Saturday, June 16, 2012

Gender Roles

Sometimes I get so frustrated with traditional gender roles. As a man, I am expected to be the pursuer. I am expected to be aggressive. As a woman, you're expected to be cute, and timid, and it's all a bunch of lies. It seems as though we've been conditioned... brainwashed if you will, into believing that this is simply the natural order of things. That men must be the aggressor and women must be submissive.

Where does this leave those of us who don't fall within these traditional roles? I will never be the aggressive alpha male, it's just not who I am. I cannot lie about who I am. I can't lie about what I want from a partner. I need someone who is not afraid to step beyond the boundaries of these gender roles. Someone who can be the aggressor. For once, it would be nice to be pursued instead of always being the pursuer.

Why is it that a man who has sex with many women is revered by his peers, while a woman who has sex with many men is derided and labeled with nasty words. Isn't everyone entitled to fulfill their sexual desires in whatever way makes them happy? As long as they are not hurting anyone, how can there be anything inherently wrong with having multiple partners? I've never been with multiple partners in the same time frame, in fact, I've only had one partner period. And I don't know if multiple partners would be right for me, but for some it seems to be the only logical solution.

This seems to be an incoherent mess of thoughts, but I guess what I'm really trying to say is fairly simple. I hate the notion that gender defines our base traits, and that as a man I am expected to fit within those traits. So what if I don't fit in that 'manly' box? Does that make me any less worthy of companionship and love?