How Does A Person Make Identifying Their Own Gender

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

Gender coding is not a natural or biological characteristic. People are born with different physical and biological characteristics, but make sense of their gender roles through cultural influences. “Stereotypes are amazingly powerful, and we may not realize the degree to which our thoughts, beliefs, and actions are shaped by them” (Silverman, Rader, 2010). Boys and girls are labeled as masculine or feminine, which is considered the “norm” for society. Children are not born masculine or feminine, they learn these roles from parents, peers, media, and even religion. Concepts of gender identity are sometimes placed on children even before their birth, such as with the selection of paint colors for the nursery.” Children begin to form concepts of gender beginning around the age of 2, and most children know if they are a boy or girl by age of 3” (Martin & Ruble, 2004). From an early age, children are encouraged to identify with gender coding. Gender is formed at birth, but self-identification as being male or female is imbedded into their minds by parents and society. A child learns to understand their gender role and their identity by what is taught and expressed to them by others. Yet as a child grows, gender coding can cause cultural confusion, and insecurity issues throughout the course of their life.

With sex and gender being such a predominate factor in determining our position in society, it is difficult to hinder ourselves from distinguishing certain characteristics and attributes to be masculine (male) or feminine(female). Is is paramount to distinguish the differences between sex and gender. Sex is determined by our hormones and anatomy while gender is the social meanings, behaviors, and expectations attached to a given sex by society (Logg, Lecture Notes, Fall 2015). Generally speaking, labels are immensely restricting to members of society who fail to fit into their perceived gender roles considering that it enforces the idea of the binary gender system where it is only socially acceptable to identify as a male or female based on your sex. Sex and gender is something that has not been closely examined by social scientist to prove or disprove if the binary gender system is evident in human nature. Social scientists should research and challenge commonly held beliefs about sex and gender due to the negative effects it has on society.

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

To me gender is what you want to be seen as and sex is the body parts you are born with. Today there are even surveys including a “no comment” option along with male and female. Many factors contribute to gender identity, such as what sex you are attracted to, what sex you feel you belong alongside, or even how much testosterone our body produces. As soon as I came into this world, I was given a pink blanket. From then on I was expected to buy all the sparkly spirals and pink pencils. I am expected to love wearing skirts and dresses to school. I am expected to cross my legs and scorn people that tell inappropriate jokes. To the world is was out of the ordinary that I would pick the blue spirals and green pencils, wear jeans and a tshirt every single day, and to be the one telling those awful jokes my brother taught

The concept of gender is not as cut and dry as you might think. The term gender is often used incorrectly as a synonym for our biological sex. Gender is more of a predetermined set of ideas and characteristics used in identifying socially acceptable behaviors and appearances for the sexes. It is not determined by the biological sex of the person. From an early age we begin to develop ideas of what it means to be male or female by observing others. Gender falls on a spectrum from masculine to feminine with many combinations in between. Gender expression and gender identity are also not the same thing. Gender expression is not related directly to how a person perceives their gender,

The sex binary is a fundamental value in American society. Even before birth, people are to be either male or female. The article Doing Gender by West and Zimmerman explains how from an early age, children are taught to identify a person’s sex with that

Throughout many studies, researchers have said that gender develops from families, which is part of the social construction in children. According to Coltrane and Adams, Gender is defined as “To what it means to be a man or a woman in a specific time and place” (Coltrane and Adams). People in this world think that gender is automatically part of biological sex, but according to Coltrane and Adams, it is not a direct result of biological sex. The term is defined as “to refer relatively distinct biological differences between male and females such as genitals, hormones, and chromosomes” (Coltrane and Adams). For gender it is also social and it refers to how a person thinks that someone should look, act and feel (Coltrane and Adams). On the daily life, people will usually assume that a person “is” the gender that corresponds to his or her sex: females are feminine and males are masculine (Coltrane and Adams). In addition, gender also describes how the typical man and woman are supposed to present themselves. A man presenting himself as masculine and a woman presenting herself as feminine in particular cultures (Coltrane and Adams). In other words how women should act and how men should act.

