In today’s patriarchal society, restrictive gender norms stifle and oppress those who dare to be different. Women, men and gender nonconforming persons are ostracized or discriminated against on a daily basis just for expressing what they feel inside. That’s why it’s so inspiring to hear about Chuck Landis, who recently set his Firefox homepage to the women’s section of zappos.com.
Somewhere, every day, a young boy is prohibited from playing with dolls; a woman is told her female brain can’t comprehend the mathematics necessary to be a physicist; and a man is told his web browser’s homepage should be something normal like Google or Yahoo, but that if it’s going to be a shoe company’s website, it should at least be their men’s section.
But for Chuck, enough was enough. For far too long have dangerous gender norms constrained the behavior and self-expression of us all. After all, science has shown us that gender is socially constructed, and is distinct from sex. Just because Chuck has a penis doesn’t mean that he can’t look at affordably priced women’s footwear every time he opens a Firefox window. In a show of bravado and flair, Chuck subverted society’s expectations of gender by flouting conventions and accepting himself for who he was.
“Ah shit, how do I fix this?” Chuck told the Tiger.
Chuck, your courageous decision is a decisive symbolic victory for those committed to the demise of harmful gender norms everywhere. Knowing fully well the social consequences of your action, you nevertheless boldly expressed your truth. Keep on inspiring!
-CS ’18, MF ’19