Female Man - Daniel Pearson 7 November 2007 The Female Man...

Daniel Pearson 7 November 2007 The Female Man
W
HAT IS A
“F
EMALE
M
AN
?”
Joanna Russ’s title The Female Man presents the reader with an inherently
ambiguous phrase. To fully understand the meaning of the term, one must consider the
stance from which Russ writes – a feminist stance. Feminists aim to generate gender
equality in society; in this case, Russ stresses equality of the sexes through the use of a
term that favors no single gender. A female man could be considered a female with
male characteristics, a male with female characteristics, a cross-dresser, or even a
hermaphrodite – ultimately, a female man is synonymous to a human.
Russ chooses the term “female man” because it blurs the distinction between men
and women. Everyone categorizes as a female man – a fact which emphasizes the
similarities between the two sexes instead of imploring to establish differences, as do
distinguishing nouns such as man versus woman.
Essentially, Russ promotes gender equality by avoiding the term human, which
underlines the “man” part of people.