Sandra Lipsitz Bem (1944–2014)

it's sad how radical most of this still is. but at the same time how differently we talk about gender now, and how far we've come as far as that goes. an interesting dichotomy.

this was interesting. she comes across in her writing a bit aloof and arrogant, but i suspect that isn't at all what she was like in person. it was brave of her and her husband to take such a firm stand on their beliefs, especially in the 60's and 70's when the understanding about gender and gender roles was where it show more was.

their delineation of gender solely based on genitalia is unfortunate and i would be interested in knowing how they would feel about gender now. because as restrictive as that definition sounds, they were way ahead of their time and i think would have embraced a much different view, one that is open and understanding of trans people and issues.

i found their son's statement toward the end so interesting, about what people bring to activism and why people move to change the world. they were speaking specifically about feminism and he said, "...it's hard to get the energy to be an activist when it would have to come from just my own rational awareness that these are urgent problems, and that's not such an easy energy source." i wonder if that has been part of the reason climate change has long been mostly ignored. it's more of an intellectual awareness for people, not something they feel they're experiencing all the time, although that's starting to change.

anyway, an interesting read on a few levels. show less

This is the book that helped me see that gender is a cultural construct, and how it's the cultural construct that shapes my life, not my so-called "gender dysphoria." Probably not a book I'd go back to now that I understand that.

I read this book in 1992 at the recommendation of one of her relatives, a man with whom I worked at a local clinic. This book is among those titles I consider life-changing (and I had already read a number of books and research reports related to gender studies in college). It absolutely awakened me to the ways by which gender is socially assigned, developed and reinforced. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I LOVE this book. I want a marriage just like Dr. Bems'. This book was educational, interesting and, the word I exclaimed frequently while reading was "fascinating!" I HIGHLY reccommend it.