Reflective Assessment : Being That I Am A Sociology Major

being a person whose gender identity is opposite the sex the person had or was

Transgender means having a gender identity that does not correspond to the sex that is on the person’s birth certificate. A transgender woman means that she identifies as a female, but her assigned sex is male. Many people do not know that there is a difference between gender and sex. Gender is what someone inwardly feels that they are more like male or female. Some people are gender fluid, meaning that one day they might feel more like a male and one day they might feel more like a female, or they might feel like they don’t fit on the traditional gender spectrum and have a specific gender. Sex is what is what you are assigned at birth and is on your birth certificate. Most people identify with the same sex they were given at birth, which means that they are cisgender (Blythe B.2).

The book Gender Trouble of Judith Butler, distributed in 1990, required another method for taking a gander at sex and sexual orientation. Instead of the settled manly/female sexual orientation binary, Butler contended that gender ought to be seen as liquid (fluid), variable; the way we act at various times and in various circumstances as opposed to who we are. Butler proposed that by "deconstructing" the way we consider gender we may move towards another fairness where individuals are not confined by manly or female sexual orientation parts. Like women 's activists before her, Butler is worried with achieving more prominent uniformity between men and women, yet her accentuation is distinctive, just like her proposed method for activity. A number of Butler 's contentions and thoughts are fascinating and convincing however she additionally has pundits who see a few constraints with her work.

Through my experiences with people of many backgrounds, as well as my education, I have learned to separate the idea of sex and gender. I still maintain certain traditional views regarding gender, however I’ve come to the realization that the social constructs of men and women are not, and should not, be as rigid. In my opinion, I have acknowledged that there are differences between ‘men’ and ‘women’, however these differences should be used to uplift one another, rather than to tear the other gender apart. For example, a family unit in which the man decides to take on the responsibilities of the

One who claims any gender other than male or female would be considered taboo or highly unusual by our society. Biological sex is often thought to determine one’s gender identity. Though sex and gender align for the mass of our population, there is a minority group that does not feel that they belong to either male or female genders. To understand gender fluidity, one must recognize that sometimes a person’s gender and sex do not align. A person may not feel that their biological sex reflects who they are, they may feel uncomfortable with the expectations and roles placed on them due to their sex. These gender roles are created by social expectations of our western society. Gender roles are merely social constructs, and if one does not want to conform to societies conjectures placed on them due to their biological sex, they should have the freedom to non-conform.

Gender is defined as being a male or female and determines the personalities, genetics and body functions of an individual. Nowadays people have taken something so simple and have almost changed it completely. Men now want to be women, and women want to be men. We live in a world where many people feel as if they are born into the wrong body and need to change their physical appearance to Appeal to others and feel comfortable again. Gender identity is not the same as it used to be and has been taken to a level that is almost life changing.

During the early 1800s into the nineteenth century it was believed that men and women came from two separate spheres. These spheres influenced the way gender roles were shaped and perceived. Suggesting that women belonged in the household, apart of the private sphere and men belonged in the economic world, apart of the public sphere. Men and women were understood to be polar opposites and because of this, women were oppressed. Female sexuality was defined as “passionlessness,” and only for the purpose of reproduction. We learn that women were considered “voracious” for expressing their sexuality however, men were encouraged to express their sexuality as part of maintaining power, prestige, and masculinity. (Cott, 1978, 222). Men

Kidd and Witten define the term transgender vaguely, stating it “describe[s] people who transcend the conventional boundaries of gender, irrespective of physical status or sexual orientation” (Kidd & Witten, 2007, p. 36). This term is a reference for the ‘other gender’ that is not particularly male or female. Currently, within the American society, there is a growing awareness of individuals who are transgender. Much of this awareness comes from LGBT movements and

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,

According to Hagg and Fellows (2007:4), sex generally refers to anatomy and biology such as male or female, whereas gender refers to the qualities and behaviours society expects from a boy or girl, a man or woman. The definition of transgender refers to a person having no identification with, or no presentation as, the gender one was assigned at birth (Hagg and Fellows 2007:4). The definition of transsexual in Hagg and Fellows (2007:4) refers to a person who had undergone a sex change operation or a person identifying with the opposite sex.

Nobody is born with a set gender, the way we walk, talk, and dress gives off the impression of being a man or woman and therefore, gender is performative, or in other words nobody possesses a gender from the beginning of their life. In our daily lives we build models of a set gender through repetition. From the moment a baby is born, the gender of the child has already been set by society. Growing up, they perform the gender they believe they should be based on how they have observed these genders to be. They do this by watching it be performed by their parents and those around them. Over and over we have seen gender being performed in more or less in the same way. The repetition gives us the idea that this is why we should be acting according to our gender.

In this essay I discuss that "doing gender means creating differences between girls and boys and women and men...." (West & Zimmerman 2002:13) I am concentrating on the female perspective, how societyputs forth expectations of what is 'natural' or biological even though, in some cases, it can be quite demeaning and degrading. I am using some examples from the local media and also a few childhoodexperiences that have helped me to now strongly suspect that the quote from Simone Beauvoir (1972) "One is not born a woman, but rather becomes one" most likely has quite a bit of truth to it.

The term ‘gender’ was coined by John Money in 1955: “Gender is used to signify all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself/herself as having the status of a boy or man, girl or woman, respectively” (Coleman and Money, 1991, 13). In

The French feminist Simone de Beauvoir famously declared “one is not born but rather becomes a woman”. Beauvoir’s thesis distinguishes the two categories sex and gender and suggests that while sexuality may be natural and physical, gender is a social construct inculcated through cultural conditioning. Sex is understood as something unalterable, constant, associated with the anatomy whereas gender is the cultural meaning and the form that is ascribed to the body. Despite the fact that gender and sex are distinct from each other unequal power play and sexual politics continues to be important between different gender roles. Beauvoir is also of the view that the prime category of human thought is relation between self and the other. Society

The French feminist Simone de Beauvoir famously declared “one is not born but rather becomes a woman”. Beauvoir’s thesis distinguishes the two categories sex and gender and suggests that while sexuality may be natural and physical, gender is a social construct inculcated through cultural conditioning. Sex is understood as something unalterable, constant, associated with the anatomy whereas gender is the cultural meaning and the form that is ascribed to the body. Despite the fact that gender and sex are distinct from each other unequal power play and sexual politics continues to be important between different gender roles. Beauvoir is also of the view that the prime category of human thought is relation between self and the other. Society