“Beni, I have something to tell you,” my friend Marie said to me one year ago. “I am a lesbian.” At that moment all my views and beliefs about homosexual individuals were shattered. Marie has been in my life for about 13 years now, and is a very good friend of mine from the church. Growing up, she has been a tomboy that expressed herself in ways that deviated from the female gender norms, or ciswoman (Wood, 2013, p. 26). “Sex is a designation based on biology,” therefore, Marie’s sex is female (Wood, 2013, p. 19). Gender, on the other hand, is “socially constructed and expressed” (Wood, 2013, p. 19). Marie’s personal view of her own sex is female, also know as her gender identity, but the way she displays her gender through clothing and actions coincides with a masculine gender expression (Wood, 2013, p. 21). For example, while most of the girls and women at our church were dressed in nice skirts, dresses, and blouses with heels, jewelry, and makeup, Marie would be wearing baggy shorts or jeans, loose t-shirts, and sneakers. She never put on makeup and even chose to wear clothing from the men’s department in stores because that is how she felt comfortable.
Marie hasn’t always been this way, however. In her house, her mother has multiple baby photos of Marie dressed in floral, pastel colored dresses with bows in her hair. I have also seen some of her old toys that include several baby dolls, tea sets, and fashion games. These artifacts express female gendered nonverbal communication. “An artifact is a personal object that can both express identity and influence how we see ourselves, …[and] personal objects for children define them as feminine or masculine” (Wood, 2013, p. 126). Parents send artifactual messages to their childr...
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...ifferent ethnicities, abilities and disabilities, class appearances, sexual orientation, and gender identities” (Wood, 2013, p. 74). Specifically, my friend Marie is represented by the intersectionality characteristic of this third-wave. She is a Lebanese, Catholic, female, lesbian. Shouldn’t the harassment she receives for all these separate identities be taken into consideration? “Third wavers focus on the intersectionality of oppression, pointing out that race, class, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity are intricately woven together and must be addressed holistically” (Wood, 2013, p. 75). By addressing these individual differences, third wavers are giving a voice and a feeling of belongingness to women like Marie.
Works Cited
Wood, J. T. (2013). Gendered lives: Communication, gender, & culture. (11th ed., pp. 19-130). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Homosexuality Michel Foucault (2012) offers a historical view in how we define sexual identity along a homo/hetero axis and its connection to gender norms. The term “homosexuality” did not emerge until the nineteenth century, thus prior to this, there was no word to describe practices of same-sex relations, and behaviours were isolated from gender and sexuality identity (Foucault, 2012). During the Victorian era, homosexuality became criminalised following a royal inquiry of sexual practices of
Nevertheless, Functionalists theory only focused on men and women as genders and their roles in the society to function which disintegrate other genders. The focal point of conventional community, particularly in Russia, is to encourage social stability in the society, based on tradition, patriarchy and religion. These affect homosexuality because, it became illegal and deviant as they cannot conform to the needs and rules of the society. (Schaaf, 2013), Homosexuality is an alien or mental illness
orientation is the preferred term used when referring to an individual's physical and or emotional attraction to the same and or opposite sex. Heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual and pansexual are all sexual orientations. An individual's gender identity and expression is distinct from their sexual orientation. Throughout life as the individual explores the world around them, they are shaped by the unique experiences and influences that are imparted upon them. All people experience life subjectively therefore
Gay culture, or LGBT culture, is the culture shared amongst gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals. Gay culture varies widely based one one’s identity and location. Gay culture has come a long way, and throughout the journey is has caused changes in societal norms. The homosexual male shook the known gender norms causing an alternate outlook on gender roles. The purpose of this project is to examine the progression of the gay culture and how things such as drag balls and the Pansy
Cultures institute behaviors that are to be seen as the societal norms, which work to constantly reinforce societal expectations of how genders should act in relation to one another. Although some may argue that one's sexuality is an innate characteristic resulting from genetic makeup, there is a large amount of evidence pointing to its social construction instead. Through the power differences between males and females, established gender roles, and drastic economic shifts, society establishes sexuality
of opportunity, yet individuals limit themselves to thinking that only one way could truly satisfy the human ambition. An example of this in modern society is when individuals are told to conform to gender norms.The issue that plagues society with this generalization of gender roles is that it limits what people want to become. Men have to fill in the roles of providing through a job, while women have do the cooking, cleaning, and general housework of the family. While gender directly provides a
In The Prison Notebooks (1971) Gramsci does not associate hegemony with the governance of a solitary individual or any structuralist energy phenomena, such as a discourse, collective conscience, deep structure or culture. Instead, hegemony from a Gramscian perspective signifies a variety of different organizations of people and agents in state formations, such as a structure, a practice, an apparatus, a unity of opposing structures or a function of leadership (Gramsci, 1971). Hegemony is always considered
In today’s contemporary American culture, gender roles are despised by the younger generation because of the distinctions placed on them. This is the era of open-mindedness and self-expression and because of this individuals feel they should not be told what they can and cannot do based on their sex. There are now material things such as, clothes, shoes and perfumes that are considered unisex, males and females can now fight in wars and men are no longer fully needed to be the providers of their
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men is set as the norm according to the society. This concept of male is frequently being depicted in the media in the form of movies, novels and etc. The same thing goes for women, what if a woman wanted be a firefighter? Her coworkers would probably harass her. Society would tell her that she is going against her gender role. Society is teaching females the rules of social behavior and if you deviate from it there are consequences. All these
heterosexual norm. Traditionally, and across several cultures, homosexuality has been successfully discussed through normalizing the behaviour through heterosexual representation. Gender reversal or amplification of feminine qualities of male characters have often been means by which authors are able to subtly introduce the foreign idea of homosexuality and equate it to its more formal and accepted counterpart, heterosexuality. The works of Shakespeare and Li Yu have assisted in exposing homosexual relationships
attitudes, and values. Society constructs stereotypes, and limits gender roles, but each of these aspects differs in different communities. Different societies have developed specific gender roles to fit their community. Gender roles are stereotypes that were socially constructed so each role has a specific behavior. For example, if we compare a public high school to a Religious high school, we will see different sets of roles each gender portrays. Student’s behaviors are built in their communities and
opposite sex. Homosexuality is a very controversial issue among many individuals. The controversy lies in the way people think, feel, and understand human sexuality. Therefore, homosexuality becomes controversial for all types of people, from those who are heterosexual to bisexual and even those who are homosexual. Emotion drives the way people interpret different phenomena, and those emotions, in turn, create and shape individual attitudes for understanding human nature. This fact creates an interesting
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