None Of The Above Gender Analysis

Over the past 200 years sexual liberation and freedom have become topics of discussions prevalent within western culture and society. With the recent exploration of sexuality a new concept of sexual and gender identity has emerged and is being analyzed in various fields of study. The ideology behind what defines gender and how society explains sex beyond biology has changed at a rapid pace. In response various attempts to create specific and catch all definitions of growing gender and sexual minorities has been on going. This has resulted in the concept of gender becoming a multi- layered shifting hypothesis to which society is adapting. Since the 19th-century, philosophers and theorists have continued to scrutinize gender beyond biological and social interpretation. Margaret Atwood 's The Handmaid 's Tale captures the limitations and social implications forced upon a set gender based on societal expectations. Gender is a social construct that limits the individual to the restrictions and traditions of a society, or if it’s an individually formed self-identification of sex and sexuality that is formed autonomously. Evidence of gender establishment can be seen within literary works and supported by various schools of gender and sexuality theory.

Culture often thrives off of polar opposites—hot and cold, bitter and sweet, male and female. By setting up these opposing constructs, one can easily find a set definition for each. A hot surface could scorch someone or a cold temperature could cause them to shiver. In the same way, a bitter substance would be less enjoyable to eat than a sweet one. These terms are often defined by mentioning their antitheses. Because it’s comfortable to embrace specificity and certainty, topics such as gender and gender expression often get simplified into binary existences—however, they don’t quite operate under the same parameters. In an essay entitled “Bad Feminist”, Dr. Roxane Gay explores and warns against the dangers of binary thinking. Throughout

We live in a society where for decades we have been socialized to believe that there are only two genders: male and female. The idea of gender is socially constructed. Society and culture create gender roles and through those roles we all learn to enact our specific roles. With this in mind, this essay will seek to examine how gender shapes the structural and lived experiences of Chicanxs and Latinxs in the U.S. This essay will draw from Abrego, Acosta, Ocampo, and the documentary “No mas bebés” to see how gender affects an individual’s experiences in the U.S.

Today in society it can be agreed that women have indeed gained many rights that were not accessible to them 100 years before. Although, despite the mentality that men and women are treated equally there are still very many discrepancies between the treatment of genders. Many of which can be attributed to the expectations placed on the genders, gender roles between both genders, and women in the workplace. These issues have caused a great rift to form between the genders, a rift that has caused one gender to claim dominance over the other and this can develop a sense of inferiority by the submissive gender.

In this novel, one could say that the main character, Carrie, is ‘not like other girls’— she’s overweight, with greasy hair and uncontrolled acne. In fact, the novel notes that her excess weight resulted in part from the bullying when her description states that “she felt so miserable…the only way to fill that…hole was to eat” (King 39). She doesn’t have many friends and is the complete opposite of a ‘Cosmo Girl’. In the words of the school coach, “She [had always been] the group scapegoat” (King 21). From her description in the novel, a reader can see that in terms of gender and gender roles, she was not very “feminine”. In 1981, the Journal of Sex Research came out with a study that categorized the results of certain combinations of “low-feminine” preferences in a household could affect it. In the case of Carrie’s household, according to the study, one could characterize Carrie’s bible-thumping mother as having “low-feminine identification”, as she often took the masculine role of disciplining her child. Carrie also had “low-feminine identification”, seen by her carelessness of her appearance. The study falls parallel to the argument that women propelled their own anguish as it says that “A frustrating and rejecting mother, one who keeps her distance between herself and her daughter, may cause such weak

The idea of human traits and physical characteristics being masculine or feminine has always been socially constructed, however, there is no denying that men and women look different. The different physical attributes a male and a female have are due to the hormones in their bodies. The novella “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” by James Tiptree Jr. presents a man named Andy. Andy was born biologically female, however, went under androgen therapy in order to present masculine and physically be fully male. Andy’s masculine features are attributed to this process, even though they do not typically correlate with the sex Andy was assigned at birth. Many see this technology as far-fetched and fiction because of it’s prevalence in Tiptree Jr’s wild

In the fifth and sixth chapters of Sandra Bem’s book The Lenses of Gender (1993), Bem discusses how androcentrism, and gender polarization contribute to one’s gender identity.

Imagine living in a world where not knowing what’s under a person’s pants didn’t get under people’s skin because such private matters had never been a public thing. In an article from The Globe and Mail titled, “The genderless baby? Well-intentioned but wrong”, author, Judith Timson, criticizes the parents of the aforementioned baby, Storm, and their decision to hide Storm’s gender. Brandishing the words of Lady Gaga as if she were a credible source of research, Timson argues that Storm’s parents are depriving the child of a sexual and gender identity by keeping his or her sex a secret. However, as valid as Timson’s concerns are towards this controversial decision, it is important to note that Storm’s parents are not depriving Storm of his/her sex and consequently, Storm’s sexual/gender identity. If anything, the constant input of the public is the main struggle Storm will face in the exploration and development of his/her identity. Therefore, the genderless baby at the center of this societal storm, is not so much in risk of being deprived an identity as Timson contends, rather the child is at risk of being denied one.

