Gender Identity: Socially Dangerous For Gender Nonconforming

Today, many recognize gender as a spectrum, but understand it in a linear fashion not too different from the original dichotomy of two opposing sexes. On one end sits masculinity, and on the other, femininity. In the instance of people coming out as transgender in the workplace, they were perceived as having jumped from one end of the spectrum to the other with a complete one-eighty degree twist. The definition of gender is multifaceted, and some people may place more importance on it than others. Rather than conduct a scientific study on what defines gender, I’d like to encourage people to take the more widespread knowledge of binary feminism and expand that knowledge to include genderqueer individuals. Be aware that others may fall outside your notion of gender, and do not punish them for that. Do not expect a person to act in a certain “feminine” or “masculine” way any more than one might expect a man or woman to act only within their allowed sphere - but do not criticize someone who does act in what might be considered traditionally “masculine” or “feminine” way for doing

In today’s society people look past who someone really is. They only see what is on the exterior and not what is in the inside. What people do not know is how people who have trouble identifying their gender struggle through society. People who have this struggle in society struggle because people are not accepting of people who are different from the normal stereotypes of male and female. Therefore, society’s view on gender identity in the United States are causing people to be socially impaired, physical hardships, and poor mental health problems.

There are many things in this day and age that could be defined as cultural landmarks - pivotal views and information around which our society revolves. While each of these can provide interesting and enlightening insights into our culture and social behavior, this article will be focusing on one I personally find exceedingly upsetting: gender identity. Since birth, we have been taught a certain kind of segregation - man and woman, mother and father, boys and girls - taught it as if it were fact, as if it were as concrete as a law of physics; more so, even. We are taught that gender and sex are synonyms, interchangeable, taught even less of gender divergence than we are of sexual orientation. However, recently in the media more and more prominent figures have come out as genderqueer, pushing the topic into general debate and the eyes of the public.

In the 21st century, social formalities in America have been increasingly questioned especially the construct of gender and gender identity. Millennials are pioneering to change gender stigmas and the traditional beliefs of the role of man and woman. This upsurge in breaking gender roles has allowed for a new wave of identity where people aren't satisfied with being boiled down to one textbook definition of masculine or feminine. Across social media platforms such as Instagram where individuals can post pictures of their everyday life, we see men and women preforming non-traditional acts. Women post pictures of them bench pressing at the gym and men are posting pictures of their sweaters they've knitted. Among those advocating against

The way my father performed his gender has shaped the performance of my gender. My dad has also talked about raising me and my brothers as men but not as a binary concept but what he felt manhood represented. That involved in many things such as playing lots of sports or learning how to fight and other activities such as fishing. Although my dad never forced me to play sports it was always a staple in my household and I would- be mocked when I stopped playing a sport out of boredom. My dad constructed my gender self to view men as a group who had to become strong, fast, aggressive, dominant, and achieving in order to fit into society. This interaction with my family has caused my gender construction with others to be a byproduct of my experiences

For most, identifying who you are, the population you belong to you, and the group you identify with is an incredibly simple task. Anything outside the standard gender parameters would often ostracize you from your family, friends, and community; however, an increasingly larger group of individuals do not follow these constructed parameters. About five in every 100,000 individuals do not fall into the sex and gender roles they are born into. These individuals face a lifetime of psychological abuse, physical abuse, depression, and in some cases suicide. The transgender community faces a plethora of problems that limit their acceptance into society. Transitioning can be the single most important step toward a healthier, happy life.

Though all of the identities that have been discussed in this seminar are of importance, the three identities I find important to discuss are transsexual, intersex and sex. Our first few readings covered these specific identities right away. Within The Gender Book, Transsexual was described as an individual whose gender identity exists primarily in contradiction to the sex that is assigned at birth (p. 36). Though according to the American Psychological Association (2014), Transgender is described as an umbrella term, which covers a person’s gender expression, identity and behavior that may not necessarily match with the sex that individual was assigned at birth. Though both are informative readings, I believe these authors were set out to

What gender are you? Male, female, or do you not have a gender? See, gender rules are not a subject widely talked about in today’s society due to the fact that it is a very sensitive subject for many people. This subject is very touchy because of transsexual, gender fluid, and non-binary people. How would you feel is you were forced to switch schools because the one you were attending did not see yours as valid? In the following paragraphs we will be discussing gender rules in and out of school.

