Gender and Privilege

I like to think that the expression of gender is an interesting part of an individual’s identity. Everyone does it a bit differently. In the article “Abandon your Tedious Search” the author compares their own experiences as a transgender woman with the so-called rules that Harold Garfunkel’s “Studies in Ethnomethodology” imposes which reflect the usual opinions of a conventional gender binary. These rules were what one would expect, only two genders that are identified by the genitals with nothing in between- meanwhile the author Karen Bornstein goes through her own examples of the boundaries of a gender binary being tested such as when she went into a store presumably earlier in her transitioning and had a security guard laugh at her but then a year later the same man didn’t recognize her and began to hit on her.

I found it odd to see that Karen was told by other women that even after her surgery she still had leftover “Male Energy” in the form of body-privilege that had long been put into her mind without her knowing. It’s strange that even transgender people are effected so profoundly by the gender privileges assigned to their biological sex even when they’ve given up their privilege. The perceived dichotomy of gender is so deeply ingrained in our society that it even effects objects and concepts that aren’t inherently gendered, furthermore people that are used to the idea of the gender binary start to get hostile when their ideas are challenged. I think it’s important for everyone to consider what their opinions are and how much they are willing to argue them as well as attempting to be open to other viewpoints.