Blur Gender Roles

In Octavia Butler’s Dawn the idea of gender is deconstructed and reformed from the typical human’s definition. Often people do not consider the role of gender in society today. Usually the first thing one notices when meeting someone new is their gender or their presumed gender. However, there becomes a problem when the person whose gender we perceived identifies as a different gender. Butler forces the reader to examine how they judge and perceive gender. While the ooloi are actually “its” their personalities seem to imply a certain gender. The transgender community often brings up this issue because these assumptions of gender based on our judgments of what defines a male and what defines a female can skew how a transgender person is treated and addressed. In Chapter One of Gender Through the Prism of Difference by Anne Fausto-Sterling, the idea of expanding the number of genders based on one’s biological differences is examined through the five sexes theory. By now the concept of gender being defined solely by one’s biology has mostly been left in the past but the question remains of how do we truly define gender? How does being outside of the social norms that Michael Warner talks about cause us to feel shame when discussing our gender and our perceptions of gender? In this essay, I will argue that preconceived notions of gender create shame when a person’s own perception of their gender does not fit the social norms. This stigma around the limited and strict definitions

Both Deborah Blum’s The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over? and Aaron Devor’s “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes” challenges the concept of how gender behavior is socially constructed. Blum resides on the idea that gender behavior is developed mainly through adolescence and societal expectations of a gender. Based on reference from personal experiences to back her argument up, Blum explains that each individual develops their expected traits as they grow up, while she also claims that genes and testosterones also play a role into establishing the differentiation of gender behavior. Whereas, Devor focuses mainly on the idea that gender behavior is portrayed mainly among two different categories: masculinity and

Gender differences are referred to what a society or culture accepts as masculine or feminine traits, which includes the accepted roles, appearances, behaviors, and activities of each individual, as opposed to the definition of sex differences, which simply refers to biological difference between a male or female. Though gender roles have changed considerably compared to the 1900s, there is still evidence this is something we still struggle with in the United States today. Despite the fact that we have the first female candidate for President of the United States, gay/ lesbian/ transgender individuals now have more courage than ever to come forward publicly, and more jobs only available to men are opening to women (military). The residue of society’s expectations of what role a “real man” or “real woman” is, is still apparent. Especially when one does not value the identities he or she is forced to adopt, hiding their true selves from everyone around them. In “The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses her illustration

In her response she examines the gender stereotypes there are in our society without me instigating a response or asking for there to be a comparison. Her ideas that are similar to ones that Henslin (2007) acknowledges of the idea that men are supposed to be manly and females feminine. She shares the concept that it should be divided up based on desire, and

The roles that gender play in society are well affected by culture, physical abilities, religion, and even stereotypes. The characteristics one holds are molded and shaped by the beliefs that a gender can identify what one can or cannot do. From the day we are born we are judged and socialized to obey certain roles based on our sex. It is not only viewed as a controversial issue towards women rights but also men. The article A gender-equality club, run by men by Jena McGregor’s states how if both genders come together this worldwide issue can be eliminated and everyone can be viewed as one. Jena McGregor purpose is to advocate the right of gender-equality; she demonstrates it by her use of rhetorical strategies. Without the use of images or sound, she grasps the audience’s attention ethically, logically and emotionally. She mentions stats that give her article credibility, her word choice and even paragraph syntax

In today’s society, gender has become a hot topic. More and more people have decided not to conform to the constraints of society and that includes gender, seeing as how gender is just another example of society’s constructs. People have adopted the ideas of androgyny and have even gone as far as to consider themselves gender nonconforming and raising genderless babies. Despite how times and rules of gender are changing, there is still that part of society that believes people should be classified as men and women and should stick to their gender roles and expectations. Along with gender roles and expectations, comes gender differences—the idea that men and women are different, and boys and girls are different and gender roles, expectations,

One of the basic foundations of gender roles is the belief that certain personality traits are linked to biological gender. For example, women are believed to be submissive while men are aggressive and assertive. In the essay “Girl”, Kincaid states, “This is how you smile to someone

Judith Butler states that a body’s sex is constitutive, it helps the subject understand itself. Bodies only live within productive constraints that have been highly gendered. In fact, Butler says that an ungendered body does not exist, it is impossible. While there are performative aspects of gender, it is not solely performance. By thinking that gender is just performance, it does not erase the fact that gender cannot be decided by the subject. It is true that dressing and acting a certain way makes one feel a certain way, however one’s subjectivity in the symbolic order is decided by gender. From the moment a child is born, the people around it want to know if it is a girl or a boy, whether to buy pink or blue toys. Because we exist in a heteronormative society, because everything is fiercely gendered, we cannot pretend that gender is fluid. It is language, Butler argues, that created this bigendered society. Language constructs all of reality, gives people understanding, places things into symbolic order, and gives those things meaning. Language forces things into one category or another.

