For many years now gender has been certain. To many people, gender is something that should not be changed, and if you do attempt to change your gender by a surgical procedure, it is believed to be wrong. According to the Oxford Dictionary, gender means “the state of being male or female.” Being a male is defined as “the sex that produces small, typically motile gametes, especially spermatoea, with which a female may be fertilized or inseminated to produce offspring,” and female is defined as “the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes.” These definitions are accepted by and believed to be correct by a large amount of people. Some of these people believe in such so whole-heartedly, they do not like when their idea of gender identity is questioned. Strict gender roles have work for centuries, so there is no reason why these people are wrong. However, there are many other people who do not agree with this opinion, but that does not mean that their opinion is invalid either.
“People who identify today as ‘trans’ or ‘transgender’, two common umbrella terms for cross-gender expression, are heirs to a long and often difficult history in America. Generally speaking, there has not been great tolerance for those who have crossed the rigid gender divide” (Reis 2014). For many years transgender people have not been accepted really at all. In the year 1696 the state of
In the late 1950’s to mid-1960’s, the transgender community faced discrimination such as physical and verbal harassment, denial of social spaces, and alienation in the media. This matters to us today because transgender individuals are still existing and are a part of our human population today. The community is also still struggling to find their representation in the media and in society. The transgender community is still facing a wide array of types of discrimination, from nasty looks to denied access of education. Gender identity should not be taken into consideration when determining another person’s worthiness of respect.
When a person is born, they are either male or female. Before they are born, their parents are going to set goals and expectations for them. Sometimes parents will name their child after a famous celebrity hoping they will be just as great as them. Each gender will have different ways they should live their life in order to stay within their gender role. Some will meet the expectations and other will not. That does not make them look less of their gender, they will just be expected to meet them. Over the years, some gender roles have submerged and others have risen above. They will be able to show how the gender roles are supposed to be in jobs, education, and marriage and also how they can benefit from stepping out of the gender roles.
Throughout history, gender roles have been the foundation that determines the course of a civilization. These gender roles have undergone a change over time. It is important for every society to re-evaluate its preconceived ideas of gender and determine if that is still the norm for their society. When people think of gender roles we typically have set stereotypes in our head of what that means. Much of the time, what we believe, is not what is actually true. It is often argued what is right and what is wrong.
Gender is defined as the state of being male or female. In most instances, this state is determined based on the biology of an individual’s genitalia. Those born
In many shops, there seems to be an obvious separation between boys and girls items, for example, the birthday cards, books, clothes, and toys. This is shown in a variety of ways the boy's items are mainly the color blue and the books have pictures of either action figures, superheroes or tools. Whereas the girl's items are mainly the color pink. The books show pictures of fairies, princess, and Bratz. The cards also have the theme of the color pink for girls and blue for boys. The girl's cards have a lot of sparkles and pretty pictures whereas the boy's cards are covered in camo kind of illustrations and also have action figures on the covers. The children's clothes are separated into sections where there are labels for the boy's clothes and labels for the girl's clothes. The girl's clothing is all pretty and pink, it is covered in sparkles. Whereas boys clothing has camo patterns, blue colors, and pictures of action figures.
In present day all around the world, society has certain expectations for the actions and behaviors of males and females. There are many factors in our everyday lives that contribute to the gender norms that society has set. This essay will discuss how situations in life can play a part in how people treat other people based on their gender. It is believed that males are the leaders of our world, but in present day woman can do as much as men can do. From The Journal of Marriage and Family, Hu states, “Differentiated gender roles in adulthood are rooted in one’s gender role socialization. In order to understand the persistence of gender inequalities in the domestic sphere, we need to examine the gendered patterns of children’s housework time.”(2015, P.1). Gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females that they must be taught. These roles define how females and males are viewed in society, their household, and workplace. In The Journal of Sports behavior by Hardin, he states, “Although gender role differences from biological and “Natural” exists in popular consciousness, research has long demonstrated that instead, many are long time socially constructed… Individuals understand their gender because they are given names and treated in particular ways, such as dress in pink for girls and blue for boys, that reflect social construction of gender. Bandura's social cognitive theory is key in understanding the factors in socialization”(2009, P.3). Bandura's theory of of social cognition is that behavior, environmental events, and cognitive factors are the main keys that shape attitudes and actions of an individual. Although, gender roles play a very big part in our society, specific genders are treated differently while dealing with peer influence, media influence, as well as employment.
