Working Out Some Foundations (For myself, and maybe you too)

While criticizing the reinforcement of gender roles in everyday life is important, as it calls attention to instances of denigration and belittlement that may go unnoticed by the average person, there should also be some arguments made for why the idea of gender roles should be thrown away. To make a satisfactory argument for such an act, I think it is essential to first address some key questions about the nature of what it is to be a human, and whether that experience is actually different for men and women. If there is a distinct nature for men and another for women, then gender roles would necessarily be valid, because there exists a prior determination of what it is to be a man or a woman. However, because there is no ‘human nature’ to determine the essence of who an individual is, there can be no valid assignment of gender roles.

In the first place, a distinct human nature demands an objective determination of right action, in all cases. If an individual has a nature, or way of being, then actions can be judged as right and wrong if they do or don’t represent the individual’s objective nature, respectively. However, human existence is characterized primarily by choice, or free will. At the individual level, each person must constantly choose one action or another; even the decision not to make a choice is still a choice to inaction. Because the individual is forced to make a choice as a result of her sort of existence, she is also forced to constantly determine who she is. At every turn, she is determining what her nature is; if people are determining their own nature, then gender roles, which rely on an appeal to the nature of men vs the nature of women, cannot be valid.

There are many ways in which this idea of constant self-determination presents itself in every day life. If a man decides he would rather be an actor than a therapist, then he determines that acting is in his nature, and the life he leads as an actor is the correct life for him to lead. The choice to be an actor becomes valid for him, solely on the basis that he made that choice. However, the result of choice is that they are responsible for the results of their actions; no one can blame their actions or the results of their undertakings on their upbringing, their gender, their emotions, or any other force outside of their own free choice to act. For these same reasons, we cannot justify actions because that’s just how men or just how women are.

This is not to suggest that the experiences of an individual are not different for individuals of different gender, race, economic status, or any other similar distinctions. The above characterization of human existence only further bolsters the individualistic nature of existence. However, at the same time, it does not allow the individual to resign his or herself to the circumstances of their particular life as an excuse for an unfulfilled life. Our existence is highlighted by who we are as people, but we must still act and be responsible for the discovery and fulfillment of our own individual purpose and nature. On the above account, the world possesses an abundance of possibilities for human existence, but these possibilities must be seized upon by each individual; in acting, we create who we are as individuals.