Introduction: Female Masculinity

There is one gender identity that has always peaked my interest; that gender identity is female masculinity, or in easier to describe terms, masculine women. These types of women are those who decide that playing with Barbie and trying on her new clothing outline or figuring out how to play house is not what they want to do. These kinds of women decide to do what society describes as more masculine activity usually reserved for boys. I myself was exposed to a masculine girl when I played baseball in junior high school. She was taller than most of the boys on the team, bigger than most of the boys on the team, she was more athletic than most of the boys on the team. She was so good that she was our starting short-stop. I played 1^st base and some of the ball she was beam at me really hurt the hell out of my hand. We as a team didn’t care that our short-stop was a girl, we only cared that she played well and that she had the same determination to win as we did. We went undefeated that season and she was at every game. “One must study how a culture’s predominant social institutions influence an individual’s life, and how individuals can affect the policies, procedures, and practices of social institutions.” (DeFrancisco & Palczewski, 2007, p. 141) She broke every known rule of the societal norms that we as young men thought we knew. Her actions changed our view on the world that day.

It seems that women today are evolving beyond the path society has chosen for them. Today the amounts of communication media outlets have allowed for women to experience and see many different types of gender identities that exist in the world. This also allows them to find others who are just like them and help them determine that they are not alone. There are many different social groups for women that available. There are even websites now to help support the growth of female gamers. http://female-gamer.com/ and http://www.girlgamer.com/. “Female bonding was not possible within patriarchy; it was an act of treason. Feminist movement created the context for female bonding.” (hooks, 2000, pp. 14-15)The world of female masculinity is growing and will only become stronger as the years go.

Many more women are volunteering to join the military. This is a obvious indication of the perception of women changing from being seen as fragile and weak; to women who are strong and are willing to fight for our nation. This is a big topic of discussion in our political landscape right now. Rick Santorum was recently quoted saying this about women in combat “I do have concerns about women in front-line combat. I think that could be a very compromising situation, where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved." (Greene, 2012) In Israel, women are already allowed to serve in combat roles. Actually women can serve in any job that men can. Why is it that the United States, a nation that prides its self on opportunities and freedoms is also one of the most closed off and narrow minded nation in the world? Hopefully with the evolution of the way we as a society thinks and accepts the life styles of others, can we as a nation grow and accept every type of lifestyle, even women who decide to be masculine.

Works Cited

DeFrancisco, V. P., & Palczewski, C. H. (2007). Communicating Gender Diveristy. Sage Publications, Inc.

Greene, B. W. (2012, February 23). The Ballot 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012, from USNEWS: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/ballot-2012/2012/02/23/rick-santorum-shifts-on-women-in-combat

hooks, b. (2000). Feminism is for Everybody. Brooklyn: South End Press.

Gender Project