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The effect of gender stereotyping on women
The effect of gender stereotyping on women
The effect of gender stereotyping on women
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In November 19, 2016, Alberta Canada, a mother was ripped away from full custody over her four-year-old child because authorities found her guilty of child neglect for allowing her child to wear the opposite gendered clothing. This article was posted on The Guardian by Ashifa Kassam and quickly made headlines in the media. According to Kassam, Susan Smith said she gave birth to a male but soon after the child turned two it began to identify as female. At first, the child was questioning why it had a penis, and as any parent would, Smith explained that because you were born a boy you had a penis. This greatly unsettled the child to the point of the child waking up screaming, “Mom, I don’t want to be a boy…I’m going to cut off my penis, I want my penis off.” This alarmed Smith and immediately she sought help from professionals who she hoped would guide her and her child. Professionals emphasized that the child might be diagnosed with a condition called gender dysphoria, “a condition that causes a person to experience extreme distress because of a disconnect between their birth sex and gender identity” (Kassam, The Guardian). Smith took this into account and decided to support her child in every way that she could and with the …show more content…
By definition, gender binary is a concept that portrays only two anatomical options for humans-male or female. This concept of gender binary is an important angle in this paper. In most western cultures, only two genders are acceptable, ruling out all other gender possibilities. If society has adapted in a way that discards all other gender possibilities other than male or female, a much greater issue is at stake. Allowing only two gender leads to a gender identity crisis within individuals which can lead to emotional and physical damage (Transgender Guidelines,
In today’s society, it can be argued that the choice of being male or female is up to others more than you. A child’s appearance, beliefs and emotions are controlled until they have completely understood what they were “born to be.” In the article Learning to Be Gendered, Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell- Ginet speaks out on how we are influenced to differentiate ourselves through gender. It starts with our parents, creating our appearances, names and behaviors and distinguishing them into a male or female thing. Eventually, we grow to continue this action on our own by watching our peers. From personal experience, a child cannot freely choose the gender that suits them best unless our society approves.
Gibson, B., & Catlin, A.J. (2011). Care of the Child with the Desire to Change Gender-Part 1.
“It’s a girl!” or “It’s a boy!” is typically the first thing parents hear after the birth of a child. This simple statement of fact sets the groundwork for every interaction they will have with their daughter or son, and for every experience that child will have throughout her or his life. Gender identity—the private experience of being female or male—forms a core part of one’s sense of self (Welker). The nature of this private experience is enormously influenced by what we are taught it means to be a girl or a boy, and these lessons are typically fraught with instances of gender bias—what Beverly Stitt, author of Building Gender Fairness in Schools, defines as “a set of beliefs or attitudes that indicates a primary view or set of expectations about peoples’ abilities and interests according to their sex” (Stitt 3). We are educated in this way first by our family members and then, beginning at a very tender age, by the mass media.
The concept that gender is limited strictly to two categories, male and female, has been around since the beginning of mankind. The notion, also known as gender binarism, states that “human beings are by nature either male or female” (Shalko). In past societies, people have followed this idea of only two genders; however, in more recent years, people have uncovered a whole new variety of gender identities. This concept is called gender fluidity; it is the idea that gender has no boundaries that prevent people from expressing who they really are. In today’s world, gender is a touchy subject to speak or write about. Many people are unaccepting of the idea that there are more than two genders. It goes against everything they have ever learned.
"A lot of people see gender as very one-sided, girl or boy, but in reality, even the choices of one, the other, both, or neither just don't feel right.” Many people don’t realize that there are more gender identities than just “male” and “female.” In June 2016, The Williams Institute at UCLA estimated that about 1.4 million US adult’s genders don't align with the one they were assigned at birth. One can identify as the opposite gender from their assigned sex, as no gender, as both, or as a unique identity not so easily categorized.
Diamond, M. & Sigmundson K. (1997). Sex Reassignment at Birth: A Long Term Review and Clinical Implications. Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 1: 3-4
A 9 year old boy who likes to be called T is transgender and he made his own decision. Her parents let her do what she wanted by letting her play with barbies and wear makeup. Her parents thought T was going through a stage so they did not worry about it too much. Then it became repetitive where T wanted to begin wearing dresses and skirts everyday. Her parents googled transgender children so they could see if that was what was happening to their child. One day her mom asked her “are you a girl or a boy?” And T responded “I'm a girl” (Kohli). At that point her mom and dad knew that their little boy was now there little girl. They went to the school and talked with her principal about the change. Her parents knew that their would be some bullying because their daughter had boy body parts. T did not care. “She is on the volleyball team and has a poster above her bed of the college where she wants to play” says Kohli (Kohli). T loves volleyball so much that she can recite volleyball rankings by heart. Volleyball runs in her family and she wants to be a volleyball player like her mom and sister. When she would go shopping as a toddler for Halloween she would always want to be a cheerleader or a fairy. She always would go to friends houses and play in toy kitchens or dress up. T told her mom through quivering lips “I wanted to be a girl one mama” (Kohli). Her parents would do some research when T went to bed, about transgender
In today’s evermore politically correct society, the term transgender is loaded with various meanings and implications. The inability for a consensus to form as to universal meaning stems from various interest groups laying claim to the significance of the term. For instance, the term ‘transgender’ is often interchanged with ‘transsexual’ or ‘transvestite.’ The two conditions are wholly different separate from transgender. For the purposes of this paper, Andrew Solomon’s definition will suffice: “The term transgender is an encompassing term that includes anyone whose behavior departs significantly from the norms of the gender suggested by his or her anatomy at birth. The term transsexual usually refers to someone who has had surgery or hormones to align his or her body with a nonbirth gender” (Solomon, 2012, pg. 599). It is helpful to know what the key differences between the terms transsexual and transgender. A person who is transsexual is someone who has gone through the process of changing their physical sex from the sex they were born with to the desired sex. A transsexual person could be someone who has met the criteria for the DSM-5 diagnosis of gender dysphoria and physically transitions so their inner-self matches their physical body thereby erasing the dysphoric state. Although the term transsexual falls under the umbrella of transgender, it is important to distinguish the two terms.