In the article “Night to His Day,” Lorber argues that without the social guidelines presented to different genders, men and women would appear much the same. First, she goes into detail about how transgender people and transsexuals enforce these gender roles – how they are “doing” gender just like everyone else – and by their ability to follow the gender norms that do not match their biological sex proves that sex and gender are different things. Babies are

Although still problematic, gender roles constructed by society and cultures have progressed throughout the years, not as much as hoped but in small ways. The social and cultural construction of gender in definition means the construction of gender roles created by others that determine their behaviors and develop standards based on their sex. In the article Social Construction of Gender by Lorber the author demonstrates the social and cultural construction of gender stating, “Yet in Western societies, we see two discrete sexes and two distinguishable genders because our society is built on two classes of people, ‘women’ and ‘men’. Once the gender category is given the attributes of the person are also gendered….”(Lorber, 11). In the poem

This advertisement relates to several concepts we discussed in class. For example, by telling the young girl not to get her dress dirty or that she is pretty, the parents implement and adopt unintentionally the gender roles imposed by society, and this is generally done really early in one’s lifetime. Gender roles are referred to as norms, which “dictates what types of behavior are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex.” The term gender role is referred to society’s concept of how men and women are expected to act and how they should behave. Since the beginning of time, girls have been taught to take care of their appearance. They are taught to take up less space and act like “girls”. Therefore, Samantha starts acting like a girl and follows the gender roles.

These examples show us that the things we use to define masculine or feminine traits are not so traditional themselves. Although many people believe that gender roles are still pertinent, there are many contradicting facts. Little do people know simply by believing that these roles still exist is a form of stereotyping within itself. A lot of times gender roles/stereotypes are mixed in with religion. Religion is considered as a personal belief or way of life, because of that religion can’t set the bar for these norms that society associates with gender simply because religion is accustomed to one person. Gender roles have been observed to develop as a person grows. Psychologist depicts how children develop gender typing by stating “acquire the values, motives, and behaviors viewed as appropriate for males and females within a culture is called gender typing. Children develop gender-based beliefs, largely based on gender stereotypes; the latter is reflected in gender roles. Children adopt a gender identity early in life and develop gender-role preferences as well” (“Gender Roles and Gender Differences”).

Throughout today 's society, almost every aspect of someone’s actions is based on whether or not he or she fits into the social norms that have been created. It is now clear that males are the dominant figures in our society. Norms in society do not just come randomly to one 's life; they start since a child is born. When a child is born the first question asked by the parents, family, and friends is the gender of the child, whether it is a girl or a boy. In contrast, the terms sex and gender have always been interdependent terms but have distinct meanings. Sex is male and female while gender is masculine and feminine. In essence, sex refers to the biological differences and hormonal profiles. For example females have boobs and males do not. In the other hand, gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture present as masculine or feminine. For example, the color blue is for boys and pink is for girls which not has always been the case. The article from the publication Earnshaw 's Infants ' Department “The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl”. Jayme Poisson, a journalist, in her article Parents Keep Child 's Gender Secret she describes a family who has decided to raise their child named Storm without revealing their gender, in order for Storm to feel free to

Due to my minor in Woman and Gender Studies, I have particular interest in gender roles, assumptions, and practices. Gender is such a performing art that we as people seldom recognize the behaviors we exhibit that are manifested through societal norms. In example, the typical assumptions and norms we have created about the difference between men and woman is this: Men are strong and aggressive, woman are softer and better at empathy. People argue passionately that these differences in the gender are innate and natural.

There is decided gender inequality between male and female people of the world. Women in the past, and even in the present by unenlightened people, were referred to as the weaker sex. It was believed by the majority of people that just because a person was born with the physical attributes of a woman, this made an impact on her personality and mental and physical abilities. This gender classification also demanded that she behave in a certain way, in ways befitting her gender. In the article "The Gender Blur," author Deborah Blum questions whether biology has an inherent impact on the actions of a person or whether the inclinations of one gender over the other are due to social pressures regarding gender norms. Although there are certain biological functions which can affect behaviors, such as testosterone versus estrogen production, much of what is considered boy behaviors or girl behaviors is the result of what is expected of them based on the cultural setting, even pressures that the individual may not even be aware of. Blum's article, though she poses and interesting point, is ineffective because of her failure to acknowledge sociological impact in a comparative or qualitative way.