Reading Response 2: de Lauretis

The chapter by Teresa de Lauretis “The Technology of Gender,” was far from an easy read. De Lauretis discusses our conceptions of gender and how we construct it. She brings up some interesting points about how gender really only exists when we conceive of it at all. And if we really wanted to wish away gender and gender separatism, all we have to do is stop thinking about it. I think de Lauretis’ conception of gender is largely over simplistic. Although I agree that gender is fluid, and is a construct that we make, a fair amount of it is tied to anatomy, and unchangeable biology. For example, the gender role of men being muscular and being athletic or doing activities or jobs that involve feats of brute strength, come from the biological differences that give men a body that is better built for these type of tasks.

Additionally, gender separatism is not necessarily a bad thing. The heart of most issues that the feminist movement seeks to address is not at the separation of genders, but at the inequality of them. More time should be spent on trying to balance the treatment across gender barriers instead of dissolving them completely. However, I do think that gender should be viewed as a more fluid entity than it is in the United States and in most Western cultures. In Western culture, we almost always only allow for two genders, man and woman, when really gender should be more of a spectrum with at least 3 or 4 categories, because our world is not always so black and white.

Regardless, my biggest problem with the piece is not the content, but the actual prose. I found de Lauretis to be repetitive, indirect, and dense. If she really wanted to prove her point better, she would made her work more accessible, and thus easier to constructively debate.