Our lives and gender identity are shaped from the moment we are born. Culture, social, and environmental forces influence people’s biological identity. Discovering what it means to be male or female begins very early in people’s life. Most of the time people behavior or attitudes are influence by the gender role expectations by particular culture.

Gendered identity seemed to be well defined during the 1950s and this appeared to be reflected in fashion. These clearly defined roles and images however have not, historically, been consistent. At the beginning of the 20th century women’s style and fashion started to change intensely, this changing has helped women to fight for their independence of their style in fashion. Clothing moved to be more practical, a huge change from the narrowed and restricted frills and corsets of the 19th century. Fashion in the 1900s started to see a decline of the train on women’s dresses but soon enough hems began to develop (above the ankle). In the 1910s style began to concentrated more on the female shape, and just after one year later the world saw the beauty of slender silhouette. However, women were still required to keep the

In the West a paradigm shift change occurs in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s regarding transgender identities. This move emerges from two different sources; one, from a growing activist faction of the transgender community and two, from academia, where an ascendant poststructuralism/postmodernism from various disciplines such as the Social Sciences and the Humanities is challenging (or queering) the hegemony of traditional social structures, such as the essentialist framing of gender. Instead it recognizes, reifies, and disseminates a social constructivist or social-approach model to gender. Our identities are less an imprecise product of DNA chromosomes and fetal hormones than an enforced reflection of social mores and discourses. Just as biology is not destiny,

Gender identity is one’s personal sense of identity within their own gender, which in most societies consists of membership in two groups: males and females (Carlson & Heth, 2009). In Western societies, gender binary exists, classifying gender and sex into the opposite, disconnected structures of masculinity and femininity (Garber, 1997; Rosenblum, 2000). This division of genders creates a barrier, discouraging individuals from crossing society’s idea of normal gender roles. All societies have individuals who do not personally identify with all aspects of their biological sex, and in 1965 these individuals were first classified as transgender (Oliven & A, 1965). Transgender individuals are those who

People with gender identity disorder should change their sexual identity and live among us as the opposite sex as long as they acknowledge and reveal themselves as “transsexuals”.

Society has a tremendous effect on the way people see themselves as well as the way they see others. When it comes to sex and gender, these two words are used interchangeably, even though they are different. Sex is what a person is biologically born with, whereas Gender is how a person is seen in society, their roles, and their accepted behavior. Gender identity is a person’s inner sense of being male or female and a display of that. Jayme Poisson writes an article, “Parents Keep Child’s Gender Secret,” on two parents that decided to raise their newborn child genderless. The couple also allows their other children to display whichever gender they choose, not conforming with “how they’re expected to look and act based on their sex,” (Poisson 366). Kwame Anthony Appiah describes the idea of being able to respect the traditions of others without having to agree with or understand them in “Making Conversation”. Women and men are, not surprisingly, treated very differently in society. In “Human Dignity” Francis Fukuyama writes about equality and the essence that humans possess. Society creates a stigma for men who act feminine and women who act masculine, creating a negative impact on ones gender identity, specifically on the description of gender roles, and how certain products are marketed.

In todays society there has been an increase of individuals who identify as transgender, but for most people are still unsure how to accurately define these individuals, and find their place in society. Transgender individuals have the body of one gender, but believe themselves to be of the other gender. The sociological definition of sex is defined as a biological categorization based on reproductive organs, while gender is defined as a social classification based on ones identity, sexual behavior, and interaction with others. Transgender bodies disrupt this linear relationship between an individual’s biological sex and the gender they chose to identify with. The American Psychological Association defines “Transgender” as an “umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth.” The transition of a transgender individual does not happen over night “ most people hear the word transition and think its… its more like trans-ness can be a representative of a s constant state of becoming, of growing, and unfolding” (Dove-Viebahn, Soloway, 2015). Although in our society we are fighting towards equality of all individuals, a conservative feminist would view the issue of transgender disrupting the linear relationship between biology and gender identify by not wanting individuals going from a woman to a man, due to the fact that its giving men more power. They would also believe that an changing genders to a man shows that an individual who is not happy in a woman’s body is trying to change something to become better, seeing better qualities in a man if one wishes to change their gender to that of a man. Although there are still alternative views on individuals who are transgender, transgender bodies have begun a movement of showing how the human body is not only biological, but also rather sites of identity, self- expression, and performance. This allows individuals to be able to express themselves in ways possible that are not binary to ones biology. Imagine a society where there were no gender roles and stereotypes, in a society that allowed individuals to be who they are without being