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If you had to for 1 year, would you change gender or skin color?
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gender, because that would be the truest change, the others are superficial.
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Interesting topic to think about though.
Gender, I think.Because white people changing their skin color to black is associated with assholery and racism (Look up blackface).
On the other hand, I know enough trans people to know just what turning into a guy would do to me. So...
I'd have to go with gender. That would definitely be the best way to (maybe) finally get a grasp
on the enigma that is the male gender.
Now I'd like my husband to change to female so he could understand what it's like to be female. I wonder who would have the biggest problem. ;)
(Forgive typos. I am on iPad and it's sucks. Can't wait to be back home!!!)
Mod
Yeah. It just...gave me that reaction. Probably knee jerk.
Mod
I live in the south, completely understandable. :)
First, I'd like to point out that I think the OP meant "change your sex" instead of "change your gender" because gender is a societal/mental construct and is not always compliant with physical sex (hence transgendered and non-binary individuals; also helps include those that are intersexed and identify as one gender). Second, I'm transgender, so changing my sex would be fantastic for me, but, if I were born the sex that more closely coincides with my gender, I'd probably feel differently.
Third, though it pains me that race and racism are part of the world (as again, they are societal constructs), I have to say that it was eye-opening to live in a country for several years where my race was not the majority. I realized before I left that I was going home, and no one would look at me funny and question my presence based on the color of my skin (my gender identity is a different beast), but others, even when they're in the place of their birth may never feel comfortable or be allowed to live their lives without prejudice based on physical traits they had no choice and no control over... I feel like all racists and people that believe that racism is extinct should get their race changed for a year for education purposes.
Also, all sexists and homophobes and all of that... Sorry, I think I may have hit this topic a little too hard.
I was thinking sex, just used the word in the post. I'm simple like that, use what's available. You don't hit too hard, cause I don't think it's a game. About getting on the airplane. If you change your color you can always fly somewhere will it can definitely be better. Change from male to female, a lot of things would still be the same.
I wouldn't change either. Changing my skin color or gender might change how some people react to me, but given that I don't care what people think of me, and opinions of people who make judgments on that based are wholly irrelevant, I'm not sure what the point would be.Would it allow me to identify with people of another skin color better than I do now? I don't think so. I still haven't lived their life -- I'm just an interloper who has been shaped my particular experience. I'm still me, no matter what my skin color.
Changing my gender is the same. I'm still a guy. Being a guy in a woman's body doesn't tell me how a woman feels in a woman's body. So let say that it’s just not me in a woman’s body (not just a change in physical body). Now there’s a problem. If gender is a societal/mental construct -- which are two different things -- what is my gender in the first place? Is it what society considers that I am based on my appearance and actions? Is it just what I think I am, which case I’m free to choose (and society is free to disagree)? Is it even binary? If I write a female character or my female co-author writes a male character, what is our gender in the moment we are writing from the POV of that character?
Kit above hits on a critical point here (IMO). It’s not gender per se that matters as much as mismatch between gender and sex. A man who is comfortable with a masculine gender and a woman who is comfortable with a feminine gender have a very different life experience than a person who doesn’t. So if I were to switch my gender and my sex, I’m just a woman whose OK with being a woman. And if I switch just my sex, I’m a guy who running around in a woman’s body because I chose to for a year -- not because I was born with that mismatch. I still can’t tell Kit: “I know what you’ve been through.” I wouldn’t — I just play acted for a short time.
This raises an interesting point that was raised by a philosopher who wondered what it would be like to be a bat -- not for him to be a bat, but for a bat to be a bat. He argued this was impossible, which I tend to agree with. If I were undergo such a fundamental change that “I” became unrelatable to “me”, it’s not clear to me what is gained, since the experience is not transferable.
For better or worse, I’d choose to be me. I’ve know me for a long time, and whatever my failings are, I’m OK with me. That the world is an unjust, nasty place much of the time is well known, especially to me. So I’ll stick with what I’ve got.
It think it relates more to what people around you are thinking, and if they can put those thoughts into action. Not what you are internally thinking.
