normative regulation, the organization principles of human education and economic activities, etc. in sex and gender. However, on the whole, with the weakening of modern sexual norms, the phenomenon of crossing sexual boundaries frequently occurs in many fields, and some people have begun to raise doubts and doubts about the nature of sexual and sexual identity. Ultimately, the exploration process of breaking away from modern ethics and values begins with the critique of the modern gender system, which requires changes to the existing social system.

Boy George, lead singer of the British rock band Culture Club that was popular in the 1980s, was perhaps the first male transvestite to consistently wear women's clothing on stage. She also appeared as the cover model of the representative women's magazine "Cosmopolitan".

Social sciences also pay attention to the multiplicity and plurality of identities in order to understand both individual behavior and social organization. In competition and translation between cultures, social changes where cultures cross boundaries, gender is one of other cultural identities and forms part of multiple personal identities, which should be carefully analyzed. Gender will remain a central field in the playing field of social relations around cultural identity, while requiring norms and institutions to persist or change in a more strategic and enforced manner.

5 I can try to be myself

In human society, women and men hardly exist as natural gender, but live under the social pressure necessary for women or men. The study of gender culture not only aims to clarify and abolish the reality of universal oppression of women, but also aims to analyze and understand the sex/gender system of human society. Many evidences of oppression of women have been found in human history, and only by correctly understanding the reality of gender inequality can we work hard for change.

The asari from the game Mass Effect has no gender. It reproduces with a single sex, but the image is based on females. The Asari favor compromise and cooperation over conflict, and have remained at the heart of galactic society ever since.

However, understanding sex and gender as principles of social organization, historically and culturally, gives more power and inspiration in exploring countermeasure social systems without gender discrimination. Ultimately, even if the sex vs. gender distinction is still used, if its role is just one of the various factors that explain who we are, then the binding force that sex as an essence exerts in modern society will lose its force. We will be more free, bold and easy to build a social order that is more suitable for human life in the future.

In the next chapter, let's continue to understand the academic context from sex to Sexuality to Gender from the perspective of biology and science. Sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social or spiritual feelings and behaviours. It is a broad term that has changed over time with historical context. It may include sexual orientation, ethnic folklore. paradigm of scientific concepts. See you in the new chapter. Thank you for your support.

Hi, I'm PicaPica.

Sociology studying in Korea, Feminists, Conscience adherents.

The purpose of the creation is to share what you know, to raise social awareness and understanding of gender and human rights issues, and to reduce mutual misunderstanding and distance. We who look forward to broader solidarity and mutual assistance in the future.

If you want to chat or support me, my home page: https://bio.link/picapica

PicaPica Gender and Society

-Content-

Chapter 1 - Feminist History

Part One - Enlightenment Thought

Part Two - Liberalism

Part Three - Suffrage and New Women

Part Four - Socialist Women's Rights to the End of World War II

Chapter 5 - Radical! uncompromising sisterly love

Book Six - Forged into a weapon, breaking the prison. theorist of women's emancipation

Part Seven - Sexual Liberation and Female Liberation Around the Body

Chapter 2 Gender

Gender meaning

Part 1- Understanding the meaning of Gender 1- Clear distinctions are the biggest misunderstanding of the world

Part 2 - Gender's Practical Meaning 2 - Broken Her Wings, Lamented She Can't Fly

Gender gender inequality

Part Three - Gender and an Inequality World - Beyond Black and White, There Are True Colors

Part Four - Gender and the Inequality Structure of Society - Half the Sky is Never Sunny

Gender Epistemology

Part Five - Gender Analysis

Part Six - Gender Epistemology (Unknown Women and Fluid Men)

PART VII - CULTURE AND MEANING (From children's toys to pornography, gender representation in cultural contexts)

Gende's approval

Part VIII - Expansion of Identity and Intersectionality Theory (Multiple Identity, Rethinking of Unity)

Part Nine - Challenging Heterocentrism and Queer Theory (Heterosexuals, this is so unQooooo!)

Gender and action

Article 10 - Sarah Ahmed and Feminist Killjoys (Killing joy is happiness.)

Part 11 - The Practice of Gender Movement (Self-improvement? Unity? How can we move forward together?)

Chapter 3 Gender in Anthropology

Part 1 - Cultural Anthropology and Gender (Gender is used to distinguish what?)

Part Two - Various imaginations about human creation (Can a man and a woman create children?)

Chapter 3 - Evolutionary human division of labor (Is hunting not a source of food for humans? Is civilization created by women?)

Part 4 - Mother Goddess, Matriarchy, Matrilineal Society (9000 Years of Matriarchal Fantasy Buried Deep in the Earth?)

Part Five - Mother Goddess, Matriarchy, Matrilineal Society (Is Matrilineal Society the Origin of Federalism?)

Part 6 - sex, gender system and gender structure in social change

Part Seven - Sexuality and Anthropology and Society in Our Time. (Does being a man need to be a man first?)