Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!watarts!cdanderson From: cdanderson@watarts.UUCP Newsgroups: net.women Subject: Re: Male/Female Roles Message-ID: <2086@watarts.UUCP> Date: Wed, 1-Feb-84 01:06:42 EST Article-I.D.: watarts.2086 Posted: Wed Feb 1 01:06:42 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 7-Feb-84 07:39:26 EST References: pyuxss.255 Lines: 17 Regarding the ability of one gender to perform roles in a fashion superior to another (eg. wymyn as nurterers, men as agressive etc.), "I" believe that no roles or faculties are inherently female or male, but that, instead, we are aculturated to assume certain characteristics over others, depending on what the specific society dictates is that genders role. Thus, wymyn are not naturally conciliatory or intuitive and men not naturally warlike, but that we both have all at birth. >From this point on, certain features/functions are encouraged and others, discouraged. Such a viewpoint is substantiated, it seems, in tests where parents are told, in the O.B. wings, that they have given birth to boys (whereupon they note how strong and aggressive the child is) vs. when the child is identified as a girl (when the passive traits are "seen"). Sometimes the sex of the child was puposefully mis-identified and the parent reacted positively to the "alledged" vs. "true" sex. Hoping that one day we will all be net.people C.D. Anderson