We Wern T Born This Way

Donovan McDowell
Gender and Communication
March 20, 2013
Scavenger Hunt
Born This Way?... Concept(s):
­ Gender is socially constructed. (supports) Description and Reaction: Liam O’Ceallaigh is the editor of
Diary
of a Walking Butterfly
. He is a socialist organiser, writer, and activist based out of
New York. In his article
We Weren’t Born
This Way: A Critique of Lady GaGa and the
Politics of Biological Determinism
,
O’Ceallaigh interacts with the concept of biological determinism is relation to an array of different subjects. O’Ceallaigh denounces
GaGa’s approach to combat social injustice with the “born this way” argument (biological determinism) and argues “our differences are largely the result of socialization and choice.”
While I wouldn't consider myself a “little monster”, I am still a HUGE Lady GaGa fan. And if i'm being honest, I’ve often been found to make a similar “born this way” argument. But what what i didn’t consider, was the implications that this argument has on class, race, sexuality, and gender (which I will focus on). O’Ceallaigh argues that if you accept the premise of biological determinism, then you have to accept it for all things that are accepted as social constructs (which he does not accept). “It just isn’t true that you were born ‘male’ or ‘female’. We were socialized into those gender roles
(babies aren’t born wearing pink rather than blue or pants rather than dresses).” He stresses the point that gender is not consistent throughout every culture and points out that this argument has been used by oppressors for thousands of year.
This argument was really challenging. I believe that gender (among other things) is socially constructed and it will take a change in culture to change circumstances. You can't be born into another content, that is the only fixed variable.