Chapter 5 4. I am also a woman

Person: man | woman.The last conversation sounded a bit like the riddle of the Sphinx.So, a few weeks later, I sat in the garden of Cusette's house and talked further with him.The twilight gradually reflected the green leaves, and he handed me a glass of red wine.I asked him if he really supported this man|woman|man idea.He replied firmly: Of course, I am also a woman.In this way, we enjoy the sunset together by the garden. May I classify your thoughts as poetic, or witty, ironic? Absolutely not.I know exactly what I'm talking about. So, what exactly do you mean? I strongly oppose the separation of two genders, man and woman, from the perspective of duality and opposition, and treat them as equals.Instead, I want to express a concept: we are not choosing between two, either man or woman, in fact, each of us is a man｜female.Since the creation of woman from man, and since Eve from Adam, human role patterns and gender differences have arisen; for countless tribes and cultures, the development of man and woman has been Create stories at the core.Anthropologists have confirmed that humans actually descended from an ancient mother.What is to be looked at here are thousands of years of human thoughts and written records of this story of creation.Because the results of these ideas and concepts still have an impact on us now.

In this view of creation, the first person is a man. Exactly.The first person is a male human being.Originally, this man created life.Since Eve was created from the body of Adam, there has been a complement to man: a woman who has received the power of reproduction from man.Gender differences have arisen since men and women have physical differences, that is, biological sex differences. Furthermore, at this earliest stage, inbreeding was clearly not a problem.Although it is not clearly stated in "Genesis", from the content point of view, all human beings come from the fertilization between the two brothers Cain, Abel and their sisters.

The earliest stage of development of the fertilized egg in the mother's body, biologically speaking, man and woman are one.It is not until several genes affect the sex chromosomes that the embryo begins to develop as either male or female.If the embryo develops into a male, the male hormones cause the female structures in the embryo to shrink.This means that although at the beginning of life, man and woman appear to be one, genetic and hormonal actions cause them to develop physically and biologically distinct individuals.So, from a purely biological standpoint, you won't hear me say that I'm also a woman.For example, a woman has the potential to produce eggs and a man produces sperm.Biologically, women have their peculiarities, and so do men; the two can never exist in one person at the same time.

Is it possible to completely reverse the characteristics of biological sex? This has so far been impossible to happen.Although some gender characteristics can be changed through surgery, it cannot change the basic differences of gender, at most it can only change the characteristics of gender.The breast can be removed, and the female sex organs can be removed, and a penis and artificial testicles can be implanted in this area.In an artificial way, a person can adapt to the stubbornness of the penis, and even install artificial limbs. So, this is a man? Yes, that's how it appears on the outside.In addition, the preparation of hormones can make the appearance show masculine characteristics, stimulate the growth of beards, and even change the voice.However, there's a huge, fundamental but here: A penis that shoots fertile sperm cannot be artificially created.So: not men.

So in turn, from a man to a woman, so what? Penis and testicles can be circumcised; vaginas can be made into which penises can enter; breasts can be made to grow beautifully by hormones; , this person looks a lot like a woman.Again, though, the basic but: the woman-looking person couldn't possibly make eggs, couldn't conceive a child.Adam and Maria, two examples of mystical conceptions, were probably the first and only of their type.In this regard, I would like to remind you, in passing, of a curious fallacy in the history of European culture: in many paintings, including Van Eyck's "God's Sheep," Adam and Eve are shown with their navels.It is impossible for them to have a navel, because they cannot be connected to the mother's body through the navel.

I never noticed these.Apparently, neither did my art history professor!To put it all together, though: Are there biological differences between men and women that are fundamental and irreversible when viewed from a different point of view? Exactly.However, there are several levels within this one basic difference.Biologically speaking, the differences between the extreme archetypes of men and women are not appreciable.Secondary sexual characteristics, such as fat deposits, breasts, hair growth, voice, etc., are possible in both men and women, so that some men and women are quite similar in appearance, while others appear to be very different. difference.Fortunately, in the vast majority of people, very typical, beautiful and attractive differences can be identified, because it is these differences that form the attraction between the sexes and are the driving force of this type.

That's fine.But you point out that a man's primary and secondary sexual characteristics are just accidental, that you have three beautiful daughters, that you have a fantastic beard, that you have legs that tourists on the beach can't help but peek at, and so on.But why do you say: You are also a woman? Because by definition, people, men and women, are all mammals endowed with rationality. In addition to their different physical structures, they also have their own psychology, which is marked as the source of gender identity. Does this refer to how we feel about ourselves? You can say that.But it's hard to put into words.Because gender identity as we perceive it is related to a series of effects that are difficult to prove.It can be roughly divided into physical and psychological influences, which of course depend on each stage of development.

