Aram Narang Photo Essay by Aram Narang

Anti-Sexual Dimorphism

anara054 — 2024-05-14 18:57:36 UTC

This image displays the idea of Anti-Sexual Dimorphism. Sexual dimorphism says that men exhibit one archetype, while women display the opposite; for example, women are petite, while men are big and strong.

This idea is obviously false because chromosomes, hormones, and genitalia are widely varied across different individuals and cultures

Despite our identities as males, we vary in size, facial features, and biological makeup. My friend in the middle may be considered smaller and petite, relatively speaking, so according to the outdated concept of sexual dimorphism, we would be different genders. Yet the three of us all identify as male. This image is a reflection of the problems with dualistic thinking. It shows that assigning binary values to people can create false or mis-guided results. This is especially true with gender and sex, as they are multidimensional spaces, and variation is normal. After all, variation is the basis of biology.

Punk Music and Non-Conformity

anara054 — 2024-05-14 18:58:50 UTC

Katz paints the readers a brief history of the origin of heterosexuality, focusing on key periods

The LGBTQ movement in the late 60s and early 80s, questioned the norm of heterosexuality, pushing the idea that sexuality/gender are social constructs

Punk Music is heavily intertwined with the LGBTQ movement, as it’s a space of music that pushes freedom of sexual expression and non-conformity

Pictured to the right is a Black Flag T-shirt. Black Flag was a famous California punk band that started in the 80s, known for kick-starting the American punk scene. This T-shirt is a symbol of non-conformity. It highlights Katz’ process of Questioning the Norm, challenging the Normal’s position as natural.

Gender is a Labor

anara054 — 2024-05-14 19:01:10 UTC

This reading highlights that gender is a product of social interaction. It’s an action, a routine, a labor. Your gender is the labor of managing one’s behavior and appearance in a certain way, from which society can evaluate and place into boxes or categories. I am constantly held accountable for my particular way of “doing of gender,” when I am perceived by society, regardless of where I am.

This image is a depiction of how I do gender. I like to keep my face clean and shaven, I like longer hair, and I wear many piercings. To some it may be masculine, to others it may be feminine, but there is no constant rubric which assesses my method of gender labor. Thus, gender is not absolute, it is not binary. Gender varies from interaction to interaction and is purely based on relativity.

Creating Synthesis

anara054 — 2024-05-14 19:02:42 UTC

The Mestiza Consciousness originates from the mixture of Spanish colonizers with indigenous natives of South America.

These two dogs are mixed breeds, they come from two separate identities. With the fusion of their identities they gain the Mestiza Consciousness, where there is an emphasis on identities being hybrid and flexible. This tolerance for ambiguity unites things that are normally contradictory.

When looking at these two dogs through the Mestiza Consciousness, their identity as one half of two somethings ends, and they gain a new identity as double of everything. Where there was once thesis and antithesis, there is now synthesis. The Mestiza Consciousness is a means to end the tribalistic (Us Vs. Them) mindset that is generally the root of all human conflict

Intersectional Masculinity

anara054 — 2024-05-18 05:26:32 UTC

This highlights the main point of the reading, or the idea that Masculinity is inherently relational. It is not a specific trait or essence, it's a product of relativity, and it can only be understood in contrast to femininity.

Because I am taller and broader than my girlfriend, I am considered the more masculine of the two. If I were pictured next to a man who maybe had a thick beard, large muscles, and was taller than I am, then I would be considered the feminine person.

There are various forms of masculinity and they reveal themselves when contrasting between different people. Masculinity varies across different places and times and only exists when contrasted against another form.