In Whipping Girl, the author writes about her sexuality, declaring, “In my case, I went from being a straight man to a lesbian woman in the eyes of the world.” (Serano 87) Since Serano was attracted to women, for her, transitioning meant not only losing cisgender and male privilege, but heterosexual privilege as well (Serano 87). This complicated her identity as a trans women for many outsiders since, as previously mentioned, many believe that trans people transition in order to gain access to heterosexuality. This is reflected when Serano later describes, “As a dyke-dentified trans woman, the most common question I’m asked when I do trans outreach presentations is, ‘Why did you change your sex if you are attracted to women?’ Essentially, what these people are asking me is why on earth would I choose to be a woman if not to attract and appease the desires of heterosexual men?” (260) This account displays how trans sexualities become presumed or erased in order to support a model that suggests their reasons for transitioning have to do with gaining heterosexual privilege (Serano 260). Looking at questions such as those posed to and by Serano in this excerpt represents how the presence of homosexuality in transgender people can often be

In the documentary Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She, the prejudices towards transgender and intersex individuals, as well as the fear they experience because of these prejudices, are underlined. A transgender individual is one that identifies with a gender that is not associated with their biological sex. An intersexual individual, however, is one that is born with indefinite sexual anatomical characteristics, making it difficult to identify as a male or female (Croteau & Hoynes, 2013). In addition, this documentary emphasizes the impact of cultural expectations on sexual orientation and gender identification.

Cheryl Chase article “Affronting Reason” and “Beards, Breast, and Bodies Doing Sex in a Gendered World” by Raine Dozier both illustrates the struggles of intersex and transgender face in society. Cheryl article focus on a child who is born intersex and now is dealing with her parents' decision of having a clitorectomy surgery. In Breads, Breast, and Bodies we see how transgender female to male dealt with society at a new point of view. Both stories reflect on the negativities each individual faced and also rise above the norm to embrace their new identity. Betray can cause trusting issue amongst one another, especially when that person is a family member.

At our inception we are simply biotic matter without any sense of gender. However as we age, our sense of gender beyond the objective view of our biology reminds us that men are different from women. Are we truly different entirely from one another, or are the differences in gender brought about by our social interactions? Drawing on the works of authors of Anna Quindlen, Virginia Woolf, and Cathy Song, it is apparent that these divides are not rooted in our genetics. Although, on the surface, they agree that socialization is a cause of gender difference, they convey different meanings for our expectations concerning gender. Woolf’s claim is without an outlet by which women can escape the gender expectations society expects of them, which reinforces

My family would be considered a middle class family. We are mainly a small farm based family. At this point in time, the farming economy is relatively low compared to the nation’s higher stander of living. As I’ve grown up, I’ve realized that big farmers do very well and it is very hard for small farmers to rise any higher on the totem pole. For the most part, my family is doing well. We are able to receive the health and benefits that we need and my parents have been able to get my siblings and I the items we’ve needed for school, sports, and other things without any trouble. However, we still have to work hard for everything that we do. My parents both have jobs of their own, but have never forced us to get jobs in high school. The income that my parents were making was enough that we weren’t in desperate need of money. My parents believe we will be able to work the rest of our lives. My family’s social class has influenced my future career choice drastically. I’ve decided to pursue a career in the dental field, because I would like to access an upward movement in social mobility as the standard of living rises in the nation.

In Third sex, Third Gender, Gilbert Herdt states that the criteria of a hermaphrodite defines “a symbolic niche and a social pathway of development into later adult life distinctly different from the cultural life plan set out by a model based on male/female duality” (68). He insists that hermaphrodites defy the norm of society in not just a physical way, but culturally. The impact of this gender differentiation is a “victory of nature over culture” and a “triumph of the third sex” (Herdt 68). To illustrate the torment and humiliation hermaphrodites faced prior to their societal acceptance, is the following story of a

They preferred male activities with male company and expressed more interest in a career than in having a family.” (G.C Davenport, ESSENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY, chapter five, page 116.) When a child is born their gender role (set of expectations to say how they should think, act, feel.) is based on their gender identity (sense of being male/female), which is usually based on what sex the child’s genitalia reflects. When we look at children who have Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, it is interesting to see that some individuals develop in a feminine direction and acquire a sense of identity as female but others are brought up as males. The child’s upbringing was based purely on judgements about their genitals,