This weekend I'm going on a little holiday to celebrate turning 40! We've hired a holiday house at Murray Bridge that is only about 4 years old, 2 storey, sleeps 14, all the mod cons. I'm going with my Mum, all my sisters and some close friends.
A few have had to pull out this week which is very sad - we'll miss you! However, I am so excited about the weekend. We are taking a chocolate fondue fountain, ABBA singstar, lots of dvds and a considerable amount of drinkies (or, as another friend of mine calls it 'oh be joyfoul').
At the end of the weekend on of my sisters (TE) and BFF and me are staying for a few more days, so I don't think I'll want to come back!
It's been a rather interesting time since my last birthday and whilst I never could have imagined how much my life was about to change at my last birthday, I'm now quite happy, settled and looking forward to the future.
Well, I hope the world doesn't miss me too much while I'm gone. I'll have limited internet access (via my mobile phone) while we're gone so I'll see you next week.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sex and gender
Hi all - I'm still here! I've been away on holiday for a week, and I guess I don't have as much to say as I used to .....surprising, I know.
I've been catching up on my Sociology subject this week (as I discovered I have an online exam to do and hadn't done much reading at all for this subject!). A lot of the subject matter has been about our idea of 'self' and our identity in society. Today the reading's been about sexual identity and gender identity - and are they the same thing or different?
It's been interesting reading, and studying this stuff has certainly helped me to be a bit more broad-minded which I think was actually necessary. The authors of the text book (of course) have the view that gender and sex are very different. It brings about a lot of interesting ponderings I think.
I have typically defined sex by the biological definition - which genitalia do you have? (not to put too fine a point to it!) But now we have in society a new term called gender which is more along the lines of which sex do you identify with for yourself? A person can have male genitalia but identify as a woman (or vice versa). So what makes us male and female? According to my text book we are all conceived female and then at some point in-utero the embryo with the XY configuration gets a testosterone wash and becomes male. But there are lots of variations genetically too. 'Men' can have XXY chromosomes, usually resulting in a very effeminate male. Apparently (and I didn't know this til I read it in the book) in the late 80's the women who were performing well at Olympic field events were tested genetically. They were found to have male chromosomes!
On a personal level this issue of gender identity has been something I've given more thought to since my marriage breakdown. Whilst D is 'male' and presents as 'male/masculine' he obviously has something going on somewhere in his genetics or socialised identity..... The underlying issue is are people born male and female, are they made male and female by society or is it some kind of combination? And what about those who have (for example) male genitalia and identify as male until puberty (or some other time) then feel they actually should have been born a woman?
It's all very interesting, and one thing I am becoming more certain of - I (and we) can't label situations or other people's experiences based on our own (often limited) experiences. The world is made up of a very comlex mix of people. None of us completely fit any mold/stereotype.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:13-14
I've been catching up on my Sociology subject this week (as I discovered I have an online exam to do and hadn't done much reading at all for this subject!). A lot of the subject matter has been about our idea of 'self' and our identity in society. Today the reading's been about sexual identity and gender identity - and are they the same thing or different?
It's been interesting reading, and studying this stuff has certainly helped me to be a bit more broad-minded which I think was actually necessary. The authors of the text book (of course) have the view that gender and sex are very different. It brings about a lot of interesting ponderings I think.
I have typically defined sex by the biological definition - which genitalia do you have? (not to put too fine a point to it!) But now we have in society a new term called gender which is more along the lines of which sex do you identify with for yourself? A person can have male genitalia but identify as a woman (or vice versa). So what makes us male and female? According to my text book we are all conceived female and then at some point in-utero the embryo with the XY configuration gets a testosterone wash and becomes male. But there are lots of variations genetically too. 'Men' can have XXY chromosomes, usually resulting in a very effeminate male. Apparently (and I didn't know this til I read it in the book) in the late 80's the women who were performing well at Olympic field events were tested genetically. They were found to have male chromosomes!
On a personal level this issue of gender identity has been something I've given more thought to since my marriage breakdown. Whilst D is 'male' and presents as 'male/masculine' he obviously has something going on somewhere in his genetics or socialised identity..... The underlying issue is are people born male and female, are they made male and female by society or is it some kind of combination? And what about those who have (for example) male genitalia and identify as male until puberty (or some other time) then feel they actually should have been born a woman?
It's all very interesting, and one thing I am becoming more certain of - I (and we) can't label situations or other people's experiences based on our own (often limited) experiences. The world is made up of a very comlex mix of people. None of us completely fit any mold/stereotype.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:13-14
Saturday, July 4, 2009
'Intellect' and Religion
During my studies at University one theme is becoming very, very obvious.
Religion is considered to be an indulgence of the uneductated.
At present I'm studying units called Social Sciences in Australia and Cultural Perspectives on Science and Technology. In both of these units the concept of religion is discussed a fair bit. In every case it is mentioned as something that is the antithesis of the intellect. If you are an intelligent, educated person there is no room for religion.
This is interesting given that I am a Christian and I am what some would refer to as a Fundamentalist Christian. I dislike this term immensely myself because it conjurs images of people who are almost cult-like in their beliefs, however I use it because it makes sense to a large percentage of the world's population......I guess I'm making an assumption here that there may actually be people reading this who don't know me personally. Who knows, it is afterall the world wide web.
In the subject I'm currently supposed to be writing an essay for (doh! - distracted again) (Cultural Perspectives...) religion is even referred to as a non-cognitive interest. This implies it's an interest the does not make sense in an intellectual sense. Cognition means knowing, perceiving, or conceiving as an act of faculty distinct from emotion and volition. I'll have to ponder this a bit more when I'm not on a deadline with an essay, but I am certain that my faith, and the decisions I make to believe in God as the creator of the universe and mankind is separate from emotion and volition. It is a belief that is based on historical fact.
Anyway, I'll come back to this one day but thought I might just put it 'out there' for now.
Religion is considered to be an indulgence of the uneductated.
At present I'm studying units called Social Sciences in Australia and Cultural Perspectives on Science and Technology. In both of these units the concept of religion is discussed a fair bit. In every case it is mentioned as something that is the antithesis of the intellect. If you are an intelligent, educated person there is no room for religion.
This is interesting given that I am a Christian and I am what some would refer to as a Fundamentalist Christian. I dislike this term immensely myself because it conjurs images of people who are almost cult-like in their beliefs, however I use it because it makes sense to a large percentage of the world's population......I guess I'm making an assumption here that there may actually be people reading this who don't know me personally. Who knows, it is afterall the world wide web.
In the subject I'm currently supposed to be writing an essay for (doh! - distracted again) (Cultural Perspectives...) religion is even referred to as a non-cognitive interest. This implies it's an interest the does not make sense in an intellectual sense. Cognition means knowing, perceiving, or conceiving as an act of faculty distinct from emotion and volition. I'll have to ponder this a bit more when I'm not on a deadline with an essay, but I am certain that my faith, and the decisions I make to believe in God as the creator of the universe and mankind is separate from emotion and volition. It is a belief that is based on historical fact.
Anyway, I'll come back to this one day but thought I might just put it 'out there' for now.
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