Mass communication professor Darren C. Goins spoke to a group of students about performative gender roles in society as part of the Every Other Wednesday discussion series. The discussion series, sponsored by the department of mass communication and communication studies and the Towson University Speech and Debate program, is designed to "foster discussion and debate on the Towson University campus on issues that are relevant to our population," according to a handout distributed at the event. Goins' speech centered on John Leguizamo's one-man show "Freak: A Semi-Demi-Quasi-Pseudo-Autobiography," in which Leguizamo dissects his life, revealing details about his upbringing growing up with a range of adult influences, all of whom had an effect on his view of social and gender roles in society. Goins said that although "Freak" is about Leguizamo's life, his experiences are common everyday experiences. "Leguizamo presents 'Freak' as an autobiography. He tells stories from birth, all the way up to young adulthood. What I think is most interesting about Leguizamo's rites of passage is that they mirror our own rites of passage in society," he said. By being exposed to behaviors that enforce traditional gender identities, gender roles are learned, Goins said. Throughout Leguizamo's life, he was influenced by three genres of elder, Goins said. "First and foremost are the conventional elders, represented by Leguizamo's father, Fausto, his grandparents and his cousins. The second genre includes his uncle Sanny," he said. "And finally we end up with a group of performers that he identifies with, and he tries to exemplify." Goins said that society is shaped through a series of tests, which begin in early in life. "We start of with the idea of the novice. Right now as young adults, what we've got going on is the idea of being separated from society and going through a series of tests taught by elders. The elders are responsible for shaping that individuals performance of masculinity or femininity," he said. "At the end of the phase of initiation you reenter society as an initiated member of the tribe so to speak." Goins said that elders reinforce these roles because they help maintain traditionalist ideas. Despite the heavy influence of what Goins called "conventional elders," Leguizamo's greatest influence came from his uncle Sanny, a gay man. "What I think is most fascinating about Leguizamo's story is this idea of staying with the status quo, holding on to what we were," he said. "But it was the creativity and the alternative performance of his uncle Sanny that influenced him and introduced him to his love of theatre." Following Goins' discussion he posed questions to the audience of students. One student asked Goins his opinion of Hillary Clinton's decision to run for president, specifically about the country's willingness to elect a woman. "Do double standards still exist in America, or is that just a political statement?" he asked. "Does that mean that she can lose just because she's a woman?" Goins said that despite social progression in American, the "glass ceiling" still exists, a barrier that could keep Clinton from the presidency. "I think that there is a stigmatization of a woman who doesn't act in traditional ways," he said. However, not all of the attendees agreed with Goins. "I really don't think that gender barriers are as bad as you're making them out to be," another student said. "I think that in the '50s and '60s women couldn't get good jobs. It's fair to say that today a woman can get just as good a job as a man. You have to admit that some gender barriers are starting to come down." Goins said that gender should be discussed openly because of its affect in everyday life. "As a gender scholar, who comes at that subject for performance feels that it's absolutely essential for us to consider these issues, " he said. "I think that first and foremost, our lives are impacted at the gender level."
Towson professor discusses gender roles in today's society
Published: Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Updated: Sunday, February 22, 2009
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