least resistance

So I hate to be the girl who relates tv shows to class discussion, but I'm going for it. In an episode of ABC's new comedy/drama series "The Deep End" the subject matter of our recent readings/discussions arose. A young female tennis player, on scholarship at a prestigious university, was suing (the show is about young lawyers) her university because they revoked her scholarship and kicked her off the squad for reasons they would not divulge. Later one we find out that a teammate of hers accused this girl of taking steroids. So the board did medical testing and in the process discovered a Y chromosome. They revoked her scholarship (disabling this girl from paying for the last two years of college) because it is specified that it must be given to a woman. The girl was taunted by her classmates, her boyfriend broke up with her, and no sympathy was given by the board of administration. In the end, because of all the publicity, the girl was offered the opportunity to go professional, make some money, and then pay for her own schooling. True to most sitcoms, this girl saw a happy ending. But for me, the most interesting part was seeing the actress who played the intersex tennis player. I've now done a considerable about of reading on this topic, but being able to actually see the person as this pain unfolds was quite different. Clearly this was just an actress but somehow the visualization but it all the more real for me. 

I found the section of the chapter in Sexing the Body about the ways that different cultures have handled intersex human beings very though-provoking. I believe this displays how imbedded in cultures our views on gender truly are. Our class discussions last week centered around the notion that it is wrong that we view women and their "innate" traits negatively because of the way our society in structured. Many women espouse this idea but continue to follow the "flow" of society because its the path of least resistance. I believe the same rings true on this topic. It is so deeply embedded in our culture that there must only be two sexes. This belief is all around us. If its possible for women to dismantle this notion, then the movement to accept the fact that there aren't just two genders should piggy back on that effort. We were discussing in class how the women's movement doesn't have a distinct issue to follow and thus has become a bit scattered. As seen through the connection of the civil rights movement, having two movements work together can be very effective. The science is on their side, all we have to do is get people not to fear the path of least resistance.