Across the board one can see how often heteronormative uses of gender are used in both lists. While in the English list there is large usage of fluidity as a term for sexuality which is not as common as in the French list. Instead their list is much longer, using more phrases to discuss inequality and and sexism. I am curious however, why is is that music is incorporated so frequently in the French list? Does this just have to do with the double meaning of genre in the French language?

Je ne suis pas d’accord avec toi car en français nous avons nous aussi parler de la “fluidité” de l’orientation sexuelle, mais en utilisant le terme LGBT qui signifie “Lesbienne, Gay, Bisexuel, Transexuel”. Je crois que c’est le acronyme même en anglais et pourtant il n’est pas sorti une seule fois, je me demande pourquoi ?
Et pour répondre à ta question, oui s’est lié au fait que ce mot peut avoir un double sens en français. On l’utilise pour parler des différentes catégories qui peuvent exister dans la musique ou la littérature.

Je remarque que peu d’étudiants américains parlent d’inégalités entre hommes et femmes. En france cette discrimination des genres et encore trop présente, essentiellement dans les entreprises (haut poste, salaires, remarque sexiste…) et dans d’autres domaines également. Ainsi, j’aimerais savoir comment se manifeste les inégalités de genres aux Etats Unis ?

I think the words used in this instance are very dependent on the political climate. Right now in America there is a lot more focus on sexual liberty and rights for the LGBTQ+ community than just inequality in general. With all of the sexual harassment allegations, I think there is an increasing awareness of just how unequal the genders still are. And there is still a pay gap between men and women that many people do not believe exists. I think a lot of the inequality of genders in that kind of sense are still being ignored by many people in power, so the younger generations are trying to figure out which battles we can successfully fight right now.

La différence entre les associations des mots dans cette catégorie est très intéressant. À Bowdoin, on a beaucoup de dialogue environ les genres et on essaye de penser au genre comme un construit sociale qui, en vérité, est très fluide et vaste. Si je disait que la femme et l’homme sont les seule genres à Bowdoin, je sera considéré fermé. Il y a un différence à Bowdoin entre les genres et le sexe– oui, l’homme et la femme sont les deux sexes, mais il y a beaucoup plus des genres. Je pense que cette différence est très intéressant.

@Maelis

As an American woman, I can share my perspective, though I don’t share the same views as most of my peers.

Yes, many horrific stories of rape and sexual harassment come up in our news, but that does not mean they are always factual. We have to be always circumspect as to what we read or hear because oftentimes we simply do not have evidence (we usually have to base our opinions on second-hand reports or dramatized testimonies). In my personal experience regarding sexual misdemeanors, I have heard of (and, unfortunately, met) both male and female aggressors; men tend to be the culprits because of their physical strength.

And it is their physical strength that gives them a presence and dominance not only in both private and public life, but also in business. That being said, what most people fail to consider is that, actually, there are very few disciplines where the ratios of men to women are equal. At Bowdoin, most professors that I’ve ever had are female (I study languages and art). However, if I were to take classes in the Computer Science or the Physics departments, I would encounter more male professors. This gender-specific gravitation to certain subject areas is not surprising, and are based on the extremely anachronistic idea that men are better in the quantitative realm (math, science, and technology), whereas women thrive in all things qualitative and subjective (the arts, literature, and language).

Regarding the sexes, most humans fall into a binary of being born female or male (rare genetic mutations exist, but those are exceptions to Biology). Sexual and gender identity are fluid and wide-ranging, in my personal opinion, but do not define most people. From my experience outside of Bowdoin (which is an extremely liberal institution that tends to attract non-conforming students), the majority of people around the world are heteronormative. It goes without saying that it is important to not discriminate or harm people just because they have a differing sexual or gender identity to our own. However, focusing so much time on discussing it (especially at places like Bowdoin) make us feel like it is a more prevalent issue than it truly is.

Furthermore, there have been several incidents at Bowdoin when I was asked to introduce myself, providing my name, year of graduation (what we call “class year” here), my major (academic concentration), and my preferred gender pronouns. This last request, to provide my preferred gender pronouns, seems absolutely irrelevant. I understand it is meant to provide a sense of security for non-conforming individuals, but, in my opinion, it is a bit annoying to make the majority of students respond to something that only concerns a small minority of people….

Bonjour Kayelizabeth je suis d’accord avec toi sur le fait qu’il existe une idée préconçue selon laquelle les hommes ont plus de facilité pour les matières scientifiques et les femmes sont meilleures dans le domaine littéraire. Mais heureusement cette idée à tendance à s’estomper au fil du temps (du moins en France).
Et d’ailleurs en biologie un bon nombre de nos enseignants sont des femmes ;)