Kidd and Witten define the term transgender vaguely, stating it “describe[s] people who transcend the conventional boundaries of gender, irrespective of physical status or sexual orientation” (Kidd & Witten, 2007, p. 36). This term is a reference for the ‘other gender’ that is not particularly male or female. Currently, within the American society, there is a growing awareness of individuals who are transgender. Much of this awareness comes from LGBT movements and
The myth of gender roles plays a pivotal role in This Boy’s Life- A Memoir by Tobias Wolff. Specifically, the myth of masculinity shapes much of the actions and experiences that occur. Toxic masculinity is commonly described as socially-constructed attitudes that describe men as being violent, unemotional, and sexually aggressive. The rules of masculinity that are implied in the memoir include displays of physical dominance such as fighting against others, use of weapons for power and control, domestic violence, and trying to win at everything. Sexual virility is discussed as bragging about sexual conquests and talking crudely about women around other men but generally trying to be hyper sexual. Another, key aspect of masculinity is to not show any emotion as others will perceive you as being weak which leads characters being unable to express how they feel about themselves and their conflicts. Males are taught to not get mad but to get even; this means retaliating by stealing or other means in order to get revenge. Within the memoir, Tobias’ perception of masculinity and his idea of what man should look and act like is demonstrated through Roy. Qualities that include being: “an expert hunter, conventionally handsome, [a mechanic or handy in general], does not need to talk more than needed, having a tattoo”(14). The myth of masculinity pigeonholes males from This Boy’s Life- A Memoir by Tobias Wolff by making them believe that they must act in a certain way in order to be
Gender roles determine the way society works, and the way it views people. Whether it is considered unfair or not, there are many factors that are created from gender roles. Almost all parts of English life from 1674 to 1913 was influenced by gender(Clive, 1.) This way of life made a lasting impression, causing the years to follow to develop and abide by what is known as gender roles. Although gender roles have become a lot more diverse in society, there are still stereotypes and misconstrued gender identity, gender-specific expectations, and gender-specific separation and gaps that still exist today.
Being accepted as a transgender in today's society is not only a continued struggle but it has also become another defining statistic that continue to raise hate crime rates nationwide. The excitement and bold move granted by the government to pass a law that allowed individuals of the same sex to be married appeared to break through needed to secure gay and lesbians place in the world. With this life changing event, the hinges on the revolving door appeared to strong enough for the LGBT(Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender) to conquer another hidden secret; life as a transgender.
In the past decade, the transgender community has grown an immense size, however with the growth in numbers, it leads to a tremendous amount of controversy and injustice surrounding the LGBT community. From the Human Rights Campaign resource article, “Understanding the Transgender Community,” the anonymous author goes over the background of transgender citizens in the United States and guides the reader through all the challenges they can potentially face in their everyday lives. The author’s purpose for this article was to give the audience, which is the general public and also the people who discriminate the LGBT community, an adequate amount of information about the social injustices the transgender community faces. Some main points that
Gender socialization often begins early once parents are shown the sex of their child; from then on, baby showers are planned according to gender “appropriate” colors, which are often pink for girls and blue for boys. Even differences in how children are spoke to can be picked up easily in Western cultures. Girls are called pretty and sweet, whereas boys are handsome and strong. Ultimately, the way children learn to identify with their gender culture is in part due to not only family and friends, media, schools, and religion, but also from the toys that may inexplicitly advertise gender expectations. Gender-typed toys may be bought for children as a way for parents to encourage and reinforce gender-appropriate behaviors. However, recent debates have engulfed toy manufacturers and major retailers, which has brought about changes in toy design and marketing in an effort to make reflect more realistic and gender neutral options.
Many people do not recognize gender roles and the history of them. Some claim that gender roles occurred naturally through genetic makeup and structural differences while others claim that gender roles are chosen by humans to attract mates and produce offspring but, gender roles are given to people and are reinforced by genetic makeup and structural differences. Gender roles are learned from a young age from parents stereotyping by giving their children certain object such as toys or clothing with a masculine or feminine feeling to them. Parents raise their children in specific ways because they were raised that way, meaning that “many of our actions are still influenced by gender stereotyping and misconceptions about men and women that have
This paper will explore the world of gender and its social and cultural importance in western society. focusing more on the discrimination and negative impacts that gender stereotyping and socialized gender roles have on human beings as a whole. This includes the limitations that women and men are living with to this day in their homes, work and school. starting from birth gender shapes everyones world and gives them a glass ceiling that only a few pioneers have hit and shattered in the last few years. (MacQueen, 2003, pg. 2) At home women and men are put into very differing parenting roles based on genitalia instead of personal wants and goals in their respective lives. If a man wants children and enjoy being around them that may
There are many people who do not agree with the idea of “gender identity” mostly because they believe it to be a fad that will quickly disappear. Unfortunately for them, this is not the case. In 1923, Magnus Hirschfeld (a physician and advocate of sexual and gender rights), published his ideas that sex and gender may not be binary. In other words, your sex assigned at birth may not actually coincide with what gender you identify with later in life. He also went on to say that “that there may be a third identity if not more” (“Transgender Rights”).