Arbitrary Does NOT Mean Real
By: Ajey Pandey
Tags: LGBTQ, Ugh, Transgender

Let’s talk about arbitrary social constructs.

There’s a difference between an arbitrary social construct and a real social construct.

An arbitrary social construct has no intrinsic basis. It’s only a thing because we’ve all agreed to it.

A real social construct has real consequences. Because it’s a thing, people’s lives are affected in a tangible way.

Let’s see this in action:

Sexual attraction is a real social construct, but it’s not an arbitrary social construct. Sex has a biological basis that is intrinsic to most humans (except for ace people). To date, there is no human society that has not at least grappled with the idea of sex in some way or another.

Money is a real social construct, and it’s also an arbitrary social construct. Seriously. The US Dollar isn’t based on anything. It used to be based on gold, which is also kind of a dumb thing to base an economy on (ooooooooh, a shiny block of metal I can smush with my finger!). But it’s now based on literally nothing — except the faith of everyone who uses the US Dollar. It’s called “fiat currency.”

“Reverse racism” and “reverse sexism” are not real. Sure, Feminist Frequency is going out of its way to hire women to do their new mini-series about women, but if you’re a dude in the film industry and you’re unemployed, I’m going to guess it’s not because you’re a dude. Get off your claimed high horse and look at some numbers. Are these things arbitrary? Who cares? They’re not real.

Now, why does this all matter?

Because although gender and race are arbitrary social constructs, they are still real.

Yes, gender has no biological context. There are women with XY chromosomes, men with vaginas, people of all genders hunting through women’s and men’s clothing stores, and intersex people who prove that sex isn’t a one-or-the-other thing, either. But gender still real. Forcing boys and girls to act differently is still a thing. Gender discrimination is still a thing. Harrassment of gender-non-conforming people is still a thing. Just because gender makes less sense the more you think about it, that doesn’t mean the effects of gender don’t legitimately help some and hurt others.

Same goes for race. It’s arbitrary. A black person could have significant white ancestry. An Asian person could be Chinese or Indian or Turkish or Filipino, and that encompasses a lot of very different people. Hell, Rachel Dolezal was a white woman who not only convinced everyone she was black, but also became a prominent figure in the NAACP. In fact, if you ask a Marxist, they’ll trace race (and racism) in America back to a specific historical event: Bacon’s Rebellion. Race makes no sense when you think about it, and one can imagine a hypothetical society that doesn’t see race. But again, race is still real. Black people are still disproportionately likely to get arrested in Ferguson and Chicago. Don’t ask me; ask the DOJ and the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force, respectively. There are reports on this. There are still shockingly few Asian people doing badass things in American movies. Look up #StarringJohnCho. And if you don’t believe that racism is real: Go to a restaurant in Kendall Square (a neighborhood full of well-paid scientists and engineers), count the proportion of people of color ordering food, and compare that to the proportion of people of color behind the counter. There’s a difference. Ask why.

So if you say, “Gender isn’t real,” you’re missing a lot of nuance. And if you’re arguing that “Gender isn’t real, ergo gender discrimination isn’t real,” then congratulations, you’ve coopted the language of fighting oppression to perpetuate said oppression. Go talk to some women/queer people/people of color/etc. and remember the difference between real and arbitrary.