Gender Identity

The determination of gender identity is much deeper than whether a person is born a male or a female. The exact identifier that separates gender identity is currently unknown but researchers believe that genetics, hormones, reproductive organs, biological, and environmental factors all play a role in distinguishing a person’s gender identity. A person’s physical gender and their sense of gender are formed at two different times in two different parts of the body. A person’s gender is whether they are born male or female, but the way they identify themselves may be the opposite, which is not uncommon and has occurred since the beginning of time. In culture males are known to be the stronger, more aggressive sex, while females are the

In today’s society we tend to justify and judge the way we perceive how we act in our daily lives. One of the biggest topics that we tend to overlook is the human sexuality. Both men and women from a very young are put into a mindset that we shouldn’t reveal too much when it comes to our bodies. Is it ok for society to put this mindset into children at such a young age that revealing too much can lead you into unwanted circumstances? This is exactly one of the points that is brought up by James M. Henslin and Mae A. Biggs in the Behavior in Public Places: The Sociology of the Vaginal Examination.

Human sexuality can be fascinating, complex, contradictory, and sometimes frustrating. Sexuality is interwoven into every aspect of being human; therefore, having knowledge about sex is as essential as having education about human anatomy. However, it is highly recommended to pay close attention when sex education is delivered to youths. (Donatelle 171)

“Parents praise child for desired behavior. Introduce underwear as badge of success. Anticipate toddler may touch his/her genitals”

Kaytlin does not have any medical conditions, no mental health conditions and she is not taking any medications. Kaytlin is aware of what are her private areas and denied anyone touching her. Kaytlin was observed to be happy and outgoing; she was gluing her set of nails that her mother brought from work. She denied that there is nothing she doesn't like about her mother or her

Environmentally, a child’s experiences impact gender identity. Depending on family values or morals, a child could be confused by their gender. When a baby is born, there is much control on colors (if boy or girl) and ideas of the parents on how they would want to raise their daughter or son. For an example, a father would treat his son in a rough or unemotional way, while a girl would be protected and nurtured. Known as traditional roles, a boy doesn’t cry or play with dolls, but he can roll

When I was only 11 years old, my male friends would ask me if I have ever masturbated. I had no idea what it was and quite frankly I was not really interested. It was the in thing to say that a guy was weird if he did not masturbate. Because of the continued conversations on this topic and finally felt the urge to step in and ask what it was. One of the guys mentioned everything about it, and that he had gone on to a specific website to find that out. Of course, it was foreign to me because never did I hear that term in my life. My friend had not heard it either, so he went online to research for himself. Yes, I understand that things such as that are difficult to commute to a young child, but it is better to inform children at a younger age, because then their minds will believe what is heard. Children do what their parents do and say, so if parents informed their child at a young age, they would probably not want to rummage around for explicit material on their own. He even went on to say things about imagining things about girls, which he called: ‚dirteh tinking.‛ Lust of the mind is something ever teenager has experienced or will experience. They will have an attraction to the opposite sex some time in their life. However, if parents would only take the time to mention the crucial issues, and the effects, teens would probably hate it in their minds. Joseph Knable, Sex and the Single Guy author, states that "If we tolerate lust, we give sin a foot in the door and

“The ideal of what historian Anne Higonnet calls the Romantic Child, our modern image of a naturally asexual, pure child, is at the heart of century-long conflicts over sex education. By definition, the romantic child’s innocence depends on protection from sexuality” (Talk About Sex 13). Parents, in general, do not feel at ease thinking about their children having sex, nor do they want to encourage them to do so. The fact that most parents are not comfortable talking about the subject with their children only increases the importance of doing so in our schools.

When a toddler is expelling the bowels, for example, while wearing diapers, this would be characterized as “anal expulsion”, but when the toddler starting the potting training process this is called the “anal retention”. Third, the phallic phase, whereas young boys encounter an Oedipus phase, much like the Oedipus complex, they fear the father and castration and has sexual fantasies about the mother. For a young girl she would enter the Electra phase, where she could acquire penis envy, which often can cause one to turn away from sexual life all together. After the phallic phase there is a pause of latency in the sexual development, though finally in the Genital phase sexual functions are organized and coordination of sexual urges involving pleasure is completed. “These investigations led him to conclude that childhood fears and experiences, often sexual in nature, accounted for neuroses-hysteria, anxiety, depression, often obsessions and so on” (Freud). Freud also claims that if there is an error that occurred in the sexual development it can result in homosexuality or sexual perversions in a person. Freud continues to explain that the child would get the appropriate gender-related behaviors enforced though indentifying with a same-sex parent, which would need to take place naturally.

The definition of “child sexual abuse” has come a long way since its origin. Today, it is defined as any sexual act between an adult and a minor, or between two minors, when one exerts power over the other; this includes non-contact acts such as exhibitionism, exposure to pornography, voyeurism, and communicating in a sexual manner by phone or Internet. However, the issue of child sexual abuse was irrelevant until it was brought to the public’s attention by Western

During the oral stage, the infant enjoys eating and sucking objects, during the anal stage, it develops an interest in the anal region, and during the phallic stage it gains satisfaction from the genital region. Afterwards, there is a latency stage and a genital stage. During the Phallic stage, it was proposed that boys developed the Oedipus complex. This involved a

and the activities they encourage. In one study parents were asked to sort toys into masculine,

that the kids in the hallway assume is sex. She is usually alone, but she always acts as if she 's on her

The construction of a self-identity can be a very complex process that every individual is identity is developed through the lenses of cultural influences and how it is expected to given at birth. Through this given identity we are expected to think, speak, and behave in a certain way that fits the mold of societal norms. This paper aims to explain how gender perform gender roles according these cultural values. I intend to analyze the process in which individuals learned and internalized their respective gender identities, through their cultural background. I will be conducting a set of interviews with the intention to compare my experience as a self-identified male of Mexican descent, to the experience of another male character of Japanese heritage in order to understand how we come to self-identify as masculine in diverged cultures. In this paper, I argue that the construction of gender identities is a direct consequence of societal influential factors such as family values; values that reflect the individual’s culture. This analysis will not only utilize evidence from these identity formations, but also in explaining why and how these self-identities were constructed using both theoretical sources and empirical studies as a framework.

As Freud notes at the beginning of his essay entitled “The Infantile Sexuality”, “It is a part of popular belief about the sexual impulse that it is absent in childhood and that it first appears in the period of life known as puberty” (Freud 44). He is, however, quick to note that “this, though a common error, is serious in its consequences…” (44). It is crucial that children in middle school learn that the desires that they have had and will have are normal. Around the age of 11 (when kids start middle school), most female bodies will start to hit puberty, with male bodies following soon after. It is important to stress that experiencing sexual impulse is a common experience that in and of itself is not wrong or harmful. Only actions can be classified as such.