Owen, I'm more than ok being a woman, but the question wasn't WOULD YOU DO IT? But rather IF YOU HAD TO, like you had no choice but these two, which one would you choose. If the question had been WOULD YOU, I bet most people would answer, no. ;)
G.G. wrote: "Owen, I'm more than ok being a woman, but the question wasn't WOULD YOU DO IT? But rather IF YOU HAD TO, like you had no choice but these two, which one would you choose. If the question had been W..."I noted that, but no one ever has to do anything. There are always choices.
Owen wrote: "G.G. wrote: "Owen, I'm more than ok being a woman, but the question wasn't WOULD YOU DO IT? But rather IF YOU HAD TO, like you had no choice but these two, which one would you choose. If the questi..."But what if you didn't? We need to use our imagination and put ourselves in a sci fi story, just like when people ask what would you do in a zombie apocalypse? The obvious answer would be nothing since I don't believe that is possible, but it's fun to play pretend.
Ironically if you really believe in science it doesn't exist, or if you follow ancient practices it doesn't exist. It appears a lot of stuff got scrambled up on the way from back there to up here.
I'd do...Both.Gender because it would be nice to finally be a lesbian not trapped in a man's body ;D
And color (race actually) because Asians are hot.
[Bow-chicka bow-wow!]
TMI? You asked!
This is a cool question to speculate about. I would personally find it easier to change sex. I'm very much more gender neutral anyway and don't find it in the least hard to imagine myself having had my brother's life. Although I would be gay, I suppose, but I think I could cope with that.Whereas if I changed skin color... well, it happens that my own past life and family history in Europe aren't the kind that any non-white people of my generation are likely to have shared. I would have to re-invent a whole different past for myself. And the interesting question is: if I did that, which background and history would I pick (assuming I'm doing the picking)? Could I carry it off? For a speculative fiction plot, it would certainly be the most interesting option.
G.G. wrote: "But what if you didn't? We need to use our imagination and put ourselves in a sci fi story, just like when people ask what would you do in a zombie apocalypse? The obvious answer would be nothing since I don't believe that is possible, but it's fun to play pretend..."It’s a philosophical point. If you want to take the question seriously -- as a thought experiment (and why not) -- then the use of an imperative is critical. It’s critical, because the issues that the thought experiment seeks to address results from an externality that imposes an imperative on our sense of self: because of your genetics, you must think of yourself in a certain way, act in a certain way, dress and speak “appropriately”, assign a particular value to yourself, and have aspirations that fit with a given box. That’s the problem with imperatives.
So this thought experiment addresses the issue by saying in effect: external factors forced a set of attitudes and behaviors on you, based on flawed criteria applied to non-substantive attributes. So we (another external factor) are going to force you to switch one of these non-substantive attributes accordance with what we want for our reasons. An appropriate response in such a case is to tell the externality “No.”
Now in real life, imperatives do exist and we ignore, confront, or defy them at some cost, and it’s up each individual to decide whether or not to pay that cost. But this is not real life, this is a thought experiment. So I’m quite willing to say “No” to make the point that, in issues of this type, the problems created by imperatives can’t be corrected by imposing other imperatives, even if they are imperatives we might agree with.
Thank you for so many thought-provoking comments! I've really enjoyed the banter, insight, and depth you all put into this. :)
Rob--I did hear though forms reliable source "it's not easy being green" Haha!
Christa wrote: "I post something called Theoretical Thursday on my blog. This latest one I thought would be interesting to see what you guys think.In light of all the stuff in the media lately about gender and racial inequalities, my question is this: If you had to for 1 year, would you rather change your a) gender or b) skin color? "
Christa,
Interesting question, though it needs to be clarified, though still with a multitude of possible answers due to the multitude of individual possibilities.
"If you had to for 1 year, would you rather change your a) gender or b) skin color?" needs to clarify physical versus mental gender, skin color should reflect genotype / phenotype, and if you want some people to slip cogs throw in sexual preferences.
"If you had to for 1 year, would you rather change your a) mental gender, b) physical gender, c) sexual preference, or d) skin color (phenotype / genotype)?"
The reason I mentioned the above mods is simple, because the question can't be adequately answered without the mods.
Example: my ancestry is Scots / Irish / Scandinavian / Cherokee while the Wife is German / Welsh / Shoshone. Our daughter has prompted a number of Native Americans to ask what tribe she's of due to her coloring, facial structure, and so on, even though I look more like a Swede than an NA. Wife is often confused for Slavic or Russian though people who know what to look for spot the cheekbones and the hairline.
