A Puppet Master Called Masculinity
A dive into masculinity from then to now
The concept of masculinity is far from new. The chokehold it has on society isn’t either. It's been controlling the massive marionette called society for thousands of years and unfortunately, it’s unwilling to put the puppet down.
When the first English colonists touched down in the Americas in 1607, Masculinity the puppet master and its marionette did, too. As the marionette extended an arm across the Atlantic Ocean, Masculinity’s grip tightened on its marionette’s strings and this new society relinquished its control to the puppet master.
Around 1627, one person was able to cut their string from Masculinity’s puppet. Their name was Thomas/ine Hall, a presumably intersex or genderfluid person living in the English colonies. They were raised as a girl, but when they were 24 years old, they decided to live as a man in order to follow their brother into the army. They then decided to journey to the colonies to live as an indentured servant. In Virginia, they continued to live as a man for a while, but eventually began dressing and working as a woman. Even though Thomas/ine was able to separate themselves from the marionette, they were still in its line of sight and therefore, unable to fully escape traditional gender roles Masculinity forces upon its puppet. This led to them being forcibly subjected to multiple nonconsensual searches of their body and a court case to determine their gender. In court, it was determined that Thomas/ine was both a man and a woman and forced to wear “the breeches and shirt of a man, with the cap and apron of a woman.” After this, they disappeared from any official records. Maybe because of the trauma they experienced at the hands of Masculinity, or maybe its just a coincidence. That, however, is unlikely. This situation is a frequent and all-too-familiar case of Masculinity silencing anyone who is viewed as “other” or “not normal” when it comes to traditional gender roles. Thomas/ine did not fit into the constraints of what is traditionally masculine or feminine, so they were forced to publicly be both, opening them up to unwanted discrimination and judgement at the hands of Masculinity and its marionette. They were silenced twice: once when required to change their gender expression and again when they seemingly vanished off the face of the earth.
Although Thomas/ine’s story is more than 300 years old, the silencing and poor treatment they experienced is still happening constantly on small and large scales. One extremely recent example of discrimination that is far too similar to that of Thomas/ine’s experience is the new policies regarding transgender individuals recently announced by the Mormon church. Here are some of the new policies:
Church members who have transitioned are not permitted to work with children, serve as teachers, or fill any gender specific roles. They are, however, allowed to “receive other callings or assignments that provide opportunities to progress and serve others.”
Transgender individuals must go to gender specific meetings and activities that align with their gender assigned at birth.
Transgender individuals must use single-person bathrooms. If none are available, it is suggested they can use the restroom of their gender assigned at birth or the one of the gender they identify with if no one else is in the restroom and if there is a trusted person standing outside to prevent others from entering.
These policies are the unfortunate and belittling result of the intense hold Masculinity has on the Mormon church. The hand of Masculinity is seen in the group of men that sit in an elevated position facing the congregation every Sunday in church and in the women that can only be in that position when asked to speak, pray, or oversee the music by the men. It's seen in the long line of male prophets who up until only a little over 100 years ago practiced and preached polygamy.1 Masculinity’s craving for control thrives in the Mormon church. It’s even nurtured. This church, and basically every form of organized religion, are an outlet for Masculinity. Here, it can let the marionette dance and stomp on everyone, especially those who don’t fit into its idea of gender. Especially those very real people like Thomas/ine. Once again, nearly 400 years later, Masculinity is silencing those it regards as “other” through these policies.
A little over 100 years after Thomas/ine’s story, Masculinity’s control was unrelenting. In 1742, a woman named Sarah Grosvenor’s lover, Amasa Sessions, “so very earnestly perswaided” her to “take the trade,” or in modern terms, get an abortion. As a result of this coercion, Sarah’s life was taken from her. Taking that first dose of the colonial-era abortifacient was the beginning of the end. In the court case that occurred three years after her death, her sister and cousin, Zerviah and Hannah Grosvenor, claimed that it was not Sarah’s choice to abort her baby, it was Sessions’ and the doctor, John Hallowell’s, intense and constant pressure that caused her “take the trade.” This claim is validated by the fact that Sarah on occasion “neglected” to take the doses until Sessions and Hallowell pressured her and convinced her it was “necessary.” All charges against Sessions for his role in Sarah’s death were eventually dropped. In fact, he continued to live in the town this happened in, Pomfret, for the remainder of his life and was even a respected man by his community. Although everyone knew about the case and what he did, he was forgiven, while Sarah received a forever consequence of their actions: death. Hallowell was charged, but he fled the state and never had to go through with his punishment. Masculinity wants the men to prevail and the women to suffer. Masculinity, with the help of its marionette, encouraged Sessions and Hallowell to give Sarah the abortifacient and to perform an invasive procedure on her to quicken her abortion with dubious consent. Although the men in this situation were morally in the wrong, Masculinity rewarded them for their ability to successfully control and silence a woman. 2
Because of the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, Masculinity is forcing women across the US back under the feet of the marionette. It has taken a woman’s and other people with uterus’ ability to make a choice for themselves and put in the wooden hands of Masculinity’s marionette. A person’s right to an abortion was taken away and put in the hands of the men and women in the Supreme Court under the influence of Masculinity. Although Sarah did not want an abortion, the way Sessions and Hallowell made a decision for her is eerily similar to how the government is making decisions regarding people’s uteruses and bodies. Roe v. Wade was overturned, and women’s rights have regressed back to 1742. Masculinity wants control, and now it has it.
Although Masculinity the puppet master and its marionette are still at large, today, it is much easier to cut yourself free. Being queer is widely accepted, feminism is mainstream, and things like social media and technology makes it significantly easier to find like-minded people. Masculinity’s hand may cast a shadow over everything, but that shadow can be easily ignored.
After 1904, any new polygamous marriages were officially not permitted by the Church. However, polygamous marriages that occurred before then were still allowed to continue.