I just can’t get over the unironic irony of women buying baby dolls (watch the video) the way that men buy lady dolls. It’s incredible to see such strong and stereotypical gender conformity.
One thing I do like, though, is how these moments highlight and make clear the role and importance of the symbolic experience of reality for humans. Even though these women don’t have real babies they are still able to derive real pleasure from the experience, because part of the pleasure of having a baby comes from the idea of having a baby, whether or not that baby is real.
As my last task before leaving town I stopped by the library to get some books to read in Tokyo. I ran into Christobal and we had a good conversation about theory and our summer plans. He was returning Stoler’s Race and The Education of Desire and getting some other Foucault related stuff.
The library itself, though, was a fail. One of the main books I wanted (Queer Phenomenology) hadn’t been taken off of reserve yet, and the only guy who could do it wouldn’t be back for two weeks. I also wasn’t able to find this other book I really wanted (The Anthropology of Experience).
To further my demise, I got a parking ticket — eight minutes late. I’m not a big fan of the inefficient design of parking meters.
The Trip to Texas
I seem to have gotten used to these fourteen hour trips. I kept myself amused and awake by listening to music, NPR, and The Amber Spyglass; thinking; and by making a music video.
Links
There were two incredible segments on NPR about parents grappling with their children’s experience with a so-called gender identity disorder. One child was taught to be masculine using aversion therapy, and another child was being given a hormone treatment to delay puberty. This quote by a parent about their experience of finally breaking down and getting their child a dress made my eyes water: “I thought she was gonna hyperventilate and faint because she was so incredibly happy. … Before then, or since then, I don’t think I have seen her so out of her mind happy as that drive to Target that day to pick out her dress.”
I just can’t get over the unironic irony of women buying baby dolls (watch the video) the way that men buy lady dolls. It’s incredible to see such strong and stereotypical gender conformity.
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