An Open And Free Of Judgement Environment

This is not the case for everyone, which is a large issue in the world today. Gender identity is someone’s perception of the sex of another person. This is heavily discussed in our society today where gender binary and the population of the transgender community grows every day. People are born male and female and conform to the way they want to be whether it be masculine or feminine. (Wood, pg. 172-173).

GENDER: The cultural meanings attached to being feminine and masculine, which influence personal identities. Such as Transgender, Woman, Man, Gender Queer, Intersex etc.

While it is very easy to confuse gender with sex, they are very distinct. Sex refers to the body’s anatomy being male or female, which can be tricky to determine when lines cross one another and it is not as black and white. It can be argued that

Culture is shared by a group and transmitted across generations. The future of gender in our culture is impacted by gender roles-the social expectations that guide men’s and women’s behavior, and role-a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave. Lastly, the Nurture of Gender in our culture, this how we learn to be male or female, through social learning theory-we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished, gender typing-the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role, and transgender-an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth

“Gender”: refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.[2]

In a variety of contexts, the word "gender" is used to describe "the masculinity or femininity of words, persons, characteristics, or non-human organisms" (Wikipedia, 2006). More specific to psychology, gender role is a term used to describe the normal behavior associated with a given gender status. Those that do not follow this customary role given to their particular gender are said to have an atypical gender role. "A person who has normal male genitalia and identifies himself as a man will usually take up a masculine gender role, a role in society that will be viewed by the other people in his society as a normal thing for a male to do. A person who has normal female genitalia and identifies herself as a woman will probably do things

According to Merriam Webster, gender is defined as “the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex”. It is typical for our society to combine sex and gender as if it is the same thing, which it is not. Sex is biological, the makeup of your chromosomes. Gender, however, can be relative. A person can be the female sex but identify as the male gender, and vice versa. This topic is where we see individuals identifying as transsexual and transgender. Susan Scutti (2014) explains the difference between the two. Scutti explains that transsexuals are people who transition from one sex to another. An individual can be born as a male and then become recognizably female (and vice versa) through the use of hormones and/or surgical procedures. Scutti also explains that transsexuals are unable to change their genetics and cannot acquire the reproductive abilities of the sex to which they transition.

Each person has a sex, a gender, and a gender identity. These are all aspects of your sexuality. They are all about who you are, and they are all different, but related. Sex is biological. It includes our genetic makeup, our hormones, and our body parts, especially our sex and reproductive organs. Gender refers to society 's expectations about how we should think and act as girls and boys, and women and men. It is our biological, social, and legal status as women and men. Gender identity is how we feel about and express our gender and gender roles

The term LGBT is intended to emphasize a diversity of "sexuality and gender identity-based cultures" and is sometimes used

But in today 's society, your sex only determines your external genitalia, not who you truly are. Your sex is a physical aspect of your body, while you sex category and gender is your mental aspect. Once you consider yourself or placed yourself into a sex category, you take on the roles of that sex. Some even take it as far taking on the features and dressing like their gender preference. You see this in many homosexual individuals. Males acting and dressing like females and females acting and dressing like males. “According to the sex-role theory, we acquire our gender identity through socialization, and afterward we are socialized to behave in masculine or feminine ways” (Kimmel 2000:131). Society basically shows individuals how to masculine or feminine, whether it is a man being masculine or feminine or a woman being feminine or masculine.

Gender also refers to the socially constructed norms and values, roles and relations that are considered appropriate for men

Generally, we think there are two sexes and two genders: male and female. Many sociologists have based their theories of sex and gender on this binary system. From birth we are taught to act either like a lady or like a man, there is no in between. We believe gender is shaped by biology, that it is a doing, and it originates from our cultures yet, gender nonconforming people may challenge these theories.

While the word "gay" can be used to identify anyone who is not straight, it is generally used to denominate male homosexuals only. Women who are attracted to other women use the term lesbian, and those who are attracted to both genders typically use the term bisexual. Transsexuals are people who believe they were born in the wrong body and belong to the opposite gender, and will sometimes have a surgery performed to change their physical appearance to match their mental one. This is collectively referred to as the LGBT community. ("Homosexuality").

The LGBT community consists of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals. They will be referred to as LGBT. Sexual orientation is defined as who a person is attracted to sexually and intimately, who they identify with, and how they function socially (Appleby et al, 2011). Sexual orientation is composed of mental, affective and behavioral connections. For Bisexual orientation is defined as attraction to specific qualities of an individual rather than gender. Transgender people are defined as people whoes gender identity does not match their physiological gender. They can be heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual.

Through our socializations with gendered institutions such as family and friends we learn gender-appropriate behavior and develop our ideas and beliefs of what appropriate feminine and masculine gender roles are and form our gender identity. Gendered institutions are reinforced by a gender belief system, which are the feminine and masculine traits characteristics that are considered to be socially acceptable. Gender roles are the “attitudes, behavior, and activities that are socially defined as appropriate for each sex” (Kendall, 2015, p.321), whereas gender identity is how we perceive ourselves to be male or female, and is an important aspect our our self-concept. Beginning at birth, social institutions begin gender reinforcement based on biological sex, built on the accepted norms of the society and culture. Throughout society, gender is one of the major ways that society is organized. The social construct of gender is ingrained in society and reinforced through social institutions.