Lens Of Gender On Gender Identity

​Gender identity has changed its definition over time. The psychological definition as stated from the social learning theory is that gender identity is the sense of being male or female. Seems simple but we now know in todays world the definition has broadened. Gender identity is now defined as one 's personal experience of one 's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with assigned sex at birth, or can differ from it completely. All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of the formation of a person 's social identity in relation to other members of society. From the past when we had many strong women’s rights activist who fought so what your gender was did not

After completing my observations, I noticed that there is a lot to be learned about someone by just examining their personal belongings. By how they treat their personal objects often reflect what their actual life is like. Think about how you treat your personal items. It may be with lots of care or you may use an item for its intended purpose and not care if it breaks during the process. This says a lot about the person. So, by examining someone’s car, which is a highly valuable item to a person, it is as if we get a small glimpse into their life style.

​​Gender is defined as whatever behaviors and attitudes a group considers proper for its males and females. Unlike sex, gender is something that we learn from the day we are born. “Young children begin to acquire gender role stereotypes at about the same time they develop gender identity and by the age of 3 or 4 most children” (Amanda Youmans). Peers, community, media, religion and our upbringing all play a role in the understanding of our culture and what is considered acceptable for males and females. When the sex of a child is revealed, they are automatically placed into a gender specific role with certain expectations. There are things in this world such as colors, toys, media depiction and taught behaviors that play into these gender roles.

In today’s culture, I see gender being a person’s master status. In most aspects of my life, I notice that gender overrides other statuses such as my race or occupation. I believe gender does this because of the way it is instilled in every social institution. I imagine it is hard to inquire about my experiences without it coming from a woman’s perspective. It’s not what it means to be college-educated, but what does it mean to be a college-educated woman, and not what does it mean to be black, but what does it mean to be a black woman. Parenthood is near impossible to be understood without seeing it through a gender experience. Although gender is a social construction, it dictates individuals in a way that I cannot imagine any other social concept could.

The Lenses of Gender by Sandra Bem begins by introducing the three lenses that will be discussed in the book: androcentrism, gender polarization, and biological essentialism. The most significant aspect to this reading was the concept of females being an addition to males or the ‘other’. Specifically, this idea is derived from a biblical view. When taking a look at the creation of man and the story of Adam of Eve, “Adam is explicitly given the power to name--that is, define--every single creature on earth, including women… Adam is unambiguously said to be created in God’s image. Eve, in contrast, is an inferior departure from this godly standard,” (Bem, 1993, p. 46) This perception of females being below the male standard carries out throughout

The word identity has become the most discussed idea in our society. It is described mostly, to be a word that stands for who we are. Therefore, because of who we are, identity has come to be a word that we use to claim and understand people’s actions in our society. So in this paper I will be analysing how social practices surrounding identity relates to gender in social, personal levels, through the work of three authors; by Ian Hacking on “kind making”, Margaret Somers on “Narrative construction of identity” and finally, Frederick Cooper and Rogers Brubaker on “beyond identity” . However, I will tilt more toward Frederick Cooper and Rogers Bruakers article on identity. This is because I feel that their article contributes better to my

Many professions are traditionally occupied by one gender over the other, identified as occupational segregation (Hoffnung et al., 2013). Furthermore, Hoffnung and colleagues (2013), state that females are often perceived as carrying the burden of parenthood and general domestic chores, often in positions such as domestic labour. Whereas males are traditionally employed in positions with lower social demands, in more quantitatively and physically demanding positions. During the last thirty years there has been a notable increase of females into traditionally male roles,

For years women have been treated way differently from men, both genders have been thought out to be different, that a certain gender has to do certain things or have to act a certain way.This has brought out a few people to be a feminist to think that all genders can do whatever pleases them without being judged.These acts catch feminist eyes and this is why there is so much protest towards things like this

Transgender can be defined as a person whose self-identity does not conform precisely to conventional notions of the male or female gender. This self-identity problem can usually be accompanied by numerous forms of treatment to change ones’ physical appearance, and make it more consistent with their identified gender identity. In many cases, the individual can identify with the gender of the opposite sex to the point one believes that he or she is a member of that gender group trapped in the wrong body. This is also called Gender Dysphoria or formerly known as Gender Identity Disorder. The person with gender dysphoria or GD at times does not know that he or she have an actual disorder but more of a general discomfort with his or her biological sex. This also creates complications in their everyday life, when they are unable to interpret their feelings or rationalize problems they experience in a social setting (Gender Dysphoria, 2014).

There are many ways in which it is said young individuals learn and adopt gender specific roles such as, parents, peers, media, literature and practitioner interaction. The ideas about how men and women are supposed to act, their strengths and weaknesses and the types of choices they should make can greatly impact a young person’s self-identity. As society changes, its gender expectations often also change to meet the needs of the society. To this end, it has been suggested that androgynous gender roles in which both females and males are expected to display either expressive or instrumental behaviours. However, this is not to say that traditional roles, reversed roles, or anything in between are inherently bad. In the article ‘Liberation: Mother and Me’, B. Elder (1976) paints a salient image of the difference of gender roles with how a mother and a child don’t’ see eye to eye with roles of women in society, influenced by the big generation gap. The gender stereotypes of women back in the day were described as “the all-important person, supplier of food, the provider of clothes and the giver of love” (Elder, 1976). Fewer women back then were aware of the barriers that are restricting them from fulfilling their lives and their duty was to serve their partners and their children. Many generations before were restricted to the

Gender identity display people’s understanding of themselves according to cultural definitions of female and male. In this essay I will attempt to enhance our understanding by exploring different aspects of gender identity, gender roles & sexual identity issues. Relying mostly on my research that is conducted in the U.S.

There are numerous theories regarding the development of one’s gender identity. Gender identity refers how one identifies as either male, female or transgender.

Gender identity is the personal conception of being a man or a woman and the society creates standards and comes up with gender roles basing them on existing norms and traditions which will in turn influence gender identity. For instance, most societies associate strength and dominance to be masculine roles while caring and assisting or subordination known to be feminine roles. This clearly makes gender identity be bred within the society. One’s identity is important as it influences his or her life through events like life experiences, how one is being taken or treated, how to do one associate or socialize with others, the type of job one will have to do and also opportunities that may come up favoring a certain type of gender identity. One is also likely to face obstacles or discrimination due to his or her identity.

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 this paper I will be examining two different psychological positions on gender identity. These positions are; binary gender identity and diverse gender identity. After I have explained both positions I will analyze the two and put forth my argument that diverse gender identity captures a more accurate depiction of gender. This psychologically charged debate over gender identity and its presence in society has taken the form of intuitions over social necessity. In where one side is arguing that traditional binary gender norms are no longer relevant in today’s world, and that binary gender norms are damaging to the cultivation of a happy and healthy society. While the other side argues that traditional binary gender norms