Beitdashtoo1

AndrewBeitdashtoo
ProfessorBeadle
English115
8December2015
Gender:IDPlease!
Sincebirth,allhumansareclassifiedasmaleorfemalebasedontheirgenitaliathisisa
resultofsexcategorization.Mostpeoplebelievethatsomeone'ssexandgenderareequivalentin
nature,butinreality,thatisjustamisconception.Sexisbiological.Forexample,whenachildis
born,hisorhersexdependsontheirsetofgenitalia.Ifthenewbornhasapenis,hissexis
categorizedasmale,butifthechildhasavagina,hersexiscategorizedasfemale.Gender,
however,issociallyconstructed.Itiscreatedbythewayapersondresses,speaks,walks,or
gesturesinthewaysprescribedforwomenormen.Inotherwords,genderishowoneidentifies
themselves.
Genderrolesshouldbeversatileinsocietybecausetheyallowindividualsthe
freedomofidentificationandthefreedomofexpression.
Inthebook
ComposingGender
byRachaelGronerandJohnF.OHara,onecanfind
manydifferentarticlesrelatingtobothsexandgenderinordertoclarifythemeaningofboth
terms.Acommonidearelatingtoafewofthearticlesisthatsocietyhasexpectationstowardsa
person'ssexandgenderrelationship.
Themainfunctionofthesearticlesistodiscusssociety's
viewsofdifferentsexesidentifyingthemselvesasdifferentgenders.Theyalsodiscusshow
genderiscreatedandaffectedaswellastalkaboutthenaturalbiologyofsex.
Forexample,The
articlesthatsharethecommonideaofgenderrolesincludeBecomingMembersofSociety:The
SocialMeaningsofGenderbyAaronDevorandNighttoHisDaybyJudithLorber.Society

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expectstoseestereotypicalwaysoflivingdependingonwhetherornotapersonisamaleor
female.Malesareexpectedtoactmasculineandfemalesareexpectedtoactfeminine.Ifbothof
thesesexsdonotfitintotheirpropergenderroles,theyarelookeddownuponbyfriends,
family,strangers,andlovedones.
Peopleareallborneithermaleorfemale,andtheyareusuallyaddressedbythosetwo
labels
.The
labelsof
maleandfemale
arecreated
fromthephysicalcharacteristicsofone's
genitalia.Sincethisisacommonconception,manycalleachothermaleorfemalebasedoneach
other'sphysicalattributes,butthatdoesnottechnicallycreatesomeone'sgender.Whenitcomes
togender,mostpeoplefindithardtobelievethatgenderisconstantlycreatedandrecreated
outofhumaninteraction,outofsociallife,andisthetextureandorderofthatsociallife
(Lorber).Inthiscase,someonecouldbeagirlorboybutcouldidentifythemselvesastheother.
Whenitcomestogenderroles,somecouldbeidentifyingthemselvesasaspecificgender
permanently,orsomecouldberesemblingaspecificgenderforashorttime.Forexample,the
authorofNighttoHisDay:TheSocialConstructionofGenderstatesthatshewasonthe
subwayandsawamanwithatinybabyinacarrieronhischest(Lorber
19
).Thisquotationis
aperfectexampleofresemblinggenderforashorttimebydescribinga
fatherperforming
femininity
bytakingcareofandcarryingababyonhischest.
Lorberthendiscussesthebabyand
statesthatyoucouldnttellifitwasaboyoragirl(Lorber20)untilthefatherputaYankee
baseballcaponthechildshead.(Lorber20).JudithLorberthenfiguredthatthechildmustbea
boyuntilshesawthechild'searrings,provingthatsheisafemale.Thisshowsthatappearance
canaffectone'sgenderidentityandsexualrepresentation,evenifdoneunintentionally.
Relating
tothisexampleistheconstantbattleofsex,masculinity,andfemininity.Themainwayaperson

