There are different standards of beauty for men and women. When I talk about standards of beauty, I’m talking about the standards of how we take care of ourselves. Women are expected to be well groomed. They are expected to shave, exfoliate, bleach or remove any facial hair, have their hair brushed and highlighted, never have white or grey hair, have pressed clothes, put on makeup, and wear high heels. Women are expected to do these things in order for society to consider them normal and to be seen as attractive. Most women feel the need even to take a shower and put on nicer clothes to go to the grocery store.

A bill was voted by the Senate of Connecticut in order to provide a gender identity protection to transgenders of the state.

A bill was voted by the Senate of Connecticut in order to provide a gender identity protection to transgenders of the state.

Tim Pawlenty, american republican candidate to the presidential elections, is still against marriage equality.

Gay and lesbian parents would be more accepted than a single parent, that's what a new study shows in the United States.

For the World Day of Peace 2013, Pope Benedict XVI actually spoke about peace in the world and also indicated that marriage equality was a threat for this one as for justice and that it will spark harm for the society.

 Over the past week, I have come across a few blog posts from people who have either noticed positive interactions for gender non-conforming children or who have helped to break down the gender binary for children in the classroom to prevent bullying. Children learn so early on how gender affects the world, how it creates a line to follow in every interaction, in every choice. Society dictates from the moment of birth how children should be dressed, what they should play with, how they should react and think, all based on its sex at birth, and children learn within those boundaries. The only way to allow children to escape the binary is to walk ourselves outside the constraints society sets or to educate them about gender outside of the rules reinforced in their everyday lives.

I have written before about societal expectations and how they affect the way gender is interpreted. Now that I present as a male, though, what is expected of me has changed. I do not visibly reside outside the lines of normal anymore, so I must think about what society wants to require of me as a male.

Dear Sappho,

Is sexual identity and orientation natural or essential to the person or is it socially constructed and subject to change? Are people born gay or is it a personal decision to become gay?

How did your society think and act about homosexuality and sexual orientation in ancient Greece? I think I might be naturally gay myself.

Researchers of University of California noted that the zebra finches can have same-sex monogamist and permanent relationships.