Yin-yang 3 - a unified yes

Source: Dessy92

This is the third part of my article on yin-yang, an elegant, complex and often completely misinterpreted symbol. Yin-yang shouts to the cosmos that we humans tend to see dichotomies where they do not exist. 

But many don’t hear this message. 

In Part 1: Yin-yang - not what you think, I explored the common misinterpretation of the yin-yang symbol as about 'natural' opposites. Then, in Part 2: Yin-yang seriously not, I explored misusing yin-yang related to the gender stereotypes of feminine or masculine.

I draw on the ideas in Parts 1 and 2 to develop the argument in this final part of the article, so probably best to read them first.

I want to redirect the messy arguments about gender away from biological and social arguments and onto the human tendency to create false dichotomies. 

So now, I’m putting it out there. 

Yin-yang 2 - seriously not

In Part 1 of this article, I explored the well-known, but often misunderstood, Chinese philosophical symbol of yin-yang. The symbol represents the dynamic, ever-changing and complex nature of the cosmos.

To me, yin-yang is a reminder that dichotomies - seeing the world in simple sets of opposites - can be false and misleading. At its core, yin-yang says: you might think that two things are opposites, but they are not in reality. It warns: do not being misled by false dichotomies.

But we often do, and we often are. 

Source: Deviant Art

Because it is so often misinterpreted, in Yin-yang - not what you think I outlined many things that yin-yang does NOT say or symbolise; specifically, it is:

• not about opposites
• not about achieving balance
• not a feature of things or behaviour
• not an inherent nature of an object or person
• not able to be separated into yin apart from yang; not ‘added’ up to a whole
• not about one ‘half’ being superior to the other.

But people make these various misinterpretations all the time. 

People often refer to yin-yang to make claims about the world being made up of natural opposites needing to achieving balance for harmony. Perversely, this is the ‘opposite’ of what yin-yang actually means.

One common misinterpretation is when people talk about men as yang and women as yin or hold up the yin-yang symbol as justification for rigid dichotomy of gender roles for men and women as a 'natural' way of the world. 

Two wrong dichotomies do not make a right! 

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Yin-yang - not what you think

Every now and then, I like stepping back from WHAT we are talking about and look at HOW we talk about it. 

In particular, I find it useful to look at the mental 'boxes' we use when we talk about things; the 'boxes' that we put ourselves and everyone else into, the categories of our daily lives.

The previous article on Gendered adjectives was about the way we tend to see human traits and behaviour as either feminine or masculine. A simplistic dichotomy, given how varied and complex human beings are. 

This got me thinking again about the fascinating human tendency to see the world in dichotomies - categories to which we become quite attached (see more on dichotomies in Gruntled). 

The strange thing is, many of our dichotomies are false, simplistic and unhelpful. 

False dichotomies often lead to false debates about false and sometimes brutal choices in society. We could do a lot better.

Gendered adjectives 2 - human needs and traits

In Part 1 of this article, I explored why the words we use to refer to our gender - our traits, behaviours and social role -  make it such a difficult topic to write about. 

The problem is, we divide most human traits and behaviours according to a dichotomy of masculine or feminine.

The adjectives masculine and feminine are 'normative' - words that carry the concept of 'what is considered normal' and 'how a person should be'. Using them always implies the meaning of 'normal' or 'not normal'. 

But, how can we talk productively about gender if we have to use words that always carry a concept of normal or not normal.

Using feminine about a man's behaviour or masculine about a woman's traits implies they are not a 'real' man or a normal woman. The words can be threatening to our sense of being okay as a person. 

Many people simply cannot have a discussion about gender without feeling threatened or criticised.

I want to find other adjectives to think about and describe human traits, behaviour and roles. Words that leaves gender where it is (it's not going away) but focus instead on the considerably more important concept of being human.

What other adjectives could we use? How else could we talk about humans?

Gendered adjectives 1 - circular definitions and stereotypes

Gender is a difficult topic to write about, and I've long wondered what makes it so tricky.

Because this is Wordly Explorations, I am going to focus on the words we use; more specifically, the adjectives that cloud the topic of gender.

There are very basic definition issues. We get people mixing up the meaning of the words sex (i.e. biology) and gender (i.e. social identity and role). This results in reams of confusion when people discuss (rant about) gender as though it had the same definition as biological sex, e.g.: 'People are born with their gender between their legs and that's it!' Um, what? These are two very different concepts. 

But the real drama happens when we try to debate gender. There are (again) very basic conceptual issues when we try to discuss how humans act (human traits and behaviours) which is the key aspect of a person's social identity and role (i.e. gender). 

We discuss human traits and behaviours with two gendered adjectives: masculine and feminine. A sign that these words are not up to the job is the proliferation of new words; recent examples are gender fluid, non-binary, toxic masculinity, as descriptions of gender. But I don't think these words have helped make anything clearer.

I wonder if we could find other adjectives to conceptualise and describe human traits, behaviour and roles. Words that leave gender where it is (it's not going away) but focus instead on the considerably more important concept of being human. Words that make it possible to discuss this topic and increase shared understanding.

In Part 1 I will explain the specific problem with these gender adjectives, before I suggest some other words we could use in Part 2.

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