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Heterosexuality Vs Traditional Gender

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Men and women are pressured by society to be either masculine or feminine, respectively, and are confined by these expectations based on the added assumption that heterosexuality is normative and defines people’s identities. Girls grow up wanting to be princesses or nurses or ballerinas while boys are offered more “manly” professions such as doctor or lawyer or astronaut. From an early age, people are forced into either male or female outcomes in life, with women usually being subservient in a way to their male counter part, because that is what has come to be expected in heterosexual couples. Traditional gender roles have come to define not only the budding identities of young people but also the way people are expected to present themselves …show more content…

Oversexualized Halloween costumes might seem innocent and adventurous escapes from normality, but in truth they are a perpetuation of heterosexuality as the norm in society. Women are expected to be feminine and sexual, especially on Halloween, because men expect this in their female counterparts, while men are expected to be silly and masculine, since this is what men expect of other men. These gendered fashion statements only confine people to traditional gender roles and continue to preserve heterosexuality as the “normal” and …show more content…

In his work Dude, You’re a Fag: Adolescent Male Homophobia, C.J. Pascoe delves into the gender policing boys and men both deal out and accept in order to avoid the label of “fag” at all costs. In his essay, Pascoe describes a skit done by two boys, Brian and Dan, at River High, where they scare boys into being terrified of the term “fag” and the inherently homophobic picture that accompanies the term (Pascoe, 208). In addition to the homophobia it espouses, the term also serves to police male behavior into being more masculine, as the term “fag” can apply to a heterosexual male based on his behavior, and whether or not he is feminine at all. Since boys are taught from an early age, such as the River High skit, the term is something to be avoided at all costs, and the fact that the term can be used for incompetence or any behavior deemed unfitting of a perfect man, boys are often pressured to be perfect all the time or risk being policed by their own friends and

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Introduction The concept of sex and gender has been socially constructed for a very long period of time, and it was a lot stricter in the past. As author Zimmerman indicated in his reading “Doing Gender” that “Those of us who taught courses in the area in the late 1960s and early 1970s were careful to distinguish one from the other.” (Zimmerman 1987) Nowadays, we know that the society is gradually changing and people are becoming more open-minded than before.

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Gender roles influence every aspect of our lives from what we wear to the hobbies we keep to the way we behave every day. When a person steps out of the guidelines set forth by society for their gender there is often backlash of some sort, making it difficult for a person to escape the restraints of conformity. In today’s society we often mention the expectations and ideals for women to be and have but rarely do we touch on what is expected of men. They, like women, are required to act and appear a certain way. Men are thrown into roles that necessitate strength of character, body, and mind.

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According to Pascoe (2005) in the article “Dude You’re a Fag”, gender policing is the act of imposing or enforcing gender norms based on the individuals perceived sex. This argues that boys become masculine through the continual repudiation of a fag identity. Hegemonic masculinity is the proposed act of males in the dominate social position. The traits involving hegemonic masculinity are aggressive, confident, dynamic, devious, powerful, and strong. Boys at a young age are taught these hegemonic traits of masculinity to later be judge by these same traits.

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The article starts off with an quote that describes what it is going into, “The relationship between adolescent masculinity and sexuality is embedded in the specter of the ‘faggot.’ “(C.J. Pascoe). The article then expands on and challenges the relationship between masculinity and homophobia. Such as being called a “fag” is a direct insult to a male’s masculinity, and this form of gender harassment significantly differs from males to females. Also, being called a “fag” can be meant as a joke, and the person saying this to a person does not always intend to be homophobic.

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Today when boys are talking about sexuality, they are not talking about sex. The fag discourse refers to how boys “talk about heterosexuality reveals less about sexual orientation and desire than it does about the centrality of the ability to exercise mastery and dominance literally or figuratively over girls bodies.” (Pascoe, p.86-87). Many of the popular boys at River High are heterosexual and take part in the fag discourse. One of the the most popular seniors at River High was Chad.

