I was inspired to make this post because of the mass confusion on tumblr about what social constructs are and how they function. I will start with a simple example:
This is a one dollar bill. It is an excellent example of a social construct. This piece of paper represents a specific amount of spending power in the society that it exists in (the USA). An individual person could decide personally that it represents 1000$ worth of spending power, but it would not matter because like all social constructs, the collective agreement between individuals in society is what determines the meaning of the construct. There are laws on the books about currency but it doesn’t stop society from changing the meaning of a dollar; after all, in times of scarcity a dollar is a much more valuable asset than in times of plenty. The exact value of a dollar is something that fluctuates in tune with other factors, including things like consumer confidence- meaning, how consumers feel about the economy. Social constructs can change based on changes of opinion in the population.
One way to test if something is a social construct is to remove it from its native society and see if it retains the same functionality. The US dollar is accepted in some foreign countries, but in other places, it is just a piece of paper.
Another way to test if something is a social construct is to remove people from the picture entirely and see if it retains its functionality. Without people to give a dollar meaning it simply becomes paper.
Contrast the attributes of a dollar with say, biological sex.
Male humans produce sperm and much higher levels of testosterone than females. Females produce ova and offspring if their eggs are fertilized and implanted. Individuals who are sterile still have either male or female anatomy which serves sexual functions for the individual. Virtually everyone on earth qualifies as one sex or the other, with or without malfunctioning or variations. Is this binary a social construct?
Does the collective agreement of society give male and female organs their functionality? Absolutely not. Humans did not always have an understanding of how pregnancy happened, and yet it happened anyway. Individuals who don’t know about or understand reproduction can and do get pregnant via sex. No matter how many people got together and decided that females inseminate males there would be no change in the function of testes or ovaries.
The functionality of human reproductive organs is also impervious to cultural or geographical differences. All over the world people get pregnant and have babies by mixing sperm from males with ova from females. There is no exception.
Removing humans from the equation also has no effect on the biological reality of mammalian reproduction. Male mammals are male, female mammals are female, and only one of the two can give birth.
Biological sex is not and never has been a social construct.
Another example is gender. Femininity is the easiest example to discuss. Lets look at different examples of femininity from around the world:
As you can see, what it means to be feminine or girly is very different depending upon the society. None of these is the “correct” femininity, just different versions from different cultures. There is no objective way to determine what makes someone feminine in any given culture- you have to ask people.
The nature of femininity is totally subjective and relies on the collective agreement of society. If you move one of these women into a different society their defining feminine characteristics instead become physical characteristics with no gender designation at all. In fact, what would make you gender conforming in one culture would make you gender non conforming in another. Gender also changes in individual societies over time, so the meaning of being feminine in America in the 1800s would differ markedly from what it means to be feminine in America right now. How people feel about the construct changes its meaning.Thus we can easily say that gender is a social construct.
It’s a confusing term decision. Unlike ‘female/male’ or even ‘person with a vagina/person with a penis’, ‘birthing person’ describes an action in the present tense. Think about if I said, “running person”, that would mean the person, at this moment is running.
TERFs act like trans women shouldn't get offended when they call them men "because they are men" and then lose their shit when you call them birthing persons
… Tbh it feels weird to judge any female celebrity for being mediocre while males get to be as boring as they want and make millions from it (and get to be the ones in charge of the industry at large)
When prison abolitionists argue that economic equality will help ease some crimes, they are right. When prison abolitionists argue that economic equality will stop wife beating and spousal abuse, they are falling for the male apologist lie that men only beat their wives and girlfriends when they have a good reason. Rich men, men with great social networks, well-liked men—all men who might beat their wives just as much as an angry working class drunk.
This whole Natalie B situation shows how people prioritize the comfort of bio men over women's safety.
They will always attack and wish death on women who don't want men in their spaces but never pay attention to how these trans-identified men harass women in women's spaces.
Sadly people got too tolerant of Christianity we need the mythical annoying atheists to make a comeback we need to make this the summer of atheism "don't talk to me about your magical book" should be rolling off the tongue way more often....
one of my biggest gripes currently is the amount of people who will get super mad if u point out something that sexualises women and especially things that sexualise girls. like "ew why would u even think a 10 yr old in a crop top or a 4 year old in a bikini is sexual youre such a creep for even thinking that" like ok put ur fucking son in a crop top then. send him out in public wearing tiny little panties that have his ass sticking out. why are girls clothes so much smaller and tighter and more revealing than boys clothes?
Nitpicky hyperonline post
Tbh it’s a bit weird when I see Radfem posts about the trans-ification of tomboys that say that they’re ’turning them into men’. Because you know, they’re not? It’s a quibble but it’s worth remembering when that 20 year old draws random vaguely masculine female character with top surgery scars, that isn’t an act of sex bending. Mind, there’s a long history of sex bending in fandom spaces- it’s a fictional space so it’d be really easy to go, ‘this is x as a male’, but they go out of their way to keep the character female and advertise cosmetic surgery as a way to make them ‘more themselves’. Admittedly this frames the whole thing as deeply sinister- I don’t think people saying ‘hormones would save them’ have actually thought about what that statement implies or who it benefits.
look I'm not even on the "you gotta always vote" train but it is funny how the people who didn't vote for harris are like...able to conceive of voting as a collective action when it comes to them not voting, but then uhm also it's just one vote in a blue state it doesn't even matter guys. okay which is it is it a collective act or like an individual nothing matters thing to do like does voting matter enough for not voting to matter or does voting not matter enough for not voting to not matter like which is it 🎤
hey um gyns did you hear? Yeagh. Post about 3 men helping with shopping cart?? Systemic misogyny GONE. systems of male control POOF. Men good always. Men amazing. Radfems should go outside and meet 3 shopping cart men who are so kind and cute. Then they'll change their evil Minds.
Let female people shave/wear makeup/be feminine is the most online shit. Go outside. While you’re there, count how many female people are and aren’t doing that shit. While you’re there count how many people are even remotely mean to you for those acts. While you’re there take note of how much money is spent on ‘beautifying’ bullshit. ‘Let males be masculine’ is also nonsense, but ‘let males be masculine’ usually means, ‘men should be allowed to harass women without any social consequences.’ It’s significantly worse, but it’s a sentiment that deserves unbridled disgust while the female take just needs to actually exist in the world outside of their bubble for a hot minute.
I have preestablished biases and beliefs about the world, I acknowledge that and am willing to adjust with new information shared.
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