"Female is real, and it's sex, and femininity is unreal, and it's gender." Discuss.

[Tooting Carmen]

Germaine Greer makes a very prescient and astute distinction between the biological reality of sex and the social construct of gender:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1633399532544495617

[Creoda]

If femininity isn't biological then maybe gays should stop acting effeminate then, it's creepy.

[Tooting Carmen]

If femininity isn't biological then maybe gays should stop acting effeminate then, it's creepy.

There are far more gays who don't conform to the camp stereotype than you might think.

[Laredo]

If femininity isn't biological then maybe gays should stop acting effeminate then, it's creepy.

There are far more gays who don't conform to the camp stereotype than you might think.

Exactly, In real world I'm not feminine at all. As a matter of fact girls get disappointed of me knowing I'm not into vanillas.

[InmostLight]

The only women complaining that "femininity is artificial conditioning" are the ones who refuse to maintain femininity and thus miss out on all its benefits. They choose to masculinize themselves, and when men choose the superior women as partners, they convince themselves that the chosen women must secretly be miserable. Cope and seethe, I guess.

[rothaer]

"Female is real, and it's sex, and femininity is unreal, and it's gender." Discuss.

Germaine Greer makes a very prescient and astute distinction between the biological reality of sex and the social construct of gender:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1633399532544495617

I admit to be that simple that to me sex matters and I don't even really get what is gender. Tbh I'm happy that I cannot connect to those topics and "problems".

[Tooting Carmen]

I admit to be that simple that to me sex matters and I don't even really get what is gender. Tbh I'm happy that I cannot connect to those topics and "problems".

That biology is real but the cultural expectations of men and women are often bogus and questionable.

[Alenka]

That biology is real but the cultural expectations of men and women are often bogus and questionable.

Can you list some examples?

[Tooting Carmen]

Can you list some examples?

The notion that men are 'naturally' more aggressive and women are 'naturally' more gentle and caring. Also, associating certain occupations with one sex or another, e.g. nursing with women or mechanics with men.

[InmostLight]

The notion that men are 'naturally' agressive and women are 'naturally' more gentle and caring. Also, associating certain occupations with one sex or another, e.g. nursing with women or mechanics with men.

Nature/nurture arguments aside... Is this necessarily a bad thing? Women generally score higher on emotional intelligence and empathy, and men are more intelligent overall, as well as physically stronger. Women are better at enduring long-term pain. Does it not benefit society to guide people into the positions that best utilize the skills they are biologically predisposed towards having? Sure, we shouldn't rag on people for choosing unconventional paths, but if gender roles were actually harmful, they would have disappeared naturally a long time ago, but they're still here.