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Concepts of gender identity
Concepts of gender identity
Concepts of gender identity
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The differences in behavior between men and women are not distinctive or entirely natural; some are imposed by society. From the moment your gender is revealed, society determined how your physical nature, emotions, and your character should take place in the world. I think gender is socially constructed in ways and gender identification comes from the way the general public treats one another. However, I do not accept the notation that if gender roles weren’t identified, men and women would be indistinguishable. Men and women are born with entirely different behavioral predispositions and genetic material. The brains of men differ from the brains of women in several ways. Men have larger brains with more neurons and women have a higher …show more content…
Have you ever been told you weren’t pretty enough or you were too tall, your feet and butt were too big, or you were ugly? Marge Piercy’s poem sheds a bright light on how differently women handle criticism and rejection. The poem really sadden me and it stroke me to my core. As a woman, I’ve been through puberty, acne, and poverty. While in grade school, my fellow class mates were so jaded and mean spirited with their words toward me. The same people who were calling me name where in the same situation as I. Piercy writes, “She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity. She went to and fro apologizing. Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.” It appears the young lady was happy with herself. She saw no flaws and was confident in her looks and intelligence. But it only takes one negative comment to override years of self-love. The young lady in the poem even apologized for being herself! How emotional crippling that must have been. She let a few nay sayers wreak havoc on her life and form that point on, she did whatever she thought would make the nay sayers approve of her. She sought their endorsement and no longer possessed any power within. Tragically, this did not end with a waltz to her bedroom. The lack of recognition and need to be desired ended up killing her. “In the casket displayed on satin she lay with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie. Doesn’t she look pretty? Everyone said” (Piercy). She changed her nose and fat legs and only in death did they see her beauty. This poem was few in words but spoke volumes about a woman’s mental state. Women are very in tune with their feelings and are willing to appease others, even if it means killing ourselves in the
In a world where many are led to believe that they fall short of what society depicts as “perfect”, it is still true that everyone is beautiful in their own way. There are even more demands on girls now a days than there has ever been before. Some may think they need to fit in, so they become someone they are not or they begin to act like a totally different person. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, illustrates society’s high and unrealistic expectations on the physical appearance of women, while failing to see that a woman’s self-esteem is at risk of being diminished.
In Marge Piercy’s, “Barbie Doll,” we see the effect that society has on the expectations of women. A woman, like the girl described in ‘Barbie Doll’, should be perfect. She should know how to cook and clean, but most importantly be attractive according to the impossible stereotypes of womanly beauty. Many women in today’s society are compared to the unrealistic life and form of the doll. The doll, throughout many years, has transformed itself from a popular toy to a role model for actual women. The extremes to which women take this role model are implicated in this short, yet truthful poem.
In the beginning, the “girlchild” being discussed is described as “healthy, tested intelligent,/ possessed strong arms and back,/ abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.” (lines 7-9) Yet throughout the poem, all that is pointed out is her fat nose and thick legs. As the poem progresses, she is told how to improve her flaws, through diet, exercise and acting dumb. By the end the girl commits suicide after exhausting her efforts to conform to society. The final lines show the people attending her funeral discussing how pretty she looks, emphasizing the idea that she finally achieved her “happy ending”. The poem as a whole demonstrates a type of satire called Juvenalian satire, which is a formal version in which the speaker (or writer) attacks the vices and error of society with contempt and indignation. Through Ms. Piercy’s use of description and words choice that implies contempt and sarcasm, the reader is able to identify how society’s standards for women’s looks greatly overshadow other talents and abilities they may have. It is demonstrated that if one is not skinny, and petite with perfect hair and a “turned up...nose” (line 21) then other traits such as intelligence, kindness, and strength are not worth
In Marge Piercy’s poem she states “ She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.” If a young lady possesses all of these things then why would she not feel that she was up to par? How could intelligence and capability not be enough for this girl who was obviously a well rounded individual? The idea of what her classmate thought about her appearance caused feelings of inferiority, because in our society everything truly seems to surround physical beauty. When you are beautiful you have more opportunities, you receive more attention, and it is suggested that you live a better life. Thi...