For example, the growing teenager feels a primitive discomfort in his male body. That's right.Biologically he is a man and people think he will live his life according to the masculine role model, but in fact he identifies with femininity.This role reversal is also possible with women.We can even expand it: this man|woman and woman|man role reversal can be found in all people at different levels.This man and this woman are imaginary people.Each of us is a mixture of man and woman, basically, each of us is an androgyny in our own sense.Therefore, I can declare very calmly: I am also a woman.

In a cultural sense, this sounds rather implausible. Unfortunately, you are right.Although men and women are biologically equal in value, they have never been culturally equal.Early in human evolution, women played a decisive role in social patterns.She has a lot of powers because she's pretty important, first she's a gatherer, then she's a food producer.Morality emerged in our later evolutionary process, but it was marked by patriarchy, with the characteristics of men dominating women in terms of social, cultural and economic status.Although the history of male dominance has been high and low, for most stages and societies, men have played the role of decision-maker in almost all fields, and they are often confirmed by women, either voluntarily or coercively.Queen Hatschepsut of Egypt was a special case, she ruled a new empire for twenty-two years, a really long reign for a woman.But she has a strange request: when the painters are painting her portrait, she absolutely does not allow them not to draw a beard for her.It is conceivable that the beard was painted to ease the pain of her male subjects, who were ruled by a woman.

With the exception of a few minor matriarchal cultures, human history is a long series of years of male dominance and female oppression.In the period of Greek culture, which we attach great importance to, the status of women was even lower than that of slaves.Although many men died in the war, a city like Athens is still 80% male.A large proportion of baby girls are removed as useless.During this period of what we call the infancy of democracy, democracy was purely a man's business.Don't expect things to improve any time soon, as women's suffrage was not introduced in the Western world until after the First World War, and even in Belgium in 1948, thirty years after the end of the war.

Where does this masculine advantage come from?Did women do something to us? Philosophers have an interesting explanation for this.The general deterioration of the position of women in all socially relevant spheres in the Greek world was accompanied by an important philosophical development: the development of autonomy and the capacity for abstract thought.The perception attached to facts is replaced by abstract thinking, that is, abstract thinking begins to be liberated from the so-called graspable concepts.In the context of this development, woman is seen as graspable, concrete, natural; therefore, woman is seen as a hindrance.In other words: she doesn't really matter.She can't think with men either, they're only good enough for things like pregnancy and a little parenting.Aristotle and Aquinas successively brought up the negative image of women with brilliant thinking.Plato, on the contrary, gave woman a place in his philosophical model. This is quite a long way from the androgynous Adam. In the Judaic/Christian tradition, Adam was actually both a man and a woman at the same time.Aristotle and Aquinas believed that women are symbols of secularity, filth, and low value; they believed that the essence of women violated abstract and cosmic thinking.Men's fears are projected onto her, and the soul withers in the mundane, vulgar, and masterable existence.A man's sperm is life.It must be because of the existence of women that men's weaknesses are created and why men have weaknesses. Today, many people's minds have not changed much. These ideas continue to go viral in various forms and are supported by monotheistic religious imperatives through the development of science, the conquest of nature, and the argument that reason (attributed to men) triumphs over ignorance (represented by women). spread. Philosophy ends here.What's next?For there are still signs that men and women are beginning to recognize their equal worth, and this equal status is recognized.Despite what Aristotle said, despite the teachings of two thousand years of Christianity, more and more men today say: I am also a woman, and women say: I am also a man. Only through mutual knowledge and understanding can we live together in harmony.In fact, there are signs that we are already making progress in this regard.The future rhythm of culture will be determined by chaos and a form of order that will evolve by small influences and passages.Chaos brings about a complex network in which perceivable and imperceptible phenomena coexist, pictorial or abstract ways of thinking are used together, emotional intelligence and intellectual IQ go hand in hand, rationality and freedom coexist, and good and evil co-govern.In this network, we meet ourselves and other men and women, of the same origin but different.This development may lead to a new form of culture in which our thinking and actions are not bound by the external conditions of human biology.Finally, people all over the world are gradually understanding that women's roles go beyond certain social functions and that their roles are fundamental to human beings.