Like a few others, I was also slightly uncomfortable while watching Orlando. I really wanted to put him into a category of either male or female, but found this difficult to do because of his androgynous nature and the fact that he changed sexes. Because I was not able to “categorize” him, I felt uncomfortable and confused. I think it is typical of society to want to categorize everyone as either male or female, and when someone does not embody the typical stereotypes of either a man or woman, we struggle and become frustrated that they do not fit into one of these categories. As a society, I think we understand that there is a difference between sex and gender, but why are we not recognizing this difference? A person does not have to follow the stereotypes of their sex or embody the typical characteristics associated with their sex, yet we often feel extremely uncomfortable when they don’t. Why do we so strongly want to categorize everyone into one of two categories? And when there are so many different aspects of gender, why do we attempt to restrict a person to one of only two categories?
Also, the fact that the role of the queen was played by a man also intrigued me. Is this the director’s way of suggesting that power is typically associated with men? This led me to then think about the king in The Left Hand of Darkness. The King is always referred to as “he” but really he is androgynous. In addition to this, it is quite possible that he has taken on the role of a woman during previous kemmers, yet he is still always portrayed as a man. Is this again because power is seen as something only given to men? Would we think differently about the king if he were in fact a queen?
Allison, I agree about Orlando. I feel as though it is natural in society for people to want to group and categorize each other (like said in class) because there are so many of us to take in. So, when someone is not acting like their proper "category" we get stressed out. For example I felt really awkward and stressed out when I was working at retail shop that sold clothes for both genders (I feel as though I should say that instead of sexes after talking about this topic), and a customer came in that I couldn't tell was a boy or a girl and asked me for help. I had no idea what to do. I feel like in society we do put too much stress on categories and people's sexes, and Orlando shows us that it is possible to change gender and sex. I should have just focused on asking the customer what they are looking for but I was so stressed out about his/her category I lost focus. Orlando shows us more than a sex change (like we sometimes see in our society), but a complete two different sexes and genders. At the end when he/she is acting gender-less, we feel even weirder because we can't group him/her. I think we focus on sex instead of gender because of physical proof (male/female genitals) to back up our assumptions. With gender, that is a grey area. Gender cannot really be defined; some girls like shopping and some girls like sports and some boys have long hair and some boys have short hair. I feel like society (and myself) needs to focus more on how someone wants to be interpreted, but regardless, it won't be the end of the world what gender they chose (or no gender at all like Orlando) to act as.
ReplyDeletePower and men are something I feel like is also another issue in society. Remember at the beginning of the year that test? If there is more than one girl and they talk about more than men, then it passes. I think that it's sad that is how the majority of media is out there today (not saying Orlando/The Left Hand of Darkness are like that too because of the androgynous characters). It's interesting to think that while the queen in Orlando was in power, she was secretly a man. Is that saying a man's word is behind a woman's power? I think Orlando may be poking fun at the idea instead of believing it because they did such a good job with the androgyny, but it is a interesting topic to think about.
I also agree that society has its own interpretation of what being male or female should entale. Both Orlando and Left Hand of Darkness liked to cross the lines that society expects however, there are people in current society who do this everyday. I feel like though there are many people that cannot accept that, these lines are gradually becoming more and more blurry as it seems to gradually be more accepted in some aspects.
ReplyDeleteI can see how Aimee you would be confused to help someone out that did not take on a specific gender at first glance. I'm not exactly sure how I would have dealt with that either. It just goes to show the role that these assumptions play in our everyday lives.
I never really explored how women and men are categorized into specific categories until this film. I explored this a bit in my paper. I think that the social need to categorize people into these categories is why so many of us felt uncomfortable during this movie. Orlando's transition between these two norms and doesn't exactly fit in either one.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find really interesting about Orlando is how much of an internal struggle we all had when we couldn't place his sexuality or gender. As humans I think we are very much comfortable with things that are familiar, that are logical and make sense. Therefore, trying to understand gender as it relates to sex can be challenging. Orlando definitely touched on this, but I don't think it helped me get a clearer picture of how I feel regarding gender and sex. I'm still not convinced that they are completely separate. I think in actuality, there are certain characteristics deeply tied to gender and sex.
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