[culturehandy]

I pitched this in the Community Forum and it was well recieved.

This thread is all about the politics and cross cultural and societal views on gender.

I started thinking increasingly about gender when the media frenzy about Caster Semenya emerged. It is my opinion that the only reason people questioned Ms. Semenya's gender is because she appeared to be "masculine". That is, she looked masculine according to the ideas of society at large. Had she had softer, more "feminine" features, questions of her gender would not have come up.

So, what is gender? We know that there is sex, your biological sex, but gender is a social construct.

[koffeewitch]

Ahhh, yes. Canada (longing sigh). There are SO MANY things I wish the U.S. would learn from watching Canada. I've long wished to jump the border (I'm SO close; just on the other side of the Great Lakes). I've spent a bit of time over on the Pardon Me (I'm Canadian) forum chatting with Canadian busties about what makes our two cultures so different in terms of things like violence and murders per capita and illiteracy when we have so many similarities as young nations.

But, I'm not trying to derail our discussion. Quick poll: In an envionment like the Womyn's Music Festival (held in Michigan) should transgendered women be included? Important background info: The WMF is a "safe place" for women and women only. Even male children are not allowed in past toddlerhood. Many/Most participants spend part of the festival running naked or topless. It IS essential to preserve the sanctity and safety at the festival. But would transgendered women threaten that sense of safety and "sacred woman space"??