Using 3 various sources of research, write a 2 page, paper about gender identity

Question

Using 3 various sources of research, write a 2 page, paper about gender identity and include some personal knowledge regarding the issue.

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Explanation / Answer

In western society we have two categories to identify male/female. This category is called “sex”. Gender identity is an individual’s behavior or the way he/she is described (masculine orfeminine). Sex (male/female) is genetic and biological. This gender identity is formed by society’s pre-conceived idea that parents are the first to teach their young about sex and whetherit makes them masculine or feminine. For example, a mother may know that if her child is a girlshe will want to dress her daughter in pink or pastel colors. Forcing people to identify to onegender is a problem because they cannot freely express themselves without having to be put in amale/female category. This has personally affect me because I have a single mother who hastaught me how to take on gender roles.

The articles: “Night to His Day: The Social Constructionof Gender” by Judith Lorber, “Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender” by Aaron Devor and “Women, Men, and Society” by Claire Renzetti & Daniel Curran, discussthe struggles of identifying to only one sex category and its expectations from society. Although,some people may disagree that parents do not assign gender roles it is important to realize thatdifferent gender roles are negatively affected both men/women.Men and women in society are judged based on their physical appearance, choice,teachings and practices. People are not satisfied until they are able to properly identify otherindividuals as male or female. Lorber said, “As they started to leave the train. The father put aYankee baseballcap on the child’s head. Ah, a boy, I thought. Then I noticed the gleam of tiny earrings in the child’s ears, and asthey got off, I saw the little flowered sneakers and lace-trimmed socks.” (Lorber, 20).

This observation is an example of sex categorizing based on physical appearance. The significance of the child being placed as a boy or girl sets the genderidentity standards for them. As these boys/girls develop into men/women they start to definewhat they do to make his/her sex clear to society.

In Aaron Devor’s article, “Becoming Membersof Society”, he explains that body postures, demeanors, speech and phrases communicate eithervulnerability (feminine) or dominance (masculinity) to others (Devor, 41). But in the article he uses terms like “they” when describing feminine or masculine body languages. Devor is stating the stereotypes of the typical weak woman versus the tough and dominant man.Having gender expectations is the reason why gender discrimination still exists. Theresult of discrimination is that society does not see the potential within an individual. They onlythink of biased opinions. The first individuals to understand this first hand is children. At a veryyoung age children are taught to understand the differences between genders rather than sex.

Devor’s article, “Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender” says, “In one study, young school age children, who were given dolls and asked to identify their gender,overwhelmingly identified the gender of the dolls on the basis of attributes such as hair length orclothing style, in spite of the fact that the dolls were anatomically correct.” (Devor, 37). Genderused to be based off genitalia for social order but children are learning the exactly opposite. Kidsare not aware of the process for taking on gender. The ultimate result is that they are not able tofind themselves throughout the gendering cycle. Children learn who they are based off society’s expectation and how they are seen. In our society, we see men and women achieve the sameaccomplishments but men are often applauded while women are expected to be stay-at-home-mothers, to cook and clean the house while men were working to provide for the mother andchild.Countries that do not value gender discrimination do not realize that certain tasks are stillgendered. Lorber says’ “Women stilldo most of the domestic labor and child rearing , evenwhile doing fulltime paid work; women and men are segregated on the job and each does work considered “appropriate”; women’s work is usually paid less than men’s work” (Lorber, 30). It isa problem having different gender roles because it limits women in the workforce. Gender roleshave personally affected me because my mom has always been the provider of our family. Shehas raised my sister and me for almost our whole lives. My mother is strong and independent, soin a way she has been my fatherly figure as well. She has taught me to take on the gender roles of “masculine” traits. I have courage, toughness, and independence. These traits have shaped meinto the person I am today.Society isn’t the only factor that impacts children’s

way of gender identity, it is also the parents. Mothers and fathers purposely dress their child accordingly based on their sex so thatother individuals do not get it confused.“Women, Men, and Society” by Claire Renzetti & Daniel Curran, give an example,“Boys are typically dressed in primary colors and girls aretypically dressed in pastels colors. Sex labeling.”(Renzetti and Curran, 77). It is significant because children grow up and are expected to act the way he/she was identified. Finding his/hergender identity growing up is even more difficult due to being raised under gender norms.Children must learn from parents about gender identity so that they are able to understandsociety. By learning what his/her identity is they are able to accept who they are. In “Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender”, by Aaron Devor states,“To be accepted in society children must learn gender identities and gender roles. Being able to learn that they are both as they see themselves and as others see them ”. (Devor, 37). Individuals trying to find their belonging in male/female society may be hard because they have grown up only knowing onegender role. They are then expected to carry out the duties of each. That is why different genderroles have a negative effect on either side. For example, a boy can grow up with the skills andmentality of a dominant male but later in life he may start to question why he doesn’t enjoy it.We are set up in society to conform to general norms by separating each sex and expectingcertain gender traits from each one.Although, some people may disagree that our gender roles are not constructed by our parents, it is believed that we are put under extreme pressure by expectations within our sexcategory. Women struggle with job opportunities such as not getting as much equal pay as menor simply because society believes that we are just meant to only bear children and care for them.This gender role difference limits women from expanding their opportunities. And that there isalso a misconception between the words,“sex” and“gender.” These two words almost sound thesame but are not true. Sex is the biology and anatomy to what makes a person male/female.Gender is the way we behave, think, or carry traits such as masculine/feminine. The wordmasculine has a positive connotation versus feminine. People are starting to undermine the word“feminine”, which refers to women. This changes the view of a woman’s role in society. She isdevalued and unappreciated. Gender roles have changed significantly in our society. Sometimesa lot of families do not have a manly figure in their lives. Women are now able to play bothmother and father roles. The articles in these essays discuss the stereotyping and judgement based on each sex and his/her roles he/she must perform in society. We can make society a better place to live in if we can challenge and preserver through the expectancy of gender roles.

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