On Gender

Gender is under attack. And its guardians should be very, very afraid. For so many years, the fixed duality of gender has only benefitted two parties; the warlike who need physically able and emotionally dead soldiers to fight their battles, and the religious who need modesty culture in order to solidify their power over their followers by subjugating what the body can do.

It should come as no surprise that gender has turned political; since the bloody trail of broken minds that return from wars, unconvinced that peace had ever existed — to the great bell of capitalism that demands more and more labour power to feed the beast — we have reached our current predicament not because of feminists or queers, but because our political and economic climate has been manipulating the traditional idea of male and female gender roles in order to profit at the expense of others.

What does it mean to be a man in the “traditional” sense? A man of today it seems, has all of the power at his fingertips. He is taught to chase power at an early age, and is given all of the tools to do so. One sweeping look at our world’s banks, parliaments, oil companies and intelligence agencies will give us a clear picture of where the power does lie.

But is this man truly powerful? When he is faced with failure, or loss, addiction or even women, does his power respond to his call then?

The truth is that the modern man is a lion who performs at the circus. A symbol of loyalty, power and control, this lion feeds on meat whenever he can and marks his territory with piss.

Yet the circus lion will always listen to the master. And the master has this to say:

“When it comes to women or sport, you lay down like the animal you are and you obey. You obey because we demand it. You don’t get involved in emotions because you are the one who fucks. If you disobey any of these rules, we will castrate you and make sure everyone knows about it.”

This circus lion is given the illusion that his power is his own. His preferential treatment in the world of work and higher spending power means his possessions and commodities show how powerful he is.

But dangle a pussy or a football in front of this kitty and power is thrown out of the window. You can never have true power or control if you are taught that deep down, you are just an animal. What kind of “powerful” being is this if it only takes a few key things to knock him to his knees?

Let us turn our attention to women as well.

While women have considerably benefitted from more and more rights and tolerance over the years, the picture is not perfect either. Women always have to worry about permission and competition. Will she ever be good enough, not just for men, but for herself?

With each bloody month going off like a ticking time bomb, the pressure is on everyday for near perfection.

A hairless, polite, smiling, chaste and bleeding babymaker.

The “traditional” model of a woman sets herself up nicely to work for free for the rest of her life and to appreciate the fact that she doesn’t pay rent.

The “modern” woman realised this, and swiftly made sure her own labour power was present so she could not be taken advantage of.

And yet if the “modern” woman’s labour power is not spent towards her own knowledge, or advancing her position in society, then her labour power disappears into making herself a prettier version of the woman who always works for free.

It is never enough for her to appear as she is — she must occupy a different register at all times — a realm of dreams — and her labour power is spent making sure she is always someone else, for someone else.

***

The guardians of gender, the political and/or religious conservatives, attempt to take the moral high ground so that they can shoot from above.

They say:

“Why are you ruining our traditions, or going against the laws of nature? Can’t you see that women were designed to give birth, and men were suited to providing? These laws of nature have worked for so long, so why go against them?”

The irony is that they attempt, via inference, to speak on behalf of God. A true believer or religious person would have humility or respect for a different way of doing things.

The monk, mystic or shaman would have this to say:

“I do not know this way of doing things, but there are many things that I do not know. Let me understand your way. And if at the end, we still cannot meet at the same road, know that I am always in your debt for teaching me something, even if I do not follow it myself.”

Conservative people who attempt to character assassinate the ungendered, or try to turn the discussion into something of morality, miss the point that it is not their place to do so. New ways of doing things have always emerged in the history of the world, and you either embrace or disassociate. But you never attempt to subjugate.

This power play betrays the mechanism behind those who believe in the fixed gender principle.

If the rules of gender change then the whole premise of conservative thought would be castrated.

If only they knew how close that scalpel is now coming to the incision point….