Understanding gender and sexuality as socially constructed categories is important because it helps people understand a certain group. Gender and sexuality is expressed in many categories and people must be careful not to mix people in the wrong category. Simply because one expresses their sexuality different from another person does not mean they should be bashed or treated differently. Sometimes it does not matter what you identify as, who you identify with, people will always judge you, so its best people just do what they want. Putting gender in a category helps others not stereotype them as something they are not. In class, we learned about different types of groups, and how they are viewed from the world perspective. The importance of the gender and sexuality being socially constructed does matter, and it let people choose their identity. In class, we learned about so many different types of gender groups, and one was transgender. Transgenders people are usually people who do not identify with their gender, and prefer the opposite sex. Most of the time people bash transgender people because they feel as if they are breaking the rules. People on the outside judge them because they chose to be …show more content…
If you’re a female and you do a lot of boyish things then you are a tomboy, and if you are a boy and you like female clothing, then you are a fag. From the reading, “The Social Construction of Gender”, it breaks down gender. Before you are even born you are portrayed to be a certain gender already. You will be told you must wear this because you are a boy, or girl. According to the author, “Gendered patterners of interaction acquired additional layers of gendered sexuality, parenting and work behavior in childhood, adolescents and adulthood” (Lorber, 142). Your choice of being masculine or feminine or what you want to identify as is already chosen after you are
My one question that I kept coming back to is, “is gender really such a big deal?” I’ve never felt like I completely fit into either of the boxes, and I’m okay with that. I don’t need a permanent label either, I’m a female but I’m also just me. Why does my gender have to define who I love, how I dress, or how I speak?
The Impact of Culture and Gender Roles Heather Richardson-Barker Drexel University Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender, as well as the influence of family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role. The term Gender, as defined by the United Nations, includes the psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female or male. It further defines acceptable
Transgender Athletes in Sports Sports have been around for thousands of years. Everyone has been involved in sports in some way. Whether it be in gym class, in highschool, with friends, professionally, or in the stands. Some sporting events are even viewed as national holidays, though not federally recognized, such as the Super Bowl (“The Super Bowl” par. 6). Overall, sports are fun to play and entertaining to watch.
Gender like race, is socially constructed. In other words, Guest notes (Guest 2013) that Family, friends, the media, doctors, educational institutions, religious communities, sports, and law all enculturate us with a sense of gender that becomes normative and seems natural. We as humans learn to behave as a man or woman and to recognize behaviors as masculine or feminine within a cultural context. For example, you are brought up by family members that confines you to a specific gender category. Over the span of our lives, we accept those general norms.
Because of their relative invisibility in public life, many people have a poor grasp on what being transgender really is. To be fair, this is a complicated issue, encompassing its own subsection of the LGBT+ community with its own unique groups. To put it simply, a transgender person is somebody who identifies as a gender other than the one written on their birth certificate. This often means identifying as the opposite sex, but some transgender people live in between the gender binary or outside it altogether. Typically, transgender people live express their identity in different ways: dressing as their preferred gender, going through hormone therapy to alter their bodies, undergoing sex reassignment surgery to change their genitals, or a
Ey found that not only are ey examples of gender as a spectrum but that ey are not alone. It showed that a person can possess as much or as little from either the female or male characteristics to be themselves. It shows that “there are differences among these beings we call men and women, but the differences themselves don’t contain a specific meaning” (Nealon and Giroux 182). This highlights the difference between sex and gender in the way that sex is something assigned at birth and gender is something learned. It is obvious that the way in which these ideas are taught makes it seem that there are only two options when it comes to gender but, there are numerous ways in which one can identify as.
The question about whether or not an individual’s identity is innate or acquired, has always been a debatable issue. Some people argue that gender identity is a result of the social context they live in, while others believe a person is born into it. Gender identity is a “person 's subjective sense of themselves as masculine or feminine and is exhibited by the degree to which they act upon their gender roles” (Whalen & Maurer-Starks, 2008). However, based on the current society people live in, it is more likely that an individual’s identity, such as their sexuality, education, and social status are acquired as a result of the social context they live in.
Chemical/hormonal, genetic, and environmental all effect thoughts on being transgender. Everyone should remain the sex that they were born as in my opinion. The word hate is often used everywhere, and when it is, it is generally used as a substandard. On the other hand, there is love, an intense feeling of deep affection towards a person, place, or thing.
The article is based on how social construction theory is based on the idea of “natural,” rather than based on invariant result of the body, biology, or innate sex drive. Whiles essentialism in the study of sexuality as believe that a human behavior is “natural,” that is predetermined by genetic, biology, or physiological mechanism that doesn’t change. The perspective of moving away from essentialist framework that challenged the “natural” status, suggesting that human’s gender and sexuality is called into question. In the article, “Social Construction Theory: Problems in the History of Sexuality,” Carole Vance argues that social construction violates idealistic of ideology, and raise status question.
Gender is something that is brought to the attention of people well before people are even brought into the world. Take for instance, when a woman finds out that she is pregnant and is about to have a child. The first question that that women is asked is “What are you having?” In doing this we are automatically emphasizing the importance of being able to identify whether or not to buy “boy” things or “girl” things. As a society we deem it important for each sex to practice a set of “norms” of how to behave via that sex.
What pieces of clothing are for boys and for girls? Alex and his friends also talk about how being a guy is “working out”, “not showing any emotions” and “not playing with gender”. Why are these traits correlated with masculinity? It is perceived odd for girls to display these characteristics. They are followed with labels such as lesbian, or tomboys.
There is much speculation on gender identity and the gender roles that surround them society views that men should be manly and brave while girls must be scared and timid while other people view that this notion is not right. Just because people are born into these genders does not mean that they must conform to how society views them they should them be able to be who they want to without the
The term “transgender” is a label that was never used until the mid 1960s. According to history, “Psychiatrist John F. Oliven of Columbia University coined the term transgender in his 1965 reference work Sexual Hygiene and Pathology (“Transgender”)”. When a transgender person desires to be the opposite gender, they may get an invasive surgery to fully transition into their new identity. Multiple transgender people have started to announce the having of the surgery has destroyed their future (Bindel). People have the right to be whatever gender they aspire to be, but transgender people should do public activities and should stay grouped with their biologically assigned sex.
If you went up to a transgender person and asked them what it was like to be transgender the answer you will get would be similar across the board. Being transgender means that you were “born in the wrong body”. “Nonheterosexual adolescents are vulnerable to health risks including addiction, bullying, and familial abuse.” (Himmelstein and Brückner, 2011). Not only will these individuals be subjected to torment in their school, work and personal lives they are also more susceptible to addiction and abuse within their families.
I believe that people are allowed to be whatever they want to be within reason, so in that way I believe that there could be more than just two genders. I also believe that there is a difference between gender and sex, because sex is biological, and gender could be viewed as more of a cultural standard that has been created around people’s physical sex. Though I also believe that people should be allowed to believe what they want, so people should be able to think that gender means male and females, and other people can believe that it means more than that, and that both definitions should be respected even if they aren’t both believed by all. I have grown up with many friends that have identified as different genders than their biological sex, or have fallen in love with people that are outside of the male and female categories, and I respect their lives and decisions. So the way I use the word gender isn’t the way most people think of it due to my experiences and the way I was raised, to be open to new