preview

Gender And Race And Gender

Decent Essays

Gender and Race
What is gender and how is it defined? Gender and its definition have been argued over for decades, by the religious, scientific and civilian community. Everyone has created their own definition and their opinion on how to define gender. From a nonscientific perspective, gender is defined by society, which is based on anatomy and basic aesthetics. Determining an individual’s gender based on their anatomy was the common practice in western society since the early 1950’s when television commercials begin thus ushering in consumerism and gender normality’s. Easy bake ovens were advertised as toys specifically for girls, while trucks and cars were designed to appeal to boys. This was the beginning of nonscientific gender norms.
According to Eller “Western cultural in general tends to reinforce this impression: there are two kinds of humans-men and women- and two proper codes of behavior- male female” (Eller 2013:90). The only way this argument could be supported would be if everyone was born cisgender. Cisgender is when the gender you identify with also matches your anatomy.
The example Eller gives proves that according to some in western society gender is a social construct invented and falsely supported by constant reinforcement. If you were born in western society as a male, there is a good chance that if you were to dress in clothing specifically designed for females you would be told this is wrong and you need to dress in accordance with your anatomy.
This

Get Access