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How gender and sexuality are socially constructed
How gender and sexuality are socially constructed
Strengths and weaknesses of gender categorization
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Identity is simply said to be a person’s own sense of their self, their personal sense of who they are or the image they give out to the rest of the society. Gender, sex and sexuality play a big role in our identity today because it also determines who we really are, not only to ourselves but also to the society. In society today, gender is when a lady acts so feminine or when a man acts manly while sex is either a man or a woman and sexuality is one is attracted to their opposite sex. People mostly judge on how a person looks like and then decide their sex. In the article “Sex And Gender: What Is the difference? By Tim Newman, he talks about how the society classifies gender and sex and how they define it. He talks about the stereotype …show more content…
But then you can’t just determine one’s gender because of that, there are lots of girls who loves boys clothe or rather who loves being boyish, but are not gay and there are boys who actually behave feminine, have a tiny voice, loves to wear tight pants and they are still straight. In the reading “‘No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That!’: Parents’ Responses to Children’s Gender Nonconformity” by Emily Kane, she talks about how parents determine their kids ' gender and sex, how parents are the major teacher when it comes to gender and of their children, through clothes, toys and other things they purchase for them. They teach the girls to behave like girls, wear them pink dresses and the boy dresses as heroes: superman, batman… in this reading, some parents talked about how they are ok with their daughters behaving boyish and not ok with the boys playing with Barbie dolls. I ask what is the difference between boys and girls, there are so many things boys do and girls do too, there is Bill Gate and there is Christy Walton, there is Michael Jackson and there is Beyoncé, Messi and Alex Morgan. All I am saying is that everyone, men or women, boy or girl can also be great in life not minding their
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.
Identity is very important to each person, the meaning of the words and actions reflect to the person’s specification. There are multiple definitions of identity, more theorists have intense debates of the real basis of describing, whether it is ontological or metaphysical. Sex and gender are both formations of identifying a person. Additionally, sex was acquired from birth with “biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women” (World Health Organization, 2016). For example, male and female have different reproductive organs on the emphasis that women give birth and men do not. Moreover, the impression of having different features, man or woman comes with the completion of gestures, roles and appearance to be recognized
People often believe a person 's gender is based on their biological sex; biological sex is defined as the anatomy you are born with. Gender is the identity of a person based on their environment and how they have been influenced. Which shows that the biological makeup of a person and what gender they identify with has nothing to do with each other. Today gender and sexuality has become so fluent that gender role stereotypes should be changed too; over decades of powerful movements have been made to change stereotypes but the work is not over.
Gender differences are best understood as a process of socialization, to organize the roles each individual have to fulfil in society. From parents to teachers, religions, media, and peers; we observe and make sense of the behaviors exhibited by the people around us since young. We imitate and construct our own understanding of how to be of a particular gender, and of how to position ourselves. Parents socialize their children based on their biological sex, and this process starts as soon as the sex of the baby is known. Gender is hence socially constructed.
What is meant by Identity? Identity is a universal characteristic of which one can be recognized. One can be recognized by their race, gender, sexuality, family or social class. Identities shape a person that help them get through the journey to their dream and life. Factors like gender and family play a vital role in shaping a person’s individual identity. Gender identity is one’s perception of the activities that is “masculine” and “feminine.” Family identity can be seen in one’s family values and culture. Family plays a vital part in one’s gender identity. In today’s world, Identity is a major part of life, it defines who we are, where we come from. A person’s
Gender-identity is a person’s perception or identification of their gender, which does not always correspond with their physically gender assigned at birth. Some men identity as women, and some women identify as men. Some people believe they aren’t meant to be either gender; in this case they can identify as genderless, bigender, genderqueer, or whatever they choose. People who don’t identify with their assigned gender and identify as another are often times discriminated against. Some people don’t agree with people changing their gender because it wasn’t the way God intend them to be, and it isn’t natural. However, in this day and age, it has become more common to identify with a different gender and change your gender complete. Some people are very against this, while some people continue to fight for their gender identity rights.
