Accurate and realistic representation of LGBT+ individuals in today’s society is unproportional and lacking. While it is safe to say that the majority of people in the United States have a basic understanding of what LGBT+ means, their understanding may not be as complete as it should be and of the sparse rhetoric coverage of LGBT+ issues, no one really goes past the four first letters of the acronym: lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Essentially, all other “queer” identities are swept under the rug and erased from any discussion due to its assumed complexity and confusion. This ignorance leads to harsh stereotypes and cliched depictions that prevent further discussion and education over LGBT+ issues to occur. This is where Ashley …show more content…
But, The ABC’s of LGBT+ goes beyond being a simple start-up book by an internet personality. In fact, the book is a collaboration of over forty LGBT+ bloggers and prominent voices, the Gender Spectrum, Everyone is Gay, TSER and The Gender Book (Mardell, 2016:288-305) who regularly fact-checked and edited all the information in the book for complete precision in definitions and depiction since Mardell herself does not have personal experience with each identity. Its overall topics include, but are not limited to, spectrums, gender, sexual and romantic identities, as well as, a glossary of terms discussed throughout the book. She begins with spectrums, what she calls a tool to understanding identity (Mardell, 2016: 494), as her first chapter in order to lay a foundation of understanding how identities exist and are interpreted, especially by making a point that everyone’s spectrum is different and that all the topics in her book are fluid, diverse and have no one definition (Mardell, 2016: 521).
Her section on gender begins with asking the question, what is sex? Mardell then delves into the science of sex’s definition while continually comparing it to the social construct that humans have interpreted sex as. She paints a picture that shows, rather than tells, the difference between sex and gender with why and how it exists. This understanding allows her readers to grasp the more complex topics easier and sets a standard of acceptance for different ways of thinking.
‘‘Sex’ is a biological term; ‘gender’ a psychological and cultural one’ (Oakley 1972, p.158). To further expound on Oakley, ‘sex’ refers to the biological framework a person is born with while ‘gender’, an identity that we acquire as a result of social and cultural influence. Sex is naturally constant throughout an individual’s life whereas gender is a variable. Via gender socialisation, men and women constantly learn to adapt to society’s expectations associated with their biological form as society changes. This very concept clearly elucidates the dichotomy between sex and gender. Therefore, coming from such a perspective, it is true to say that we are born as human beings (males, females or intersex) who formulate socially accepted gender identities as a product of social and cultural implications (Abbott, Wallace & Tyler 2005). Conventionally, societies associate the male and female sexes with their definitions of masculinity and femininity respectively.
The LGBT community has been silently suffering through generations. But in this generation, they are finally showing the world their voice. There have been many instances where young adults were denied their right to be who they are and now they are speaking out about the mistreatment. Even though the united states have begun to be more open about the LGBT community here is still more change it come. These changes can be explained through many sociological perspectives including: functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionism and interactionism. Along with these perspective religion, norms and deviance all impact these individuals who are striving to be open about who they really are inside and out.
Gender has been described as masculine or feminine characteristics that encompass gender identity sex as well as social roles (Nobelius 2004). According to sexologist John Money, there is a difference between gender as a role and the biologically of differences in sex (Udry 1994). Within scholarly disciplines, cultures and contexts, gender frequently has its own mean, contextual frame of reference and the manner in which it is used to describe a variety of issues and characteristics. The sociocultural codes, conventions and the suggested and literal rules that accompany the notion of gender are vast and diverse. There has been and continues to be much scholarly debate regarding the idea of gender and how it has been viewed historically; as well as changes in the grammatical use of the
Consider the frustrations of bisexual and/or transgender individuals when the LGBTQ community’s experiences are defined largely by the experiences of gay and lesbian individuals (LGBT Advisory Committee, 2011). Self-identified bisexuals make up the largest single population within the LGBTQ community in the U.S. (Egan, Edelman, & Sherrill, 2008; Herbenick et al., 2010; Mosher, Chandra, & Jones, 2005). However, both research on the LGBTQ community and funding for LGBTQ organizations tend to focus exclusively on gay and lesbian individuals, rendering bisexual individuals invisible and sidelining or eclipsing their particular needs (Miller, André, Ebin, & Bessonova, 2007). This invisibility has serious consequences for bisexual individuals’ sense of belonging within the LGBTQ community (LGBT Advisory Committee,
Diversity has always been a key component of American society. From its beginnings, the United States has struggled with deciding who establishes the norms and values of society, given that we are a nation built primarily through immigration (Bessett, 1997). Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) people have been a part of society throughout history. There is evidence of same sex relationships at least as far back as ancient Greece (Crompton, 2003). Over time, negative societal attitudes in the western world developed and led to active oppression of LGBT community. These attitudes were then exported around the world. From approximately the 1930’s until the 1970’s, the vast majority of LGBT people lived their lives hiding
A. Thesis. With their ideology and their demand for equal rights and personal freedoms, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and queer (LGBTQ) community has played a major part in the rise of identity politics in modern American politics.
