Identity is most clearly defined as a person 's own sense of self; their personal sense of who they are. Every individual has to start somewhere, and the beginning looks different for each person. Many start to question gender in a conscious way, while many others have tussled with it for years or decades. Masculinity and femininity are two terms, we hear in our every day-to-day life. “Gender is such a familiar part of daily life that it usually takes a deliberate disruption of our expectations of women and men are supposed to act to pay attention to how it is produced” (Judith Lorber, “The Social Construction of Gender,” in Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, Women’s Lives, p. 65).
A decisive factor that has helped me with my own gender identity is; by
When I saw the colors pink and blue, it did not take me long to realize this is what separated boys and girls. Girls dressed in pink symbolized femininity, boys dressed in blue symbolized masculinity. Growing up, I was given toys that were specifically designed for female use like: Barbie dolls, Cabbage Patch Kids, cooking toys and make-up to play with. To answer the question of my racial/ethnic background has come into play in shaping my gender identity, I believe so. “Everyday gendered interactions build gender into the family, the work process, and other organizations and institutions, which in turn reinforce gender expectations for individuals” (Judith Lorber, “The Social Construction of Gender,” in Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, Women’s Lives, p. 66). I was raised in an environment that my parents and any other members of my family treated me like a female; ergo, I acted like a typical societal
My parents gave the same lectures to my brother that I had gotten as a kid. However, I have found the distinction between what was allowable for my brother, and what was allowable for me (based on our gender) to be unfair. Like many teenagers, I was given a curfew; I was unable to stay out late past nine. If I was out later than that, I would get notifications from my panicked mother. Now that my brother has grown into a teenager, he’s able to stay out late until midnight. Sure, he does receive notifications from my mother. However, I would say as for who got the better deal (in terms of the advantages of having more personal freedom), the odds clearly favored my
The creation of an identity involves the child's understanding of the public disposition of the gender normalities, and the certain gender categories that
I was born on March 08, 1995 at roughly seven pounds. When I was extracted from my mother, I was given the gender of a male with the appearance of my male body parts. My mother used to say to me, growing up as a toddler that I had so much hair like former American Football player, Troy Polamalu. People had always assumed that I was a girl, therefore my mother had to correct them and say, “No, he is a boy”. Growing up a toddler, I was always wearing some type of jeans with a sports shirt and shoes that were mostly colored black or blue. As I grew older, I gained interest in baseball, wrestling, and the military. I always wanted to play with action figures such as GI Joe and wrestling celebrities in addition to imaginary flying in an apache helicopter or taking command in a battle tank. Advancing to my pre-teen years, I wanted to play baseball, which is considered to be mostly a boy sport. It was at this moment, that my gender was a boy. Progressing to my teen years, I started to observe my father and learn my gender on his roles as the man in our family. I noticed that my father was already taking charge in the house and giving me orders that I needed to complete. Going through middle school, most boys had some type of sports backpack while the girls
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.
The focus of this week assignment is to discuss the interactions of gender, ethnicity, and identity development. In addition I will discuss the role of stereotyping and how it influence male and female gender identity. In conclusion I will discuss the impact that ethnicity and gender have on children when it comes to choosing between the ethnic identity of their family of origin and their culture.
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.
People tend to be less conscious of how they daily use their bodies to express gender and how their bodies generate their identities. Dieting, makeup, nail polishing, wearing high-heels and body movements are one of the examples of the body self-disciplines, which the female unconsciously performs as a part of their gender identity every day. Foucault wrote that identity is a form of subjugation and exercising the power upon individual or society. As a part of identity, gender identity can be considered as a limitation of personal freedom, which prevents individual from moving outside fixed gender boundaries. The society establishes gender boundaries on different social levels according to existing norms and values prescribed to masculinity and femininity. Disciplining as “a political anatomy of detail” is one of the hidden mechanisms of power, which society uses to form ‘docile
Basically, what one needs to know before proceeding to read through this analysis of gender development is that gender identity refers to “one’s sense of oneself as male, female, or transgender” (American Psychological Association, 2006). When one’s gender identity and biological sex are not congruent, the individual may identify as transsexual or as another transgender category (cf. Gainor, 2000). Example, Jennifer in the book, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, who brought us through the struggle of living a transgendered life from start to finish. Also, the formation of gender identity is influenced by social factors, such as family, friends, the environment, etc. For example, fathers tend to be more involved when their sons engage in gender-appropriate activities such as playing baseball or soccer rather than wanting to become a dancer or a cheerleader.
identity or roles. Gender expression may or may not conform to a person’s gender identity.
Through halfway of the adolescent stage, my knowledge of genders started to widen as my social network and ties expanded through school. I met several people of my age who associated themselves other than the gender of man and woman. As time passed by and my connection with an individual who considers themselves as non-binary deepened. Through the experiences told and the changes that have occurred, it has made me more aware of the fact that gender does not matter. People are equal and it should not matter if someone is a boy, girl, or neither. Everyone has the same ability to work towards a certain goal or dream that they want to achieve regardless of
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
The terms sex, gender and sexuality relate with one another, however, sociologists had to distinguish these terms because it has it’s own individual meaning. Sex is the biological identity of a person when they are first born, like being a male or female. Gender is the socially learned behaviors and expectations associated with men and women like being masculine or feminine. Gender can differentiate like being a man, woman, transgender, intersex, etcetera. Sexuality refers to desire, sexual preference, and sexual identity and behavior (1). Sexuality can differentiate as well like being homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, etcetera. Like all social identities, gender is socially constructed. In the Social Construction of Gender, this theory shows
What is identity? Identity is an unbound formation which is created by racial construction and gender construction within an individual’s society even though it is often seen as a controlled piece of oneself. In Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’, Tatum asserts that identity is formed by “individual characteristics, family dynamics, historical factors, and social and political contexts” (Tatum 105). Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’” creates a better understanding of how major obstacles such as racism and sexism shape our self identity.
There were several instances in my childhood when my Family had a direct influence on me according to my gender. Right from birth my role as an individual was predestined. The gifts I was to receive at a baby shower were all based around my gender. It would have been unheard of for someone to give me pink clothes or flowery decorations at my baby shower. Young boys have always been told not to cry when they fall and scrape their knees. Comments like these from family members definitely had an impact on my aspirations. My dream to be a fire fighter was most likely related to those comments to not cry. Being a fire fighter would definitely be an occupation where stress would be high. If I could be a fire fighter I would definitely have the opportunity to prove to my parents that I could be strong and not cry. The media was also a factor that had a large impact on my childhood ambitions. Television is a great example of this. In almost all Television shows the gender roles are very prominent. Things such as male characters being strong or in positions of authority are prevalent. Even th...
The family is a very important factor in defining our gender and our identity. Our gender starts to define as soon as we are born. If a boy is born In a family, the family members would buy toys like monster trucks, race cars, action heroes. and toys that inspire male behavior. As opposed to if a girl is born, the family members would buy dolls, and cute dresses, and stuffed bears.
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