Now and again for a bit of fun I suggest to people that life would be a hell of a lot simpler with one sex instead of two. All those endless tensions and aggravations and misunderstandings would disappear and it would be so much easier to get on with each other.But it's surprising how many people don't like the idea at all and are very keen to keep the two sexes just as they are. Despite all the negatives, they enjoy the frisson and the enigma of this unfamiliar Other who plays by different rules and is always hard to understand.
They also enjoy acting out their particular gender role and seeing it appreciated by the other lot, be it flouncing around in dresses and high heels or fixing a dodgy carburettor. They just love to be told "God, you're beautiful" or "I could never have fixed that myself."
Seriously though, are all those rather superficial thrills and benefits really enough compensation for the never-ending battle of the sexes as we keep squabbling over the perennial bugbears - sharing the household chores, sharing the childcare, workaholic males, shopaholic females, football mania, dieting mania, sex obsession, beer bellies.
For most people, the astonishing answer is yes, we're prepared to put up with all that for the excitement of jumping into bed with the opposite sex, watching our bloke build a garden shed or watching our wife breastfeeding. The idea of us all being the same sex fills people with horror and incredulity. Wouldn't it take all the fun out of life? Wouldn't we all be drearily similar?
Well, of course we wouldn't, we'd still have very different personalities, tastes and habits. There just wouldn't be this massive gender gap blocking communication the whole time. There'd be a lot more common ground and shared assumptions. Or so it seems to me.
And no prizes for guessing which sex I'd like to preserve. I adore those flawless double-X chromosomes. Who needs those second-rate XYs? There'd just be the small problem of perfecting virgin birth....
No, no, no! I love blokes being blokey, as long as they are in touch with their feminine side!
ReplyDeleteHee hee, don't want much do I?
interesting idea.
ReplyDeletei'd like a world full of men. and me.
Suburbia - There you are, you see, proves my point. But surely when they're being blokey they must be repressing their feminine side?
ReplyDeleteKylie - A world full of men and one woman? It'd be mayhem! And who would you discuss men's glaring faults with? Or go to for make-up tips?
gay men
ReplyDeleteKylie - Nice one.
ReplyDeleteSounds like heaven to me. And we wouldn't know any difference if that's all we ever had. Bring it on.
ReplyDeleteAhem Nick - I wouldn't call rape exactly a bug bear and include it with the other categories?
ReplyDeleteAs to same sex, yes it would eliminate a lot of the friction and misunderstandings. BUT, I would not want to give up interacting with those great XY's I know.
XO
WWW
So, hermaphrodite or androgynous? I can't say I see the problem with the current arrangement and would hasten to point out that frictions would abound regardless, male/female just happens to be an easily observed delineation, I'd also point out that all of the friction in my maternal family tree arises from interactions between females. I do have an issue with suggesting that a chromosomal arrangement is inherently flawed, terribly un-PC when abstracted to that level regardless of whether you are on the 'right on' side of the fence or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteMeno - Very true, we wouldn't know any different. Of course we'd have to find a way of phasing out all that horrid manual labour....
ReplyDeletewww - You're right, rape is thoroughly nasty and much more serious. I've removed it. And as Meno says, if you'd never known any XYs and there were no such entities, there'd be nothing to miss.
Thrifty - True, women can be bitches par excellence when they feel like it. So would the female bitching end up being worse than the gender divisions, I wonder?
ReplyDeleteSaying XYs are flawed was very much tongue in cheek, after all I happen to be one, though it's true they're a corruption of the XX chromosome, as all babies are female at conception. Don't worry, Thrifty, I love you really!
Good, I was beginning to feel unloved and emotional there for a minute :-) Indeed, gender in some reptiles is determined by temperature at key stages of gestation I believe. Noise is inherent in genes, but 'better' depends on the metric applied.
ReplyDeleteJust had a thought. In an all-female society, would there still be prostitution, I wonder?
