Gender is Still THE Issue; That Old Vaginal Tax

My colleagues and I pride ourselves on being very liberal, intelligent and tolerant people. After all, we have chosen the humanities as our focus. We have chosen to become professors of humanities as our career paths. We have chosen to dedicate our lives to enlightening students to the value of others' cultures through literature. And let me just say, we did not do it for the money.

I said all of that to say this, I am guilty, I think, of being hypocritical. Though I consider myself to be very tolerant, there is one group of people I cannot stomach. It is the group of young ladies who call themselves "lesbians," who walk around with three sports bras on and shave their heads or wear cornrows. They sag their pants and walk with a wide stance like a male. Some of them even wear dildos at all times. I have seen them challenge men to outward shows of physical prowess, and heard about them beating their girlfriends...just like abusive men. They are not transgender. They do not want to become men. Yet, they want to be treated and looked upon as men, especially in their relationships.

Let me be clear, here...I'm not homophobic. I have many friends who are gay and lesbians. But the above group of "lesbians" really get beneath my skin. I have placed this group in quotation because I am questioning their sexuality. It seems to me, that these people are not really lesbians at all. Before I get a ton of hateful emails, please finish reading what I'm saying and think about it.

Maybe these women are not lesbians. For them, lesbianism is not a function of sexuality. I feel that these women suffer from plain old penis enny. Now, I'm no dummy. I know Freud and his theories have been thoroughly debunked by feminists, but I'm writing about what I see. I feel that these women are mascarading as lesbians in order to get the same respect they feel that men sometimes undeservingly receive in our society.

Everything from teaching, to nursing, to the WNBA is devalued in monetary compensation as well as respect because they are female-dominated positions. Have you heard RAP lately? Are there any female rappers out there? Surely, when RAP first started and was marketed by African Americans to African Americans, there were many female RAP artists. With RAP's explosion on the mainstream market, came the disappearance of female rappers.

Have we in America created an atmosphere conducive to penis envy and "lesbianism?" Perhaps the only way many of these women feel that they can be taken seriously as human beings is to cloak themselves in masculinity. Walk like a man, talk like man, wear a man's penis, and beat another woman like a man. Does that truly garner respect?

Let me take this out of the gay/lesbian community and make it national. I recently posted an article claiming that I'm waiting on derogatory remarks toward Michelle Obama from the Right. Less than one week later, Judge Sonia Sotomayor was introduced as Obama's Supreme Court pick. The vile hatred and claims of reverse racism coming from the Right has been repulsive...absolutely repulsive. This woman has been called racist, stupid, and affirmitive action pick by men of the Right. The women have been fairly silent.

Racism aside, I wonder how much of this has to do with Sotomayor's gender as well. After all, C. Gordon Liddy did imply that the woman's menstrual cycle would inhibit her ability to render justice. Beck refered to her as "hispanic chick lady." Dennis Miller did a crude impersonation of her as a female Spanish dancer. With all of this derogatory activity, I wonder how long it will take some sick joker on the Right to come out with a Sotomayor nutcracking doll. I recall the whole Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill fiasco. The amazing thing about that case was, his intelligence never came into question -only his sexual prowess.

It has been disheartening, as a young, Black, female aspiring academic to hear this kind of criticism thrown at a woman who became the editor of Yale's Law School Journal. It has proven to me, that the according to the Right, the American Dream is not only prohibited to those with skin of color, but also to those who happen to have been born with a vagina. And I can offer this word of caution to the "lesbian" community...wearing a fake penis won't make things any easier.

Gender is still a factor

Over the past two weeks, Nancy Pelosi and whether or not she needs to step down has been dominating the news circuit...much to my chagrin. I would much rather like to hear about the economy, or the two wars we are fighting.

Republicans claim that Speaker Pelosi is a hypocrite, that she knew about torture, and that she is a fool for taking on the untouchable Central Intelligence Agency. Democrats claim that this is really a smoke screen devised by Republicans to take the spotlight off their intiation of and complicity with torturing people who may or may not have had criminal intent toward the United States and her people. I agree with this last sentiment. The issue is not what little or lot Nancy Pelosi knew at the time, but that torture is wrong. All who need to be prosecuted should be by Eric Holder and the Justice Department.

Yet, I see another problem within the GOP that is not being addressed. Among the other hate-filled diatribes being spewed at the audience from the lips of Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity, and Beck is the hidden divisive rhetoric of gender discrimination and even misogony. People could argue that the GOP is fair to women, with Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin being two of their most vocal representatives. However, let us not forget that the Cult of True Womanhood, one of the most repressive social movements for women, was perpetuated mainly by middle class, White women of New England.

It seems that many neocons/Republicans take issue with Pelosi's gender. In fact, former Vice President Dick Cheney has been quoted by several venues implying that had he been in the House of Representatives, they would not be marching to the beat of a woman's drum. Let us not forget the many, many terrible jokes about "nut-busting" at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's expense. Many conservative men and women criticized former President Bill Clinton for letting his wife run the show. The worst joke I've heard was both racist and misogynist, "Bill Clinton was America's first Black president because he just laid back and let his woman do everything..." So many people circulated that joke that I've lost its originator. I never criticized Bill Clinton for acknowledging the fact that his wife was just as intelligent, strong, educated, and capable as himself. Being born a XX instead of XY does not water down intellectual abilities. Why would I? Why would anybody criticize a man for respecting his wife?

Now, I am waiting on the new jokes about Michelle Obama. After eight years of Laura Bush's quiet style of leadership (I respect that as well. Mrs. Bush, a former librarian, really cared about education and was satisfied with a type of quiet strength), I'm pretty sure conservative speaker boxes are anxious to discredit President Obama. So far, he has been a formidable opponent, tackling his opponents from all angles. I think Michelle, just like Secretary of State Clinton, is strong enough to keep going without allowing conservative talk boxes to slow her down. But for now, I'll be waiting.