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Alex Cohan
English 115
Professor Beadle
9/17/15
Progression I Essay
Nobody is able to show who they truly are anymore. In todays society, one of the major
ways we classify ourselves is through our gender. From a young age, we are taught to conform to
the expected roles and stereotypes that have been constructed by society. The roles of males and
females have been stereotyped to an extent that it has become a belief. People hold themselves
back from doing something they love because society has made them believe we have to follow
gender norms that we created. There are common themes in Night to His Day by Judith
Lorber, Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender by Aaron Devor, and
experiences from my own life that present gender issues taking place today. Furthermore, we are
raised to believe that everyone is defined by their gender roles and therefore, it is one of the
major ways that human beings lives are controlled.

Most parents create a gendered world for their newborn by naming, birth announcements,
and dress. Even before a child is born, there is tons of thought and work that has to be put into
everything the parents do. Children begin to catch on to how society views them as they grow
up. They apply the appropriate behavior to their actions while they reject what the opposite
gender does. Once gender is attributed, Society holds individuals to strongly gendered norms and
expectations. The childs gender is plays a huge role in the thought process and work that has to
be done. A baby boy would have his room colored blue with toy cars and trucks around the room

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while a girl will have her room painted pink with dolls and a teacup set. In Night to His Day,
Judith Lorber states that A sex category becomes a gender status through naming, dress, and the
use of other gender markers. Once a childs gender is evident, others treat those in one gender
differently from those in the other, and the children respond to the different treatment by feeling
different and behaving differently. There are preset names, outfits, toys, and tons of other
indicators that mark ones gender, and nobody dares to defy it. From the moment we are born, our
life is being organized by our gender through our parents. Becoming Members of Society, states
that Very young children learn their cultures social definitions of gender and gender identity at
the same time that they learn what gender behaviors are appropriate for them. But they only
gradually come to understand the meaning of gender in the same way as adults of their society
do. This is stating that a child will understand his or her gender placement very early, but it will
take them a much longer time to understand why we are classified in these different ways and to
gain a more advanced perspective on it. The children are just understanding based on what they
see in their society instead of what it really means.

In just about every culture, men are expected to be the caretakers of the family. In the
Persian community that I come from, this is no different. Throughout my life, I have always had
the same, if not, more freedom than my older sister. Even though I am four years younger than
her, my parents know that I will be the one providing for my own family one day, so they give
me the freedom now so I can gain the experience for later. Whether it was a matter of curfew,
friends, or any sort of rule overall, my parents were just more understanding with me than they
were with my sister. A general stereotype that many think of is the fact that men are supposed to
be the ones taking care of the girls, therefore some believe that men should have more freedom

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and the ability to venture out to gain more real world experience. At the same time, women are
expected to be nurturers (for their children), so they should be expected to stay at home and
not go out like the men.

In many ways, I have performed my gender role as a male through my passion for cars,
love for going to the gym, fights with my other male friends while my female friends would just
raise their voice a little bit if they were angry. On another hand, I also feel like I, and many other
males today are showing their emotions more often. Whenever someone even hears the word
emotion, they immediately think of a girl. Boys are known to hide their emotions and try and
always keep a straight face. I will show how I am truly feeling much more often than the
stereotypical man.

There are two ways people are chosen for different tasks of society; one is on basis of
talents, motivations, and competence, and the other is on the bases of gender, race, and ethnicity.
No matter what our age, gender is always playing a massive role in the way we are seen and
treated. To many, it seems like there are specific jobs made for specific genders. When the
average person thinks of a police officer, they will create an image in their head of a male figure.
When the average person thinks of a dancer, they will think of a female figure. In Becoming
Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender, Aaron Devor states that Gender
identities act as cognitive filtering devices guiding people to attend to and learn gender role
behaviors appropriate to their statuses. It is this claim that gives people the fear of rejection if
they go against the norm that society has created for us. Devor also writes that To the degree

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that children absorb the generalized standards of society into their personal concept of what is
correct behavior, they can be said to hold within themselves the attitude of the generalized
other. Some may hold in a whole new side to them that their peers have never seen before
purely because he or she feels obligated to follow the role of his or her sex.

In some cases, people will be afraid to show who they really are or what they really want
to do because of their gender. Im not only talking about the rather scarce case when a man
would feel more comfortable as a woman or vice versa, but even with a person who has an
interest or hobby and he or she wants to take it to the next level. An example of this is if a girl
wants to become a racecar driver, but does not have the courage because she knows that society
will look down upon her. Since boys have been raised loving action, cars and violence, it is wired
into our heads that we should continue following this path while girls follow their own. The
same thing can easily happen with a boy. He may want to dance ballet, but will never get the
chance because he feels uncomfortable and/or knows that he will be humiliated by others.

Overall, there are numerous stereotypes about both genders, but the real issue is that
people actually believe in it. While most stereotypes are seen as an exaggeration, the ones going
around about gender have become a way of life for humanity and it can make some feel very
uncomfortable in their skin. While sex refers to biological differences, gender describes the
characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine. At birth, we are
given our sex (or even before our birth), but through this definition gender should be a choice
and society should construct that for us. If somebody wants to mix aspects of both genders, they

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should have the right to do that without being looked down upon. In conclusion, I hope that we
can one day live in a world where nobody is afraid of judgement and there equality between both
genders. Most believe that women are the ones fighting for this impartiality, but in actuality,
gender stereotypes can affect anyone.

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Devor, Aaron. "Becoming Members of Society: The Social Construction of Gender." Composing
Gender. By Rachael Groner and John F. O'Hara. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.

Lorber, Judith. "Night to His Day." Composing Gender. By Rachael Groner and John F. O'Hara.
N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.

"What Is the Difference between Sex and Gender?" Monash University. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept.
2015.

Dreger, Alice. "The Social Construction of Sex." Pacific Standard. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2015.

"Yes, Gender Equality Is A Men's Issue." Fast Company. N.p., 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 12 Sept.
2015.