ReplyDeletecan't live with 'em - can't live without..... beer - wait that's not it - what am i missing?
ReplyDeleteQuicky - But as Meno says, if you'd never known another sex, you wouldn't be missing it. And if you were a gal, you'd take care not to develop a beer belly....
ReplyDeleteAnd miss all those tight buns in Wranglers, no way...
ReplyDeleteach you'd still have as much mystery, fun and frustration trying to understand your partner even if they're the same sex - trust me :-)
ReplyDeleteNick, I enjoyed the tongue in cheek post but you must seriously consider the Ardhanaarishwar concept! http://www.flickr.com/photos/chocolate-n-nuts/2381707213/
ReplyDeleteKylie, one gay man? He will commit suicide.
ReplyDeleteIf there was only one sex.... what would I do for Toy boys? ;)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.internationalmensday.com/
ReplyDeleteWord verification of "swears" and "chump"?
ReplyDeleteBrighid - But there would be plenty of tight female buns in Wranglers, or is that not your cup of tea?
ReplyDeleteConor - Mystery, fun and frustration sound a lot better than the current antagonisms. And yes, there'd be plenty of differences without the gender ones.
Ramana - Very interesting, I'd never come across Ardhanareeshwara. Half male, half female, split down the middle, is ingenious, but I'm sure women could manage very well on their own....
ReplyDeleteActually Kylie suggested a world all male except for her. Though she didn't say how many would be gay and how many straight. She might want them ALL to be straight. Greedy bugger.
Thrifty - I hadn't heard of that either. And it's today, I see. Well, celebrating the positive aspects of maleness is a good idea, I guess, as long as it doesn't mean disparaging anything female. I must say the guy with the inane grin and hairy arm brandishing his fist looks rather scary, I'd keep well away from him.
ReplyDeleteSwears and chump? That's a bit offensive, I think word-check should apologise immediately.
Grannymar - You and your Toyboys. We'd just have to break this dangerous addiction and get you interested in some well-endowed Toygirls.
ReplyDeleteGood Lord Nick, you would convert the most popular lady in Dublin into a Lesbian? Grannymar, keep a safe distance from this dangerous man. He is bent on fixing hopefuls like me!
ReplyDeleteKylie, my apologies. I stand corrected. Your idea is fantastic. I wish you success.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I was shocked to my core and had to have a nice lie down and a cup of tea after being exposed to language of such uncouth levels. Thankfully today it is settling for llesarph!
ReplyDeleteRamana - He he. The management would like to make it clear Grannymar has never at any time been that way inclined and never will be. We are making a generous donation to charity to compensate for any unintended personal distress.
ReplyDeleteThrifty - Goodness yes, I should take it easy for a few hours, till the shock subsides. Llesarph? Isn't that a kind of Mongolian camel? Or is it a small village in Wales?
ReplyDeleteMy only distress would be a lack of toyboys!
ReplyDeleteNow if it means more donations to charity, I'll take the hump! Better not be a charity for cats or it will be a double hump!!
Grannymar - Phew, no libel writ then, that's a relief. And if there's no distress, I can cancel that donation to the Society for the Abolition of Karaoke.
ReplyDeleteOnly one sex... you mean men would have to have PMS and give birth, too? YES!
ReplyDeleteLiz - That's true, we'd all share those unpleasant experiences. Women would no longer be resentful that half the population were spared such things.
ReplyDeleteHaha . .can you imagine a world of women only. Sweet Jesus! We'd all have synchronised PMS (happens when women live together) and need a week off each month! Hang on . . that's a 4 day week . .yippeeee! Then it might give the older women a chance to breach the glass ceiling once! Nah, haven't got one but I'd like one . .a man that is . . . who else is going to put out the garbage and carry the esky?
ReplyDeleteBaino - I'm sure if women didn't have men to do all the heavy lifting, they'd find ways of coping. I wonder if it was a woman who invented wheelie bins instead of dustbins?
ReplyDelete