However, in “The Cissy”, gender is portrayed in more of constructivist way gender is based on dominant gender norms. Western social constructions of gender identity and gender roles parallel this binary division: females are socialized to be expressive (e.g., warm, emotional, and gentle) and have a ‘‘feminine’’ appearance (e.g., long hair, and big breasts), whereas males are socialized to be instrumental (e.g., aggressive, competitive, and dominant) and have a ‘‘masculine’’ appearance (e.g., muscular and rugged) (Spence & Buckner, 2000, p. 45). In this episode, Cartman decides to expresses his gender identity as female, by placing a pink bow on his head and referring to himself by the girl name of Erica instead of Eric. A bow is for girls, pink is regarded as a girly colour and Erica is a girl name, therefore by …show more content…
In contrast, Wendy decides to wear a plain white shirt, jean jacket, shortened her hair and refer to herself as Wendyl, therefore by wearing boyish clothing and going by a boy name, she has met some of the expectations of what a boy should look like. Both Erica and Wendyl become accepted by their classmates and teachers as the gender they identify with, but they make no drastic changes to their physical appearance like in the case of Mr. Garrison undergoing a sex change. They did not need to change their biology to be viewed as male or female but expressed their transgender identity by what they wear.
In a similar a similar fashion, Mrs. Garrison, in “Mr. Garrison’s New Vagina,” prescribes to a constructivist portrayal of gender to further legitimize his status as a woman. Not only does