What is Gender - Personal reflection and experiences

It is my personal opinion and reflection and I have no intention to hurt any gender. I am a “Man” in case you are thinking that this is definitely written by a woman. Oh in case you are wondering I am not a student of gender studies either, I am a business economic student, oh! Yes right I may have some “economic motives” behind this.

The inspiration of writing this blog comes from two of my very close friends article. The article not just inspired me to do things differently, but also made me think about gender inequality. Thank you my fabulous friends! 

There are only 12 fortune 500 companies that are headed by women, I wonder “why”, you can count the number woman billionaires on Forbes list on your fingers, I wonder “why”, everyone wants to be Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and I wonder “why”. Having said that gender studies is not just about women, that is a misconception. I guess that is why I have never met a man who is taking gender studies. Gender study is itself marginalized by the society as the field of study about plight of women. This is sheer out of ignorance and stereotype!  

What do I know about gender studies, may be nothing, actually, I have no formal education and background in gender studies, but do we really need to study this as a subject? We just need to keep our eyes and ears open to figure out how gender plays a huge role in our day-to-day life. In my friend Charelle words “Gender is linked to everything, and everything is linked to gender”, if you just for a minute analyze your daily routine and habits you will realize how everything in your life is influenced by your gender - the clothes we wear, what we drink, kind a car we drive, what we eat, everything is affected by gender stereotype created by the society. My understanding of gender is based on my personal experience and observation of events around the world.

So what is”Gender”? Gender is something that separates us anatomically, but in today’s world gender has a different meaning – a word that dictate us what you are supposed to do, how you act, how you react, do’s and don’ts. oh! “It is feminine” “it is masculine”; this is what society thinks gender is. Who define what is feminine and what is masculine? And what are these terms anyways? We all feel the pain, we all smile, we all cry, and we all come in this world the same way. So why this question!

Before coming to this country I have never heard of gender studies as an academic stream. I guess in my country we have not only marginalized woman, but also made sure that they never even realize that they are marginalized. Women don’t even realize that they are discriminated based on their gender, oh you are a girl – you are supposed get married as soon as possible, have a family, cook, and clean. And most of the women accepts that due to our so called “society norms”. Why not you let them decide what they suppose to do, marriage, family, cooking and cleaning is not the only thing in their lives.   

Gender in my personal opinion in this marginalized world is about how we are treated and distinguished from each other based on our gender, what is expected from us and what is acceptable to the society. Kids at the early age were taught about what is expected from their gender.  Why not we teach them what is expected from them to keep the humanity alive and what they can do to make this world a better place.   

While writing this intricate blog, I felt is it right to say this or not, then I said to myself who is anybody else to decide what is right or wrong I will write whatever I feel like, we all have freedom of speech. But again freedom is dictated by the society and boundaries are well defined.

Gender should only be anatomical difference and nothing else.

I may have said so many things that someone find offensive, but then again why it is offensive, are your sure your understanding is not influenced by the society and their so called “norms”. If you still feel offended then accept my apologies.

I want to thank my friend Emmy (the title is based on your observation that my perception should not be influenced by anybody, but me)  and Charelle for inspiring me! Love your article!

Time well spent today!