Gender Identity

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Gender Identity

After reading through my gender log, during the past few weeks, I observed that many people are "trained" to determine their gender by their biological sex. Some of the people that I have observed and written about would probably never have doubted their sexual orientation. Others have definitely examined their sexuality. Whether this sexuality is male or female is entirely up to them. This is their true sexual identity. Still others that I noticed have actually convinced themselves, whether it is true or false that their biological gender is not, their true gender.

The people who seemed that they were completely sure that their gender was solely based on their biological sex, were "easy to identify" for me. These are the people we have been familiar with all of our lives. These people self-categorize themselves. By acting and dressing according to their gender assignment, these people gave me the impression that they ultimately know if they are male or female. I think that they truly believe, without ever questioning their sexuality that they were born either male or female. They act out their assigned gender roles. They either see their sexuality as, black or white, with no gray areas.

In my journal, I wrote about how I observed a man and a woman at a restaurant. The man automatically paid the bill. This is androcentric behavior. It is assumed in our society that the man should pay, although it is becoming more common for women to pick up the tab, or even them both. This is an example of people who believe that their biological gender is their true gender.

The second type of person, the person who may have at one time or another wondered whether or not they were "gay", is also pretty "easy to identif...

... middle of paper ...

... permissive society, as I observed people most were happy, some were flaunting it, and still others hid it. If behaving in the 'accepted' manner of the alternate sex is not illegal than why shouldn't someone have the option to try it? They don't feel that they have anything to be ashamed of so it does not bother them to hear obscene gender stereotypes such as "dike", or "queer". Sometimes men are feminine but are not "gay" at all. Different things make different people happy. "Gender is more than just sex", according to our text. Gender shouldn't determine how one may dress, speak, or their personal preferences, and comfort in your community that you want to live in. If one has a healthy respect then they become a well adjusted healthy individual. I think that in order to be content in life and be a well adjusted human, your gender identity needs to be satisfied.

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