The story of Adam and Eve describes how man was created in the image of God and how man was deceived by the Serpent. Eve was manipulated to think that eating fruit would not cause the repercussion that she originally anticipated. Eve’s actions in essence was the first sin, and even though the first sin was brought upon through deception, Eve was still held accountable for her

Being born a man or a woman in todays society is more than a simple biological fact. It’s a biological fact that harvests social consequences. From delivery, gender is assigned to males and females in life binding forms by way of blue or pink. Gender is the social construct of what we know biologically as male or female, but masculinity and femininity is how the two roles are played out in society. Our role as feminine and masculine are institutionalized through social interaction and is perpetuated through our social institutions. Forms of social institution include hospitals, family, churches and schools. These institutions tie gender roles to individual identity from infancy to death.

I remember being in Pre-K, when they gave us our first handbook and one of the first things we learned in class was to identify ourselves as boys or girls. How could we do so? There were two drawings on the book; one of a naked boy with a blue background that explained boys have a penis and another of a girl with a pink background that explained girls have a vagina. Besides that, my parents were always very strict about how ladies behave, how they dress, and how they not play rough with boys. In middle school, I went to a Christian school were they constantly told me the differences between a male and female and clarify all the time that I was a female, just in case I forgot.

What is gender identity? Unlike the sex of a person, gender cannot be easily defined or located on the body nor does another person designate it. People can be classified by sex because a physician easily identifies it when they are born. You are either male or female or, on rare occasions, there are anomalies where both sex organs are present; but in most cases you are either male or female. Life gets more complicated than that, however, when a person begins to develop a gender identity which is defined as “a person’s innate, deeply felt psychological identification as a man, woman, or some other gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth” (www.hrc.org 2014). So, as opposed to a person’s sex, when it comes to gender, every person has to come to their own conclusion as to who they are. It is not automatic that a male will identify as male or that a female will identify as female; gender identification falls on the individual. Each individual defines gender identity, but how does an individual define his or her gender? Hausman (2000) writes, “While many scholars might think of gender as a social construction, many of those still adhere to a belief in gender as an ontology, a mode of being that is itself not questioned” (117). Among scholars, there is a divide between what gender actually is. Is it simply a construction of society, or does it originate inside an individual? A person will identify as a certain gender based on their inner

“Gender” is a social construct that is developed solely by our society and the early developmental stages of an adolescent’s life. By introducing youths to the roles, behaviors, expectations and activities that correspond with males or females we give a clear guideline of what is accepted from a young male or female. An individual however can identify his or her gender based on their own system of beliefs without corresponding to their natural biological sex. Our lives are shaped by our true biological identities but the influence of the world and society is enough to define what a male and what a female truly is to an individual.

I don’t believe I have a right to tell people how they should identify gender or how to define gender. Everyone should have the right to self-identify as men or women. The only exception to my belief is when healthcare is administered. In medicine we know that certain drugs are interact differently based on hormones and biology. Just as the symptoms for a heart attack are different for men and women. In these instances, the case has to be made how we define gender and not allow self-identification to drive the healthcare one receives. In the technical area of claims processing has not caught up and an individual must be identified as male or female.

It is normally thought that gender is something that is developed at birth and is something that is set in stone. More recently in time, people have started to express that they feel that their gender identity is different and separate from their sex at birth. Egan and Perry are considered very important researchers in the field of gender identity and psychology. The two proposed that gender identity is multi-faceted and is made up of five different components that are generally independent of one another. The categories are as follows: knowing one belongs to one gender or another, how much they feel they belong to the category, how happy they are with that gender, how much pressure they feel to conform to gender stereotypes and how much they feel their sex is superior to the opposite (Carver, Yunger & Perry, 2003, p. 95). All of these relate to adjustment in different senses. Egan and Perry found that by middle childhood, most have a fairly stable idea of their standing on all of these categories. Their perception thrives most when they are confident in themselves and when they feel that they are not constricted in their freedom to explore other