RS, Author, Novelist on Nostr: #EngenderedWriting 12 — Is shame a gender role? Yes. Every feminist knows shame is ...

#EngenderedWriting 12 — Is shame a gender role?

Yes. Every feminist knows shame is a primary tool to control female sexuality† in patriarchal societies. Shame also controls males this way to a lesser extent, but it also forces them into their gender roles, sometimes precipitating anger and aggression they might otherwise recognize is antisocial.

Like guilt, shame is inculcated by most every society so when triggered, it causes individuals to control themself, to shove themself back into a cultural role, often a gender-specific role. When triggered, it starts a cycle of self-flagellation or social signaling (let's call it a virtual stink) that marks the individual as shamed, which lowers the individual's social status against their best interests, and may give permission to others to behave toward them in otherwise asocial or dangerous ways.

As an author, and a feminist who writes gender fiction, I attempt to not wield shame but rather the vacuum caused by not wielding it. Most people are so used to shame-threat hovering in the background of human interaction that when a character gets away with what ought get them shamed, readers notice. For gender fiction, hopefully they'll anticipate something interesting.

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† Humans are animals (did you think I'd write sexual beings?) with an instinctual drive to reproduce. Anything that frustrates this instinct twists the human psyche, making for tragedy and interesting stories.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

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