I run up against this a lot, and it bugs me: In researching my paper on Cherokee women, I found a work that is really comprehensive on a crucial period of the history that, in its introduction, asserts that gender is a cultural construct. This runs counter to both my beliefs and my personal experience. I also have read medical research and case histories that suggest that some aspects of gender -- identity for example -- are not of cultural origin.
I do not discount the cultural components of gender, but I do posit that there is more to gender than what is learned. Gender permeates us as physical as well as spiritual beings, from the molecular level to the most general physical aspects of our bodies, including brain structure.
We are genderized by culture, and culture can have effects on our physicalities, absolutely, but baldly stating that gender is a cultural construct only puts the cart before the horse -- we had gender and gender differences long before we had culture.
I feel a sense of mission about this. As much as it bugs me that certain branches of our academic world dismiss the importance of gender to our beings, I think that is the degree to which I feel passion to understand better what gender is and to communicate my understanding.
I don't know for sure how that passion will play into my current research. I have a lot of thinking to do and a lot more research.