Choice 1: A modified phenotype for me would hopefully mean an end to skin peels / freezing, as the sun is definitely not my friend at present. Though I would prefer to retain eye and hair color.
Choice 2: A modified physical gender, as the Wife says while I'm physically male I'm a better mother than she is. To me nurturing is genderless, but apparently at least a few others see it differently.
I've avoided mental gender simply because I'm fairly gender-neutral, and after many decades of watching people I can imitate either fairly well, even though I don't quite completely understand the full parameters of either. Some mysteries (to me) are best left as they are.
As for dealing with prejudice or discrimination -- I deal with a certain amount of that anyway so that's not a concern.
Hopefully I didn't mangle your question too much.
Gender. I would looooooove to be a man for a year. (Though that'd be pretty awkward explaining that to my boyfriend and my job)
I'd change my skin colour, I suspect my lady wife might complain if I changed my gender. Anyway my skin colour verges on the downright grubby at times and anyway I might end up with better hair :-)
Mod
Mod
And we call ourselves a civilized society. Honestly, multicranialphobia in this day and age!
Christina wrote: "Richard wrote: "I'd change my skin colour too. I mean, I get stared at on the street just for having two heads, but being green as well... Be nice to be purple for a year, blend in for a change."And we call ourselves a civilized society. Honestly, multicranialphobia in this day and age! "
I believe humans honestly believe they have civilized societies, but those who have been deemed less than human (at different points in time) would tend to disagree.
The definition of to civilise isBring (a place or people) to a stage of social development considered to be more advanced:
a civilized society
So really it all depends what you mean by 'more advanced'
Jim wrote: "So really it all depends what you mean by 'more advanced'"To me, it means that louse racing is no longer a common betting sport.
A the louse, a truly noble creature. How fortunate it is that our grandchildren will learn to love it and its myriad of fascinating ways. How much it will enrich their culture allowing them to advance in ways we cannot even comprehend as we wallow in our slough of barbarism(or something like that :-) )
id change both. i really want to know what it is like living as a white guy. they seem to get all the breaks where i am no matter how poor they are. it seems all they have to do is suit up speak well and fake their way to the top. i know it sounds shallow as all get out but anything is better than poor brown and female right now -_- especially the way things are going on in my hood right now (yall seen the news ugh) im less likely to be a statistic...
K.P. wrote: "it seems all they have to do is suit up speak well and fake their way to the top..."Most of us suit up, try to speak well, and fake our way to the middle. But you're right: it's still better than the bottom.
Sad old world we live in.
Micah wrote: "Most of us suit up, try to speak well, and fake our way to the middle. But you're right: it's still better than the bottom..."but given the way we're blamed for everything we must be immensely influential
K.P. wrote: "id change both. i really want to know what it is like living as a white guy. they seem to get all the breaks where i am no matter how poor they are. it seems all they have to do is suit up speak well and fake their way to the top. i know it sounds shallow as all get out but anything is better than poor brown and female right now -_- especially the way things are going on in my hood right now (yall seen the news ugh) im less likely to be a statistic... "Actually K.P., you don't sound shallow. As Micah mentioned, most of us try to suit up well and fake our way to the middle, or at least the upper half of the bottom quartile.
The problem is that in order to make it reasonably well in the US oligarchy, it's who you know and how long you and your family have had those connections.
I'm mixed European (non-Anglo) and Native American, and the only reason I've survived better than some contemporaries (African, Hispanic, Romulan, etc...) is an ability to talk fast, know when to run, and a genotype that makes me harder to kill rather than easier.
Poison? Pffft, my heart rate is high enough to burn through many common nerve agents. Down side is one morning my heart will stop, likely while I'm on the porcelain throne contemplating the upcoming day.
Being a part-breed in South Central Texas is like having a bulls-eye painted on your forehead if you get pulled over, unless you're good at reading people in a hurry.
Good news is, if Wife and I get taken out there are tribes out in reservation country willing to adopt our little demon.
Owen wrote: "To me, it means that louse racing is no longer a common betting sport."One must always choose the lesser of two weevils
Weevils wobble but they don't fall down.
In light of all the stuff in the media lately about gender and racial inequalities, my question is this: If you had to for 1 year, would you rather change your a) gender or b) skin color?