Originally posted by: return_to_hades
I don't think this is a transgender or homosexual issue (on a secondary level it is). On the basic fundamental level though it is a basic gender disparity issue that plagues society.
Reminds me off the quote - "Girls can wear and cut their hair short, wear shirts and boots, because it is ok to be a boy. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading. Because you think being a girl is degrading" (Madonna Song as well as book The Cement Garden)
On the primary level we have societal perception that certain qualities are feminine qualities which are inferior and degrading. Talking behind one's back, manipulation, gossiping, bitching, backbiting - these are degrading things only women do because a man is strong, confident, bold and aggressive - he confronts and tackles his problems head on and resolves them unlike women who need other passive aggressive means.
On the secondary level we have the stereotype that all gay men or transgender people are effeminate. They have relinquished their masculine qualities for female qualities, and that makes them inferior and less than men.
To fight both these problems we have to change the way society sees men and women and male vs female qualities. Yes, biologically there are men and women, but in society we are all just people. There are no male or female qualities, just human qualities. Passive, aggressive, manipulative, confrontational are human qualities that men and women can equally possess. The qualities are not superior or inferior depending on gender, but the situation. Some of these notions are so hardwired in society that it will be a long way to change these notions.