The Influence Of Gender Nonconformity

Gender refers to the physically and socially constructed characteristics of women and men (World Health Organization), in which most people consider male and female as the only sex. Recent years has seen an increase in LGBTs, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. People are becoming more acceptable and open-minded to people who are not of either male or female. Gender fluidity are nowadays more widely accepted, with gender roles being as expectations rather than rules, and the general concept that your sex, gender, clothes, and hobby does not define you or limit your options, there is a less certain definition of ‘Man’ and ‘Woman’. For most people, we are taught to behave in a certain way according to our own gender, the

Indeed, it will be difficult in life as the society generally does not accept gender nonconformity, from hostile glances to harassment and even abuse. Those with gender nonconformity may tend to question themselves whether their preference and orientation is wrong and would have a higher level of mental stress. Since what we wear and the way we express ourselves will be judged and criticized, I would feel uneasy about how I look and what I wear. As Simon (1998) has found, for example, that gay men and lesbians are “less liked” if they are perceived as unmasculine or unfeminine (as cited in Gordan & Meyer, 2007). People who are not living according to the social standard are more likely to be left out or victimized, as they are seen as abnormal or not fitting into the society. There are many cases of people with gender nonconformity being bullied or even murdered, this shows that they are more likely to become the target or being seen as weird or shameful. However, I personally see such as a matter of perspective and choice. People should be able to choose what they want to wear, how they act and to pursue what they enjoy, as long as it doesn’t cause actual harm to others it should be allowed. Even if they act non-concordance to their sex, there is no reason to treat them badly or eliminate their opportunities. According to the gender stereotype, there are certain things that differ for the two opposite sex. For interests and hobbies, boys are often encouraged to exercise and play video games, while girls are often encouraged to take up hobbies like drawing, dancing and playing instruments. For appearance, boys should have short hair and relatively sporty outfits, while girls should have long hair and dress up elegantly. These are all examples of behaviours that are considered as correct associated with the