Middle Sexes Analysis

In the United States, it is most commonly taught that there are two genders: male and female. However, the 2005 documentary Middle Sexes challenges that idea by looking into the cultures of other countries throughout the world. While a large portion of the United States population thinks that non-cisgender and queer people are unnatural or freaks, that opinion is not global. Many people who follow Christianity in the United States find it morally offensive to be anything but straight and cis, while many other religions and cultures embrace non-binary and queer people as the doing of their god. Middle Sexes looks into the differences between the North American social standards for gender and how they are clash with other cultures’ beliefs. The

On the topic of gender, he believes that we are constantly trying to give the best impression of our gender, and we form our gender on a daily basis. Goffman calls this “impression management.” He also believes that our identity is formed through our day-to-day interactions, so if someone was to question my gender (which has happened in the past), then I would, in turn, question my gender. Though I believe that at least some part of what Goffman is saying is true, authors Don Zimmerman and Candace West argue against his theory. In their collaborative work “Doing Gender,” the authors present the idea that others’ opinions of an individual’s gender, and which gender they see that individual as has nothing to do with one’s display of

He wore clothes marketed towards boys to school. However, children still questioned his gender. This could be due to the highness of his voice or the toys that he played with, I don’t really know. But these kids’ questions did bother him. He didn’t want to answer them, and he was convicted in that fact. It could be that he doesn’t honestly know that he is a boy or a girl, or that he knew and just didn’t want to answer, but there was an emotional reaction to the question, which in my opinion, is what Goffman was trying to