It is as simple as a little girl who wants to play football and dress boyish, or a boy who wants to do ballet and wear nail polish. These children may not feel like the other gender yet they still express traits that do not fit their role. Today this is hardly shocking as parents are allowing for children to express themselves in ways they choose. This blending of gender roles has allowed us to see that you cannot place a gender on a job, a color, a toy, or a
“Gender identity“: an individual's self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological sex.[3]
Gender identity is the way someone perceives their gender. This perception is subjective in nature and can stray from the categories of just male and female, encompassing asexuality and transgendered perceptions as well. In his overview of gender identity and its differences from gender role and sexual preference, Dr. Shuvo Ghosh explains that “ This concept is inti...
Reading: “Gender identity refers to the subjective state in which someone comes to say I am a man, or I am a women. Gender role, is a learning and performing the socially accepted characteristics for a given sex”( Macionis, JJ & Plummer, K 2012, pp. 390-410) .
When we say that we “do gender”, we are referring to accepted role taken by both females and males in a society that comes to play in their everyday lives. West and Zimmerman stated that doing gender involves, “complex socially guided perceptual, interactional, and micro political activities that cast particular pursuits as expressions of masculine and feminine natures,” (West & Zimmerman, 2014, pg. 121). That had lead to individuals conforming to what society deemed as appropriate for their gender and the implications that follow. By characterizing sex, we are doing gender, which creates societal norms that influence both female and male behaviors. By classifying people as either male and female, we are solidifying the culturally agreed upon
Stereotypes refers to the perception aspect of feeling targeted towards a given group of people. It is the image society captures in their minds about other people. The problem, is that sometime that picture is not an accurate depiction of reality. Stereotypes hold the notion that people of a certain community or group have to exhibit specific traits, which in general has a huge influence on their behavior. Stereotypes in relationship with gender, refers to a specific trait to which males and females are attached to, and such traits define and differentiate these genders. Positive and negative traits are the most common, and the consequences of such traits cannot be established based on face value. Gender stereotyping is an issue in the roots
“Healthy Children”, an online website source by The American Academy of Pediatrics, comments that “As your child develops her own identity during these early years, she’s bound to experiment with attitudes and behaviors of both sexes, there’s rarely any reason to discourage such impulses” (“The American Academy”). The new myth will allow a boy to wear dresses every day or a girl to only wear sport shorts, without being judged or discriminated. Americans and kids will not be judged on gender rather by who they are and how they define themselves. In the future, children will not grow up thinking that there are qualities certain genders need to follow you can have any qualities, a boy will not be judged if he cries and being passionate will not be considered feminine. Americans will be able to establish their gender identity
Society has stamped an image into the minds of people of how the role of each gender should be played out. There are two recognized types of gender, a man and a woman, however there are many types of gender roles a man or a woman may assume or be placed into by society. The ideas of how one should act and behave are often times ascribed by their gender by society, but these ascribed statuses and roles are sometimes un-welcomed, and people will assume who they want to be as individuals by going against the stereotypes set forth by society. This paper will examine these roles in terms of how society sees men and women stereotypically, and how men and women view themselves and each other in terms of stereotypes that are typically ascribed, as well as their own opinions with a survey administered to ten individuals. What I hope to prove is that despite stereotypes playing a predominant role within our society, and thus influencing what people believe about each other in terms of their same and opposite genders, people within our society are able to go against these ascribed stereotypes and be who they want and it be okay. Through use of the survey and my own personal history dealing with gender stereotyping I think I can give a clear idea as to how stereotypes envelope our society, and how people and breaking free from those stereotypes to be more individualistic.
Gender identity is whether one feels as though they are a male or female. I never really thought about this much until I started taking classes that talked about gender identity. According to society, I am considered a female because my anatomical make up. However, I have never completely assumed the normal gender role or gender role stereotypes. As a child and teen, I loved to climb trees, lift weights, and play football. I did not enjoy playing with dolls, playing dress up or having tea parties, therefore, I did not do those things. I also was not sensitive like other females. As an adult, I do frequently adhere the gender role or stereotypes. Although, I still enjoy doing many male things like fishing, hiking, and camping but I also cook,