One of Kimmel’s main points in chapter 4 is the M-F test. Which was created in the 1930s, by Terman and Miles. Their main objective was to codify masculinity and femininity into their basic traits, attitudes, and behaviors. The result was that gender identity soon became associated with these perceived masculine or feminine traits. He then goes on to explain the ridiculous scoring method, the questions which to us now, seem to not even point at masculine or feminine traits.
This thought has never crossed my mind before because I, myself, took ‘gender’ as a natural phenomenon. Gender is a product of socialization. It is cultural roles and personality characteristics that are labeled appropriate for men and women (lecture). Gender facilitates normative accountability: “structures that are in place to “correct” people’s gender non-conforming behaviours” (Johnson). Normative accountability and gender expectations were big issues children in the film faced.
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
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.
There are feminine stereotypes, such as having a slim waist and being ladylike, that makes me self conscious of my pudge and burping in public. However, there are those that I partake in because I like to, not because society demands it, like wearing makeup and dresses every now and then. Due to the positive role models I’ve had growing up, I learned that I don’t need to conform to traditional gender roles and I don’t expect others too. Girls and boys should be given equal opportunities and arbitrary activities shouldn’t be assigned to a specific gender. If a boy wants to wear makeup, he should be free to do so without judgement, and if a girl wants to play football, she should be able to do so as well.
“Doing Gender” by West and Zimmerman is similar to Butler’s “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution.” However, West and Zimmerman build upon the ideas that Butler puts forth. Butler focuses on gender as performance and how gender is made up by specific actions. While West and Zimmerman take the concept of performance and constitution and applies it to a new concept, the sex category and how sex categories and gender are intertwined in society. Sex categories and gender, according to West and Zimmerman, are different and interconnected.
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 phrase gender role is concept of society that defines what behavior society expect form men and women and how they are suppose to act in society . While evolving, what kind of passive and active toys are allowed to play with? What kind of clothes and colors to wear? Unaware route of molding a person to fit in with society 's norms and values is called sociologists as "socialization." Many think that gender stereotyping in form of clothes, toys or books or along with other aspects, teach a children rising up to fit into conventional gender roles.
In 1980, the progress of gender dysphoria made its first appearance in the DSM-III (Bryant 1). Gender dysphoria is described as, “A marked incongruence between one’s experience/expressed gender and assigned gender” (American Psychiatric Association 452). Early sexologists Havelock Ellis, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, and Magnus Hirschfeld shaped medical and psychiatric thinking about gender nonconformity dating back to the 19th century. Gender nonconformity became an amplified interest in the 20th century which led to the shaping of the diagnostic terms by psychiatrists and other medical and mental health personnel who were involved in gender nonconformity. “As research about gender incongruence/gender dysphoria increased, the terminology, placement and criteria were reviewed in successive versions of the DSM.
The prevalence of the controversial topic of gender and sex has been increasing within society, therefore making it more essential to address. Through the process of exploration, it is necessary to acknowledge that individual's perceptions and behaviors that are judgmental to queers can make a detrimental effect to their quality of life. It is fundamental to realize that it is unrealistic to judge others based on their sex given at birth as it does not always convey the individuals full story of their identity, give an accurate representation of who they are, or indicate a choice they made. Individuals do not deserve to be oversimplified or predetermined, but rather their individuality should be embraced and accepted. An analysis of the development
In our society exists another social norm, a code called, “Behavior Code”. Even at this moment, many idiosyncratic babies with different characteristics are born around the world. In their adolescence, however, many boys and girls question themselves whether their behaviors are in accordance with the behavior code. For instance, some girls grow into tomboys — “girls start wearing stylish clothes and watching from the sidelines as the boys acted and spoke” (Pipher, p1). But, unfortunately, at some points of their adolescence, those idiosyncratic girls lose thier authenticity and become a part of the society, behaving correspondingly to the behavior code.
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.
Transgender people challenge the binary and refuse to conform to the norms. Kimberly Tauches writes in her essay “Transgendering” that “transgender is an umbrella term that is used to describe a diverse group of people who intentionally ‘mismatch’ their sex and their gender identity or behavior” (Tauches 173). This calls into account the previous argument on what difference should it make to feminism whether gender differences are natural or socially constructed. Everything in our culture has been gendered, from clothing, films, furniture, and even cars, this is due to the binary categories. “A person is seen as fitting into one and only one gender, masculine or feminine, but never both masculine and feminine.
Like other social constructs, gender is closely monitored by society. Practically everything in society is assigned a gender—toys, colors, clothes and behaviors are some of the more obvious examples. Through a combination of social conditioning and personal preference, by age three most children prefer activities and exhibit behaviors typically associated with their sex. Accepted social gender roles and expectations are so entrenched in our culture that most people cannot imagine any other way. As a result, individuals fitting neatly into these expectations rarely, if ever, question what gender really means.
We need to realize that gender constructs are also racist and sexist and that trans women are also women, anyone who chooses to be a woman inspite of their assigned gender at birth is a woman and should be accepted .One shouldn’t have to satisfy the society’s ideas of feminism in order to identify as a woman . The change needs to start from our homes, so as a whole, the new generation of males and females grow up in a world where patriarchy/ matriarchy is non- existent and where men and women, have a freedom to express themselves in any way and without the fear of offending people just because they don't satisfy gender