Generations ago, the United States was a country of the male wardrobe. Today's movements for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community are leveraging the existence of more globalized and open systems. Besides, the promotion of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population have been acknowledged through smart partnerships within conventional, political and economic scene, while the males and heterosexuals are still pervasive.
The struggle for equality has been intense, and still continues to this day. With this being said, much progress has been made in establishing respect and external acceptance for all individuals sense of identity. For example, in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Same Sex Marriages, marking a pivotal point in the civil rights movement for the LGBTQ community. For many, this act helped to support their sense of self, a right that been denied for so long. The United States effectively validated the LGBTQ community, giving this group all rights granted to all other citizen’s, However, the creation and acceptance of this community has not had positive benefits for all members. The Gender Binary has been changed, but many distinctions
With acceptance for non-traditional sexual orientations rising globally, issues related to and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, gay, transsexual, intersexual, and queer (LGBTIQ) community are becoming more prevalent. Countries promulgating laws on sexual orientation discrimination are becoming increasingly common, and organizations are pursuing diversity in human resources.
addressing these complex and often messy issues of the LBGTQ+ community, to a predominantly heteronormative audience,
Despite improvement in recent years, LGBT+ people still face systematic inequality in western society. This results in discrimination and prejudice towards them, or a reluctance to talk about LGBT+ issues. When it comes to education, the current situation in many western countries is that there is little or no information available about LGBT+ topics for students, in part because of the stigma that still surrounds LGBT+ identities. Indeed, up until 2003, it was illegal in the UK for schools to “promote the teaching [and the] acceptability of homosexuality” (Legislation.gov.uk, 2017), and LGBT+ education is still a controversial topic in many places today. For example, in New York, a teacher was recently fired for teaching 11 to 16 year olds about LGBT+ terms, because parents complained it was inappropriate for the children to learn about them (Toscano, 2017). Thus, there is still a view that LGBT+ identities are inappropriate or even unsafe for children, which partially explains this lack of information given to students at school. In the UK, a survey published this year found that 40 per cent of LGBT pupils are never taught anything about LGBT issues (Bradlow et al, 2017).
It has long been debated whether there is a difference between sex and gender, and if so, what that difference is. In recent years it has been suggested that sex is a purely biological term, and gender is socially constructed, or defined and enforced by society. Sex is assigned at birth based on the genitalia, and usually, gender is determined by the
Amongst the many popular misconceptions in today’s society, the in depth differences between sex and gender has grown to be one that is discussed extensively by psychologists and sociologists too. Sex in itself is a more scientific term that explains the innate physical attributes of an individual. On the other hand gender carries a more social tone. Meaning, that it refers to the different clothing, activities, career choices, and positions people hold in society. This essay aims to highlight some of the key differential aspects between these two concepts; while the term sex has been well defined over the years, we learn how the topic of gender managed to rake up an in-depth study as well as gain its own significance in society.
In discussing whether the distinction between sex and gender can be defined I am going to use the early distinction between the two and how this has been socially constructed to identify if there is a distinction. Additionally, I am going to use a variety of feminist influences since the 1960’s, to draw upon the main issues when defining sex and gender. I will investigate the implications of defining sex and gender by looking at sexism. I hope this will enable me to define a faultless distinction between sex and gender.
The words ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are commonly confused with each other in regular, everyday conversations when the two have very different meanings. The term ‘sex’ refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of a person, such as male or female; ‘gender’ is a social construction that refers to masculine or feminine roles in society ( Nordqvist). For