Checking in and Gender Rebels

Nine days is too long to be away from bloggerland. I'm settling in to a new job and it is really undefined so figuring out how to get up to speed and not have it take all of my time is a challenge. I don't want to neglect my creative writing outlet, especially since I have a magazine article in the works and I will probably explore some of the ideas here.

Something I have been thinking about, especially since a conversation with my best friend, is the idea of gender rebels. He and I are, from different directions. It got me to thinking that there are certainly three, if not more, groups of people who are challenging the definitions of masculinity and femininity and are trying to step outside of rigid gender roles. I think it is a necessary step as our human species matures. In order to truly discover who we are as spiritual beings, we need to challenge those things that limit us. Gender roles are one of those things.

First, let me say that the three leading groups of gender rebels that I see are the GLBT population, people who go into gender-oriented professions such as male teachers and nurses and female drag racers and soldiers and astronauts, and spiritual men. I'm not saying that astronauts should be men, I'm saying that they traditionally were and that the women that aspired to that have had to smash gender stereotypes to fight to be accepted. In future blogs I will be exploring these groups and what they are doing to advance the idea that men and women are equal and that gender should not be as limiting or clearly defined or important as it currently is.

A few books that I highly recommend:

Paradoxes of Gender by Judith Lorber
Sexing the Body by Anne Fausto-Sterling
Real Men or Real Teachers by Paul Sargent

I've gotta run now, heading to NYC for a meeting. But I'll be back and it will be sooner than nine days!