preview

Lucal

Satisfactory Essays

Main idea: Gender is a social construction in which individuals are placed into “two and only two” gender categories. Individuals are gendered by their appearances and performances. Certain traits or display of traits are associated with a particular gender and most often we label individuals according to that standards. Lucal explains that she is often mistaken for a man because of her short hair and outfits she wears. It is believed that all individual without proper markers of femininity is assumed to be men. Furthermore, if anyone who does not fit into the either of two gender categories, they are automatically placed into the closer category. When Lucal was at a shopping mall with her friend and her baby, people would automatically …show more content…

Theory: Lucal used Lorber’s gender and social construction to explain that gender is something that we do by learning, not a something that we were born with. Whether we like it or not, we all do and we cannot escape from it. She also used Goffman’s view of gender as a performance to explain different roles she plays and costumes for different parts. She grew her hair out when she was in the market for a job and applied bright fashionable nail polish color when getting on an airplane. These examples can be related to theories of gender difference such as gender as an institution or gender as a rule.
Question: We are living in a place with great diversity. Different cultures have different gender issues, it is safe to ask everyone to conform to the same logic of gender …show more content…

Well written, easy to understand and as a reader, I felt a sense of connection because Lucal used her own experiences. However, I feel that Lucal did not properly show that Lorber’s statement of gender bending does not serve as a tool to break down the gender categories contradicts from her experiences. More often than not she avoided confrontations with people in public to minimize inconvenience. I did not understand why she refused to practice femininity most of the time and not all the time. It seems that she neglected to show true purpose of withdrawing from participating femininity routines. In future research, she can include some quantitative data collection. Perhaps, conducting surveys in public

Get Access