i ask myself this question all the time: where can the line be drawn!? i stated in one of my other posts that i believe there are just some things women do and some things men do - and when it comes to those certain things, boundaries shouldnt be crossed. i could just be old-fashioned though.

i guess when i start thinking about these gender issues, i get overwhelmed and find myself looking on a radical side. i honestly see some people's views as so extreme that i can imagine a future when everyone is both man and woman and can decide to be which sex depending on their mood! that's honestly how extreme i see this stuff sometimes. look back at that old movie, "junior," with arnold schwartzenegger and danny devito. i mean, the guy gave birth to a baby. do you think we're really going towards issues like this? sometimes i honestly think we are. society's continuing to push the two genders together so that we're doing more and more of the same stuff.

oh, and another thing. i cant say i agreed a lot with the article on boys. im not saying boys should be made to have to feel masculine and superior. im not saying that at all. boys can play with dolls or dance ballet and it can be okay. but in general, if boys/guys arent known for their masculinity, then tell me what, overall, will differentiate them from the girls?

i will say, though, that i was happy to be reading an article about "boy rights." i'm all for women's rights and whatnot - whoohoo for women. but sometimes i get so annoyed by the radical and extreme feminists who are still griping about how much women DONT HAVE. look at the situation in retrospect - we didnt have a lot 100 years ago. so what? get over it. women are doing more and more these days and taking more roles in the "man's world." so i get fed up with the extremists every now and then. girls, let a guy open a door for you. it's not taking away your freedom as a woman. let a guy buy you dinner. you're not submitting to whatever superior power you think it is he has over you. i mean, geez, give chivalry and politeness a chance in some cases. not all men are trying to push you down! when it comes to some situations like these, men and women dont have to share the same platform all the time!

but where do YOU think lines should be drawn? do tell...

OK, so I was thinking about all this & wondering why there really has to be a line at all? I mean we are all so individual just based on pure body chemistry. Who knows how much testosterone & estrogen are in each person. I personally believe this has a tremendous effect on these "lines." I mean, for instance... I have friends who have been gay & girly feminazis since they were born! On the opposite side I have girl friends who have been attracted to women since they were young & have always had that innate tendency toward masculinity. I know I'm rambling a bit, but my point is that I don't think there really IS a line between what is manly & what is feminine. I mean look at the models of today, they're very androgenous... thin- no curves, bony & straight, like men. The men have very feminine featured faces with the same body types as the female models. With all this media in our faces saying "this is a MAN, & this is a WOMAN, but they look the same just to confuse you all" is total crap & I think it's up to each of us- INDIVIDUALLY to decide our own levels of comfort. Like some people want to be more girly, while some are comfortable being more "manly." I dont think it's a bad thing for girls to be tough & guys to be feminine at all. So... where's that line again? I dont think it exists... I think it's something else put out there to "define" us, to keep us boxed into "MAN" & "WOMAN" stereotypes.

i believe males and females are different...genetically different. do we not have different body parts? do we not think differently? function differently? how about some scientific feedback here...

but with that, i do not mean to imply an inequality; simply a difference. so, casey, what kind of line are you talking about drawing? are you referring to gender roles?

well i mean, sort of. its hard to ask the question b/c i definitely have a lot of beliefs for equality among the sexes. but i just think there are some things meant for males and some things meant for females. i cant think of anything specific that's majorly important. the only thing that first came to mind was the skirt thing... old cloaks and kilts are different. a skirt, for all its fashion purposes, should just stay with females. i just keep looking at the situations today and seeing them blown up in the future. i mean, i could honestly perceive a future where science will make it possible for men to give birth! but thats a clear line there - pregnancy and birth are intended for females. i mean, technology already allows born males to become females and born females to become males. thats where i see definite lines being unreasonably crossed. so i think thats what i was kinda getting at.

as for boys playing with dolls and girls playing football - all those crossings of "stereotypical gender roles" is fine with me. i knew a girl at my high school who wrestled and was just awesome. stuff like that is great. but im talking about more major stuff. so when it comes to issues that might be more present in the future with technology and whatnot, what are your thoughts?

I believe man and woman were created with intended purposes. I believe female bodies were created to bear children and male bodies were obviously not. I believe this is an established order...established for good and for furthering humanity/society. I feel like altering that would only cause problems...

as for technologically being able to, it may or may not happen. but i find it unethical AND immoral...(since we never defined those words in our group discussion, i'll include them both )

I agree with Leighann, I don't understand why there has to be a line. I mean if you think about it "lines" are historically draw to keep people confined. If we (as women) had all stayed confined to the lines that society had draw for us, we would all be in a farmhouse as a housewife with no purpose other than to raise children and please the man. I think it is great that people are redefining what makes them happy. Its PROGRESS!!! People are becoming less afraid to express themselves and that is what we as Americans value. Just like the "American Dream" people are defining their specific needs and I think that is great.