When it comes to gender our society believes it is as straightforward as “how many kidneys do you have?” or “how many eyeballs do you have?” We can all agree that we are born with one of two sexual organs. What we can’t seem to agree on is our personal identity in relation to those organs. Life is a complex cycle full of personal decisions. In the short passage by CJ Pascoe titled “Dude, You’re a fag” there are a few points that coincide with the idea that gender should not be something society chooses for you. Gender is decided by your repeated actions, the way you view yourself and it is affected by how others perceive you. First of all, the issue at hand begins when others decide your gender based off of biological factors. Ideally …show more content…
While someone may look like a male, they are acting as a female because they identify as a female. There is nothing wrong with going against the biological factor you were born with. Society can not force you to be someone who you decide you are not. Evidently, Pascoe has found another study that states that gender is the “activity of managing situated conduct in light of normative conceptions of attitudes and activities appropriate for one’s sex category.”(468) For example, Sam who was born a male, walks down the street with a pink dress and a ponytail. Two guys walk up to her and say that if “he” was born a male “he” should act like one. This type of action scares people into hiding who they really are. I have seen this occur in person and have seen how it negatively affects …show more content…
One of the common words is fag, which is usually said to straight males, but the inference is that they are low, different or queers. Although this word is not said to homosexuals, since the meaning is offensive to gay people you are indirectly affecting them. For example, Pascoe has pointed out an interesting point, “while certain behaviors put all boys at risk for becoming temporarily a fag, some behaviors can be enacted by African American boys without putting them at risk of receiving the label.”(467) This very important point shows that the act of putting others down is something society has come up with. If you are being told one thing and that one thing happens to be negative and spreads, it becomes mainstream and affects a lot of people. Society has to stop acting like the regulators of life, they wouldn’t like it if someone told them how to live, so why should they tell others the same
So if one guy called another guy a “fag” it is not necessarily to say that he is literally gay; it’s a charge that he is not being “a real man”. In essence the word “fag” is not only a homophobic slur, it is a homophobic slur that also attacks behavior as not being masculine. This is why Pascoe used the phrase gendered homophobia throughout the book to describe the masculinity the male students showed on a daily basis.
The determination of my gender identity was preset by my parents giving me the chromosomes XY, gave me an anatomic appearance of a female. Also being reared in a hetero environment had an influence in becoming a female as well. So the relation to the masculinity-femininity continuum is that I posses both traits feminine and masculine. In some situations I tend to carry myself as a caring and soft-spoken female, is typical for feminine behavior. On the other hand I express more masculine attributes like aggressiveness and self-reliance, which is typical for masculine behavior. Both add in the development in determining and sustaining my gender identity. The biological perspective by the way was inherited from my parents and aided in the development of the characteristics in becoming a woman, gender role of nurturing and caring individual, and maternal tendencies in taking care of my child. Then the psychological perspective according to my mother to which she insists that I was a normal girl with particular behaviors toward feminine toys and clothes. As a final point, the social environment offers an insight into the typical social role of an American woman, which was predetermined at birth by my social surroundings (Rathus, Nevid &
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.
In the reading by Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet “Learning to be Gendered” it states “Women are not born, they are made. The same is true of men”. Everybody has their own gender, it’s either a male or female. We think that we were born this way, but in reality we are forced to become something we are not. We are the way we are because of society its self. It affects our daily lives to a point where people have lost the will of choosing who they are or what they want. In some parts around the world it is forbidden to date or marry the same sex. Now days everything is branded for either a male, female, or both.
To your common scientist, the gender you are is determinable by your chromosomes; two x and zero y chromosomes equals female, and one x and one y chromosome equals male. Unfortunately for your average social justice warrior, your mindset does not determine your chromosomes; that does not, however, change the fact that they like to
Yes you may be able to look different physically but in the end your body is only going to function based off of what you truly are. Source D which was written by Ruth Padawer, mentions how parents nowadays struggle with their young children and letting them be who they want to be. To tell you the truth, parents are the main reason for all of the problems with gender these days. If they would just have the courage to say no when their child does something wrong, it wouldn't be as big a problem now. People that live in this generation are focused on nothing
Certain name-callings have had another effect on individuals, rather then making most of them insecure and overachievers. Names like "Fag", "gay", and "homo" are very harsh words to be instilled in someone's mind. "To constantly be told how gay you are, you begin to think you might just be a homosexual". This is a direct quote from someone speaking about his harassment in school. This individual feels after being so brutilly harrassed in high school that perhaps their might be some truth. This interviewee allowed others opinions to go so far that he even began to question his own sexuality. Waking up day after day, and hearing the same remarks about your sexuality over and over again your opinions about yourself begin to change.
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,
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
What is gender and how is gender determined? Gender is the way humans are categorized into a culture and is also the key to the entrance of a society. The two common genders that are recognizable throughout every culture across the world are male and female. Commonly, gender is decided quickly after birth, or sometimes even before birth, by using the parts of one’s anatomy to categorize the new born. What the new born doesn’t know is that once they grow up, they will have to abide by a set of rules to stay in their gender grouping, male or female. All too commonly, though, it can be seen that once the males grow up, they gain a sense of power, this power being one that shadows the females and leaves the females empty handed compared to the males, the so called superior breed. The film No Country for Old Men by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen illustrates that men are dominant over men, but most importantly, men are dominant over women, which parallels with Aaron H. Devor’s essay, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender”. Furthermore, the film presents the idea that when males are given too much power, they turn into a feared monster that is a desired, which is fulfilled by fear and attraction.
Without a critical gendered lens, it’s unlikely that one would even consider the concept of “doing gender”. It’s important to understand that people’s actions are a direct result of socially constructed gender norms. Over time, a person’s actions might feel normal and as if they come naturally, but in reality they are learned actions that result from socially constructed gender norms. People typically don’t consciously think about how they are going to perform their gender, unless they are overtly defying norms to challenge constricting gender/sex norms.
Pascoe explains that what is considered masculine and feminine essentially gender roles is accomplished through day to day interactions. perpetuated in our society and it is why cheerleading is seen as feminine while football is masculine. Pascoe states that “Through imitating a fag, boys assure others that they are not a fag by immediately becoming masculine again after the performance. In other words, calling another boy a Fag makes you a non-fag and hence reassert one’s masculinity. The use of the word fag is essentially about a gendered homophobia not a sexual homophobia because a male can still be considered masculine while also being queer.
It is not the same as sex and it is not the same as women. Gender is determined by the origination of tasks, functions and roles attributed to women and men in society and in public and private life.
Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender. Family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role.
Gender being ‘biologically determined’ means that whether gender is inherited or passed down by genetics. If a person is a man or woman, (which is usually called ‘The Sex’), that is biologically determined because they inherit the chromosomes to be born a man, or to be born as a woman. In the early 1970’s sex was described by “biology as: anatomy, hormones, and physiology” (West and Zimmerman 1987). Apart from gender being a biological factor, there are other things which are not biologically determined; “Gender was an achieved status, which was constructed through psychological, cultural and social means” (West and Zimmerman1987). Hence the answer