the poem then progresses to talking about how the baby when it grew up it was “was healthy,tested intelligent possessed strong arms and back … everyone saw a fat nose and fat legs” in this section of the poem we see how marge piercy tries to indicate that although this girl was “healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back” that is not what society saw in her all they saw was “a fat nose and fat legs”. In order for this girl to feel as though she is able to be accepted in the society that she lives in she decided to “cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up…. doesn't she look pretty everyone said consummation at last”. this lastly proves the toll that society continues to have on people especially women the girl in this poem decide to mutilate herself so that she could be accepted into the society where at the end it says that “doesnt she look pretty everyone said consummation at last” this shows the sickness that is society in this
In the beginning, there was man; at the same time (or shortly after, depending on who you ask) there was also woman. After those first men and those first women, there were more men and more women; evolving, shaping cultures, shaping practices, changing norms of work and of family size and of clothing. After hundreds upon hundreds of years, finally, gender began to change, too; the rigid lines between male and female behaviors started to blur, very slightly. As gender roles shifted, as the world got more progressive, as views of human sexuality evolved, people who understood gender not as a biological phenomenon but a cultural one felt safer to speak up; while being transgender was, and is, still not widely accepted and understood, it is significantly
Fashion is Damaging Women Fashion is a constantly changing industry; what is trendy one day is outdated the next. The 21st century has been a catalyst for a large movement in fashion. Paris, New York, and London are some of the main contributors to the fashion industry (“Fashion Capitals”). Along with being the main influences in fashion, they have significantly connected the world on a global level. Even on a local level, students and young adults indulge in fashion as a way to express themselves.
The human species is qualified as a man and women. Categorically, gender roles relative to the identifying role are characterized as being either masculine or feminine. In the article “Becoming Members Of Society: Learning The Social Meanings Of Gender by Aaron H. Devor, says that “children begin to settle into a gender identity between the age of eighteen months and two years (Devor 387). The intricate workings of the masculine and feminine gender roles are very multifaceted and at the same time, very delicate. They are intertwined into our personalities and give us our gender identities (Devor 390). Our society is maintained by social norms that as individuals, we are consciously unaware of but knowingly understand they are necessary to get along out in the public eye which is our “generalized other” and in our inner circle of family and friends which is our “significant others” (Devor 390). Our learned behaviors signify whether our gender
Author, Marge Piercy, introduces us to a young adolescent girl without a care in the world until puberty begins. The cruelty of her friends emerges and ultimately she takes her own life to achieve perfection in “Barbie Dolls” (648). At the time when all children are adjusting to their ever changing bodies, the insults and cruelties of their peers begin and children who were once friends for many years, become strangers over night caught in a world of bullying. A child who is bullied can develop severe depression which can lead to suicide; and although schools have been educated in recognizing the signs of bullying, there is an epidemic that has yet to be fully addressed within our schools or society.
Gender is a defining character trait in regards of mentality. It influences the way a person thinks, and evidently controls how a person navigates. And although there may be many different ways for
In “Barbie Doll,” by Marge Piercy, the speaker’s tone is remorsefully cautionary because she aims to protect females from the societal standards that caused the female subject of the poem to commit suicide. Early in the poem, the speaker illustrates the teen prior to her death: “She was healthy, tested intelligent, / possessed strong arms and back, / abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (7-9). Clearly, the girl had the potential to be very successful, as a result of her many natural gifts. However, she was constantly harassed and nagged because she had a “great big nose and fat legs” (6). Even though she had all the attributes of a very successful woman, she was still abused by her fellow classmates because she did not uphold the societal
Gender is not about the biological differences between men and women but rather the behavioral, cultural and psychological traits typically associated with one sex. Gender is socially constructed meaning it 's culturally specific, it 's learned and shared through gender socialization. What it means to be a woman or man is going to differ based on the culture, geographical location, and time. What it meant to be a woman in the US in the 19th century is different than what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. As cultures evolve over time so are the ideals of what it means to be man or woman.
When someone says ‘gender categorization and identity’, I think of the 1950’s and places where women aren’t worth as much as men. They hold some negative connotations for me, but they aren’t bad in their essence. Categorization is placing things into classes, to organize them. We categorize gender as children because of our culture. A doll is assessed as a girl because it wears a dress, yet it cannot be female. People are assigned the most basic identity in gender, no matter who they are. A black male would be categorized differently than a black female would be. Erving Goffman takes this debate a step further to say that some behaviors are “somehow inherent in their sex” (qtd. by Tannen; 63). Behaviors of men and women seem to fall into patterns with their corresponding genders. Not everyone fits into these neat little boxes. This does, however, show gender categorization. Gender identity is the opposite of gender categorization. This is the way we see
What makes us different? Where is the line between genders beyond sex organs? What factors play a part in sex-linked behaviors? (In our modern society, the differences between sexes is a lightly touched on subject because evidence of one being less than the other could greatly rupture our disputed ideas of equality between the sexes.)
The differences between women and men are not solely biological. Our society’s culture has established a set of unwritten cultural laws of how each gender should act, or in other words society has ascribed a stereotype. Men’s gender identity has been one of masculinity, and masculinity is defined as referring to a man or things described as manly. What does manly mean though? Is a male manly if he is “Mr. Fix-it”, or the jock, or if he sits on the couch on Sunday watching football? This latter statement is a stereotype of men, that has been around for decades, and is current as well, but starting with the 1960’s a man’s role started to change, despite the stereotype not changing to accommodate it. For the past 40 years one can see how men have taken on roles stereotypically ascribed to women, such roles including being the “stay-at-home mom”, which we can find an excellent example of in the 1980’s film “Mr.