Gender, Glee and a Fleeting thought

My mind is a shopping mall, filled with an array of delights and zingers just waiting to come out, whether unintentional or not.

Sitting in the Lecture, there I was, when a random thought popped into my mind. My thought was of Glee and Mr Schuester (Matthew Morrison) singing and dancing, then I pondered “he must be gay”.

Even I am ashamed at this one however I think it proves a point.

Too quick are we to judge a man, a boy or teenager dude if he cries in a film, interested in arts and dresses well.

As soon as a male does something different to our stereotypes, we assume he’s homosexual, making the sexual preference more than simply that.

In terms of arts, why can’t men do what girls do (dancing etc.) without the first thought, even if it is fleeting, that they must be gay.

If anything I see this as an oxymoron, females are able to generally aim to achieve their goals (thanks to the feminist movement) and today it is  normal (relatively speaking) to see a woman in a classically male job (the Prime Minister is somewhat of an issue still) rather than a nuisance.

So when a 14 year old wanted to play netball and had the physique and talent to do so, he was unable to play with the girls.

But of course, the girls are allowed to play in the woodwork room.

Some of the problems include the assumption of homosexuality, as above mentioned but also the implicit stigma attached  to men in female roles.

Seriously, how many times have you heard a male nurse take crap and what about our First Man (partner to Prime Minister Julia Gillard) Tim Mathieson cop it as well?

This is illustrated, and humoured in the ABC’s satire At Home with Julia where Mathieson goes to the shops, gets the mail, cooks the dinner, and is more emotional than his partner. Such an example exudes the contradictions, and while we don’t discuss it, it does not mean there aren’t issues like this.

Because if they are played up in shows, and I have fleeting thoughts about Matthew Morrison, then clearly, it is in the public sphere, implicit or other-wise.

In an era of political correctness and wanting to make people feel included, has it come to the point where we are so caught in worrying about women that we tend to forget that there are problems with the male gender?

Ladies, maybe it’s time, if we want play with the big boys, to look at the bigger picture.