[Buddha-l] An experiment (Gender on Buddha-l)

[Tom Head]

Whenever folks talk about women being more empathetic, gentler, 
better at communication, and so on and so forth, they're conceding a 
very old model of gender that evens things out by saying that men are 
better at linear thinking, rationality, and other things that are 
beneficial to one who seeks political, military, or economic power. 
This model of gender distinction, most recently hinted at by the 
president of Harvard University, does no favors to women or men who 
do not wish to live into socially-mandated gender archetypes.  I do 
not drink beer.  I do not like sports.  I am terrible at mathematics. 
I'm very sensitive, and a good communicator.  I do housework.  And I 
refuse to lie about myself by pretending that I'm good at things I'm 
bad at, or bad at things I'm good at, just because I've got squishy 
things hanging between my legs.

This is not to say that there are no differences between the sexes 
that can be attributed to neurobiology; this is to say that we know 
so little about neurobiology, and so much (firsthand) about the 
crippling effects of gender apartheid, that we would all be better 
off, in my view, if we started reading Gloria Steinem and left all 
this "Iron John" business to the professionals.

This is also not to say that the list could not be more empathetic, 
gentle, communicative, and so on and so forth, or that I could not 
personally be more empathetic, gentle, or communicative.  But it's 
probably a mistake to frame all of this as a gender question, and at 
any rate I think the proper way to deal with the problem is to 
affirmatively put forth empathetic, gentle, and communicative ideas 
rather than encouraging people to become more stilted and 
self-conscious, in the unlikely event that this is what anyone 
actually proposed doing.

And this is also not to say that Buddhist studies is not in many ways 
a male-dominated field.  It is by and large concerned with what 
long-dead redneck misogynists had to say about the nature of the 
universe, much as philosophy and religious studies in general are, 
and some of that is going to trickle down.  But it seems to me that 
the solution here, as above, is to encourage people to do more things 
we like rather than discouraging people from doing things we don't 
like.  To silence others is, after all, the standard modus operandi 
of patriarchal oppression.

Joanna, you know I always love your posts.  And as a self-respecting 
egalitarian, there is part of me that always gets a charge out of 
defending a woman who is arguing against ten men, or a person of 
color who is arguing against ten whites, or a gay or lesbian person 
who is arguing against ten heterosexuals.  But I've never let my 
self-respect stop me from expressing uninformed opinions before, and 
I see no reason to start now.


Cheers,

TH