And Salome Danced is a perfect example of gender bending. The story shows that someone doesn't have to know the gender or someone else in order for the point of the story to get across. The gender of the character Mars is never revealed so it leaves space for interpretation. I personally saw Mars as woman who is a lesbian. I don't want to encourage stereotypical gender roles but I believe I saw Mars as a woman because Mars was so submissive to Lucky in the beginning and in the end Jo was able to dominant Mars.
During the class discussion however it came up that different people saw Mars differently. There were some who saw Mars as a straight man, some saw Mars as a woman who was a lesbian and there were even some that didn't give Mars a gender. I think Mars is never given a gender so that it can be left to the reader to decide who they want Mars to be.
I don't think the story would have changed if Mars' gender was made more important but I do realize that we do live in a society where gender is a very important factor. We live in a society where we are taught that every thing has a to have a gender specific pronoun otherwise something has to be called "it", which can be highly offensive in some instances or to call something "they". I know in my own personal experience I feel the need to place a gender specific pronoun on something because calling something "they" just isn't grammatically correct for me and I don't want to be offensive by saying "it" either.
The character of Jo(e) is used to show that gender shouldn't be something that's so important as well. The fact that Jo(e) can so easily switch from one gender to the other in a matter of seconds shows that.
One part of the story that stuck out the most to be was when they were all discussing doing the play Jesus Superstar and Jo wanted to play the role of Judas. Someone said she couldn't play that role because she was female and someone instantly said that gender wasn't important. That particular part stuck out to me because I remember my teacher saying that there was once a time where men played both male and female roles and it made me wonder why women aren't allowed to have the same privilege of choosing which role they would want to play.
Do you think gender is something that people will always see and will it always be something that's important in society? If so, why?
I think that it is possible for our society to move away from the "importance" of gender and the role that it has. However, with today's media and the amount of intolerance there is in the world with "gender-bending" and people simply being who they want to be, I do not think that it will happen any time soon.
ReplyDeleteI also would like to ask, what if the character of Mars is supposed to be the reader? How would we feel in that situation. I think it would put a twist on how we read the story.
I think that society will not be able to forget about gender for a long time. I think the fact that we discuss it a lot more than we have in the past helps a lot though.
ReplyDeleteGender will always be a part of language. It's just the nature of it.
ReplyDeleteI like Jess's suggestion that Mars could be the reader, but for some readers Mars won't "read true." Mars' attraction to Jo and sexual repulsion toward Joe wouldn't resonate with either a gay man or bisexuals. I think Mars has to be a straight man or a lesbian woman or a transperson who's attracted to women but not to men. Are there other options I'm not thinking of?
ReplyDeleteI don't think society will ever "forget" about gender. There seems to be an idea floating around of a malevolent society, dictating gender roles and oppressing freedom of expression in individuals. Gender is a social construct, but it was constructed from a majority of truths; there is always truth is some stereotypes otherwise they wouldn't develop. I don't think it necessary to forget gender but rather become comfortable as a society with individuals who dabble in different gender constructs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sam. Gender is always going to be a part of our society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts on Mars being a women. and that was nicely said sam. very true
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, gender seems like it will always be a relatively important role in language, but I do hope that it will eventually become less important in terms of perception.
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