Conference to put focus on gender
Concordia conference will focus on ‘one of the big issues of our time’
In a burst of unprecedented publicity, Caitlyn Jenner has brought extreme gender issues to prominence — but her story is only the tip of the iceberg.
Feeling atypical — a woman trapped inside a man’s body, like the former Bruce Jenner, but also just a girl who isn’t into dolls or children who feel gender non-conformity of all sorts — can be a significant developmental problem.
There are many more colours in the gender rainbow than simply pink and blue.
“Kids in early secondary school start to think about what it means to be a boy or a girl, and the degree to which they fit into those categories,” said William Bukowski, a developmental psychologist at Concordia University.
“People who are typical think more positively about themselves than people who aren’t (typical), so typicality is important because it is a determinant of well-being.”
Surprisingly, he said, when schoolchildren are asked if they’re a typical boy or girl, on a scale of one to five, the mean is 3.5 — barely above the midpoint.
So while more extreme issues like ambiguous genitalia or sex development disorders are quite rare, “the number of people who do not feel especially typical is large.”
Bukowski marvels at how gender has become “one of the big issues of our time,” having evolved from a fringe topic to now being openly discussed in newspapers and at the dinner table and consistently lighting up social media sites.
“There is more and more recognition that your gender does not necessarily determine the degree to which you see yourself fitting into one of these two social categories,” Bukowski said in an interview. “There is a lot more leeway now in what it means to be a man or a woman.”
Academics from across North America will be coming to Concordia University on Friday to explore gender, typicality and human development at a conference organized by Bukowski.
He says all of the “major” researchers on gender and development will be there, and on Tuesday he already had 30 more people registered than the 80 he was expecting — indicative of how much interest there is in this hot-button topic.
Presentations will range from addressing gender segregation to working with sex-atypical youth to hearing from parent advocates of transgender children.
Feminism and masculinity will also be prominent topics at the conference, with Concordia sociologist Marc Lafrance talking about the broadening definitions of masculinity and Emer O’Toole, an assistant professor in the School of Canadian Irish Studies at Concordia, talking about the newest wave in feminism and the push to make it a more populist movement.
Lafrance, who studies the sociology of men and masculinity, says norms about masculinity are changing rapidly and he’s happy to see a “more flexible” definition emerging, one which accommodates more unconventional forms of masculinity.
Even in 2015, laments Lafrance, men of all ages are still encouraged to embody a “hyper-masculinity” that constitutes an extreme — and unrealistic — ideal of being ultrastrong, stoic, invulnerable and without emotion. Like Clint Eastwood in his silver-screen heyday.
“In many respects that is still the ideal that is held up for young men in our culture,” Lafrance said.
Similarly to how women feel about the ideal of beauty held up for them, this norm of masculinity is “unattainable.”
While the definition of masculinity is expanding, he said, especially for urban men, it is still too soon to rest on our laurels.
“A lot of men still struggle with being accepted,” Lafrance said. “It will be a better society if boys have more choices and can realize their potential in ways that feel right to them rather than completely imposed on them.”
Feminists are also pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a woman. O’Toole’s assertions about women and shaving brought her some notoriety after photos of her hairy armpits went viral.
But she did it because she felt (and still feels) strongly about her message to girls that it’s OK if they don’t want to shave.
“It’s important to teach young woman that the changes they experience at puberty aren’t disgusting, that it’s normal,” O’Toole said in an interview.
In fact, she sparked (along with pop star Miley Cyrus) a bit of a movement, with CNN declaring in June that “armpit hair is a growing trend for women.” Now dyeing it is all the rage.
However, the “trend” sparked much vitriol on social media, with many weighing in with nasty comments about the grossness of women not shaving — underscoring O’Toole’s belief about the need for changing ideals when it comes to femininity.
Yes, she says, this is the best time in history to be a women; at least in law and theory, women are respected as equals. But there’s still a lot of work to do. Domestic violence, rape culture, the murder of aboriginal women in Canada, the objectification of women in media — these are all issues still affecting women that urgently need to be addressed, O’Toole said.
On the gentler side, another fashionable debate concerns the matter of gender-neutral washrooms. While it may not seem like a pressing issue in the context of world affairs, Bukowski stresses its importance.
“It makes the divide between males and females smaller.”
The conference is open to the public on Oct. 16 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Loyola Jesuit Hall and Conference Centre, 7141 Sherbrooke St. W. on the Loyola campus.
It will be a better society if boys have more choices and can realize their potential in ways that feel right to them …