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Heterosexual males strategizes their masculinity performance to impress both male and females, as a result, it rises their confidence. The article is reviewed in the context of supporting identity, gender and sexuality, and symbolic interactions. Firstly, the article is reviewed in the

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Dude, You’re A Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School Book Review The novel Dude, You’re A Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School by C.J. Pascoe revolves around the social construct of masculinity as shown in adolescents and teachers in the high school River High, where the author conducted roughly a year and a half of field work. Pascoe “ask[s] how heternomative and homophobic discourses, practices, and interactions in an American high school produce masculine identities.” (17) To examine these constructions, Pascoe focuses “on the gender and sexuality practices of students, teachers, and administrators, with an emphasis on school rituals.” (17) Using such approaches, Pascoe seeks to highlight the masculine identity by uncoupling

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I have realized my family’s social group has the wrong idea of sexuality. I know their view is sexist and is unfair to women, it hurts women emotionally, and it limits women; but I had never really thought about the one fact that our textbook states so clearly: “gender roles constrict boys more often than girls” (chapter 12). I know about the wage gap and the feminist movement and the search equality; but I had never thought about the unfair restrictions and expectation that come with being born male. Men are expected to be the strong provider because they are male. They are expected to protect their loved ones physically and financially.

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In today's society, certain genders are given different roles to play from day to day. Unfortunately, the traits associated with both males and females are a distortion of reality in which we are told to conform to either unrealistic or rigid expectations. For example, as we saw the documentary The Mask I Live In, in which, social standards for my gender (male) were revealed to me, I underwent a realization of the unrealistic standards and rigid roles we are set to play. In more specific detail, alike to excerpt, we read from Guyland by Michael Kimmel we learn that starting at a young age, during our formative years we are taught how to “Be a Man” and what society expects from us, which conceal our true masculinity; examples include: “Boys Don’t Cry, It’s Better to Be Mad than Sad, and I Don’t Stop to Ask for Directions.”

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This theme carried thoguhout all of the costumes; a normal looking costume for men, and an exteme sexualization for the womens costume. The only costume I was able to find that had some coverage to the body was the Rosy the Riviter outfit, which gives me a slight glimmer of hope in the Halloween industry. Growing up Halloween had always been an interesting experience for me. When I was younger I always bought princess outfits but as I grew older I wanted to dress as a harry potter himself or the grim reaper. My parents never cared what I wore as a transitioned from Halloween to Halloween, but it was in fact my two older brothers who gender policed me and told me I shouldn’t be wearing those costumes.

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C.J. Pascoe, in her book Dude, You’re a Fag, argues that heterosexuality and dominant masculinity are inextricably linked. In order for boys to assert their masculinity, they must comply with the social processes that Pascoe calls “compulsive heterosexuality.” Compulsive heterosexuality builds on the concept of compulsory heterosexuality, a theory coined by researcher Adrienne Rich which refers to heterosexuality as political institution that enforces heterosexuality on women as a means of ensuring male dominance through “physical, economic, and emotional access” (86), and constructs alternative sexualities as “the other.” Compulsive heterosexuality encompases a myriad of sexualilzed gender performances and rituals, not merely to affirm one’s

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(Brown, 2009). The society constructed the frame of what a girl or a boy should look like and how they should perform. Typical examples of the gender norms are girls like to play dolls and colors of pink while boys like to play robots and colors of deep shades. Traditions and cultures controlled and chose what to provide us to wear or play according to our assigned sex starting when we are infants, while we still do not have our own gender identity in our minds. But when the moment we realize the performances that express our true selves do not align with the socially constructed gender category, we are being seen as weirdos and identified as “wrong” because the society do not understand why this happens.

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Gender roles are rapidly developing during this time period in one’s life; already having a sense of self identification, childhood is the most vulnerable stage for stereotypes to adapt, gender-typed behavior patterns to develop and gender appropriate activities to begin to come into play (Sigelman, 372). When applying gender roles to myself, I thought about how gender roles shaped myself as well as my friends. Factors such as culture, hobbies, peers, family and social structure setting all played a part in molding me into the person who i was and who i became today. Gender roles is often a topic that receives little attention and is one that is not frequently discussed in a public setting. I took it upon myself to bring up this discussion to my friends both males and females and asked what impact gender roles had on them as

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This article is useful as it addresses typical stereotypes of gender and how through history people believe have believed it to be biologically determined. It then debunks this theory and explains it as being socially constructed. It delves into the cultural aspects that parallel with gender and sex, as well as how different views on these aspects of identity are created. This article gives us insight on how views on gender and sex have changed historically. 2.

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When young boys or men break this rule of masculinity, they are often teased, ridiculed, or shamed for not acting like a "man." This fear of being labelled "feminine” or the myth that sharing more vulnerable parts of themselves undermines strength and independence, often contributes to men holding back their true feelings. This then hinders their ability to maintain intimate connections with their friends, romantic partners or

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