Gendered Treachery

This article takes a look at how gender as a dichotomy and as an integral part of our personal identity is the underlying cause of homophobia. The main issue is that those with masculine identities feel threatened by homosexuality because it goes against the traditional roles for men. One piece that I found really interesting was that masculinity is paradoxically defined as “natural” and also something that needs to be guarded against “losing.” Obviously, something that is natural does not require an act or performance to uphold. In my opinion, this really shows that there is no one, true, natural masculinity but that masculinity, femininity and personhood itself come in countless forms that differ from one person to another. The author suggests that eliminating the distinct categories of “male” and “female” is the best approach for getting rid of homophobia. Although I can see his point, I think this is a challenge that seems, to most people at least, unrealistic. I feel that it would be interesting if this author expanded on his ideas by discussing how the elimination of dichotomist genders might occur.