One in every 2,000 babies born every year are neither male nor female, they are what is known as hermaphrodites. These children and their families are forced into a life of hardship and encounter many conflicts, which need to be addressed. Should the parents choose the assignment of the sex to a newborn child and subject them to a life of surgery and doctor visits? There are 100 to 200 pediatric surgical reassignments every year. Many of these children are subjected to doctor visits for the rest of their childhood. Worst of all, many of these children find themselves resembling or identifying with the gender opposite of that which their parents chose for them.
Determining whether to divulge the gender of a child should be a personal choice. Society should not dictate whether one chooses to disclose the sex of their child. At conception, the gender is determined by chromosome characteristics and it will be the male (male semen) that dictates whether the baby will be a boy or girl. Nowhere in any literature that has been read or published that it states that “society” is the determining factor whether a girl or boy will be conceived. Society suggests that knowing the gender is routine, but what may be considered routine for some is not necessarily customary for all. If one chooses to stray away from what is considered to be “normal” it poses or present an issue. Individuals are instantaneously met with opposition or back lash due to nondisclosure of the sex of their child whether it is unborn or born. A typical argument would be as to what color clothing to bring for the unborn or born child, should one bring pink or blu...
In this paper I will examine different psychological theories on binary gender identity and diverse gender identity. My intention is not to argue which set of theories is more accurate but more to provide information and let the reader decide for themselves in the light of their own experiences what theory makes the most sense to them. The psychologically charged debate over gender identity and its presence in society has taken the form of intuitions because of social necessity. On one side, diverse gender identity argues that traditional binary gender norms are no longer relevant nor an accurate reflection of the society that we live in today. The other side argues the more traditional concrete male/female gender identifications are paramount
The sex and gender binary is a socially-constructed classification of sex and gender into two distinct and biological forms of masculine and feminine. The binary is a restricting concept that enforces the ideology that solely two genders exist—it is a social boundary that limits people from exploring gender identity or mixing it up (Larkin, 2016). As Mann depicts it, the binary constrains us to take on one gender identity, and to follow through with the expected roles assigned to that gender. The implications are that it compels people to fit into the binary and follow the patriarchal, heteronormative traditions of society (Mann, 2012). However, the binary was not always so clear-cut, but certain concepts from scientific research such as the
As a child grows and conforms to the world around them, they go through various stages, one of the most important and detrimental stages in childhood development is gender identity. The development of the meaning of a child’s gender and gender can form the whole future of that child’s identity as a person. This decision, whether accidental or genetic, can affect that child’s lifestyle views and social interactions for the rest of their lives. Ranging from making friends in school all the way to intimate relationships later on in life, gender identity can become an important aspect to ones future endeavors. It is always said that boys and girls are complete opposites as they grow.
The complexities of gender identity extend far beyond its definition—gender refers to the socially constructed roles assigned to biological sex. Non-binary gender identity, also referred to as being transgender, is a complex and highly misunderstood concept. Transgender people are typically born with male or female anatomy but from a young age feel born in the incorrect body. Someone who was born of the female sex may identify as a man, and therefore they consider themselves of a transgender. Aside for experts in the academic fields of gender and sexuality, few professionals who encounter cases of complex gender identities are prepared for what it entails. Specifically, cases of young transgender children are often deemed illegitimate simply
For a pregnant couple, it is common to be asked what gender your child is going to be: “are you having a boy or a girl?” However, what happens when it is difficult for a child to be classified in a specific gender? It is known that the XX chromosomes make up the genetic blueprint for a female and XY chromosomes make up the blueprint for a male. However, several people have not been identified as either a XX or a XY child. The condition “hermaphroditism”, commonly known as intersex, is the condition where a baby is “born with ambiguous genitalia…abnormally developed genitals that do not clearly identify the child as male or female” (Switzer 67). Thus, intersex people have been coined with the chromosomes XXXY due to uncertainty of which category they belong to. Usually with this condition, the baby would either have an abnormally large clitoris, an abnormally small penis, or both. Hermaphroditism, which falls under the “diagnosis of Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD), affects 1 in 2,000 children each year” (James). A common resolution is for the parent to choose the gender of the child, have the child undergo corrective surgery, and proceed to rear the child in the role of the selected gender. However, it has been argued that this method negatively affects the child both physically and psychologically. So, should parents be able to choose the gender for an intersex child? Some people might support the idea of parents choosing a child’s gender since it can be seen as a cultural aspect of their family and because parents have the freedom of choice. However, it is unreasonable and immoral for a parent to do so as it causes the child to enter into a struggle of self-identity, it does not allow the child to decide on having reconstru...