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canidentifytheirgenderroleisbytheirownactions.Theseactionscaneitherbemasculineor
feminine,andtheyareproducedbydifferentfeelings,consciousness,relationships,andskills
(Lorber).Acommonmisconceptionaboutmasculinityandfemininityisthatifaperson,for
exampleamale,isactingfemininetheyareexpectedtoidentifythemselvesasawomanorgay.
Thisisfalsehoweverbecausedifferentthingscanbeenjoyedbydifferentpeoplewithout
affectingtheirgenderidentity,whichleadstothefreedomofexpression.
Whethersomeoneidentifiesthemselvesasman,woman,masculine,orfeminine,they
stillhavethefreedomtoexpressthemselves
throughtheirgenderidentity.Thiscanleadtoones
actions,clothing,andtastescausingafreedomofidentitywiththehelpofgenderroles.
Aaron
Devor,theauthorofBecomingMembersofSociety,explainsthetypicaldefinitionof
masculinityandfemininityinhisarticle.Masculinecharacteristicsareusedtoidentifypersons
asmales,whilefeminineonesareusedassignifiersforfemaleness(Devor).Basedonthe
previousquote,thereadercouldgetageneralunderstandingofwhatsocietythinksaboutthe
rolesofmasculinityandfemininity.
Forexample,majorityofsocietyexpectsmalestoperform
masculineactssuchassportsaswellasotherstoprovideasenseofbraveryanddominance.
Theyalsoexpectwomentobephysicallyandemotionallyweakwhichcausesthemtobe
dependentonamale.
However,theclaimthatDevorstatescouldbeconsideredinvalid.For
example,therecouldbemales,whoidentifythemselvesasmen,butareinterestedinfeminine
activitiessuchasshoppingorhavingfemininetraitssuchasbeingemotional.Ontheotherhand,
therecouldalsobefemales,whoidentifythemselvesaswomen,butareinterestedinmasculine
traitsandactivitiessuchassportsandleadership.

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Inadditiontothefreedomofexpression,peoplehavethe
freedom
todress,speak,and
enjoywhatevercolortheywouldlike.Allthreeofthoseactivitiescanbeinterchangeablewithin
anygenderandsexanddonotlimitthemselvestooneortheother.Beginningwithdressing,
peopleviewclothesasawaytoexpresstheirinnerselfbyanexternalviewpoint.Peoplehavethe
righttowalkintoastoreandbuywhatevertheypleasetowearsincethereis
nolimitationof
cautionaryobjectsthatdiscusswhatclothingdifferentgenderscanorcannotwear.
Forexample,
ifamaleidentifieshimselfasafemale,hehasthe
freedom
tobuyfeminineclothessuchas
leggings,shoesanddresses.Awomancanalsodressherselfupinmasculineclothesifthatis
howshechoosestoidentifyherself.Italldependsontheperson'sgenderidentity,taste,and
thoughts.Anotherwayinwhichpeoplecanexpresstheirgenderrolesarebytheirspeech.For
example,afemalewhoidentifiesherselfasamancouldtalkinadeepervoiceoruseslangthata
malewouldnormallyuse,ratherthanspeakinafemininetypeway.Amalewhoidentifies
himselfasawomancanalsousespeechtoexpresshimselfbyspeakinginahighpitchvoiceor
inastereotypicalfeminineway.Colorcanalsoexpressone'sgender.Forexample,pinkisseen
asafemininecolorandblueisseenasamasculinecolor.
Somemaysaythatgendershouldnotbe
fluid
insociety.Manybelievethatgenderroles
shouldstaywithintheproper
divisions
ofsex.Thereasonwhytheybelievethisistrueisbecause
mostAmericanswereraisedbyparentswhowantedtheirchildrentogrowupidentifying
themselvesastheirnaturalsexandgender.EmilyW.KanewroteanarticlecalledNoWayMy
BoysAreGoingToBeLikeThat:ParentsResponsestoChildrensGenderNonconformity.In
thisarticle,Kaneinterviewedmothersandfathersinordertofindouthowparentsfeelabout
theirchildren'sgenderidentification.Bydoingso,shealsofoundtherootofcraftedgender

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identities.Throughouttheinterviews,theparentsdiscusshowtheytrytokeeptheirchildrenin
theirpropergenderroles.Forexample,theparentstalkedaboutclothes,colors,andtoysinorder
tokeeptheirchildinanormalgenderrole.OnefatherevensaidIf[he]weretobegay,it
wouldnotmakemehappyatall.Iwouldprobablyseethatasafailureasadad(Kane).This
provesthatthemainreasonastowhysocietyexpectsotherstostayintheirpropergenderroles
isbecauseoftheirownparentsideas.Ratherthanbasingouropinionsoffofourparents
thoughts,societywouldbemuchmoreunderstanding,acceptable,andcaringtowardsdifferent
genderidentities.
Iidentifymyselfasamalewhoisnotfullymasculine.I,aswellasmyfriends,findthis
perfectlyfine.ThereasonastowhyImaynotseemmasculineisbecauseIamconsideredan
emotionalman.Insomepeople'seyes,thisisviewedasnormal,butinthemajorityofsociety,
thisisconsideredfeminine.Peopleareraisedtobelievecertainthingsthatarenottrueand
shouldlearntothinkforthemselves.Stereotypesarenotalwaystrueandthereforetheycanlead
tomisconceptions.
Inconclusion,genderrolesarecreatedbyone'sspecificidentityandviewpoints.Gender
rolesareimportantinsocietybecausetheyallowthefreedomofidentityandexpressiontobring
outone'struecolors.However,societyseemstogoagainstthecommonideaoffreedom.I
believethatpeopleshouldstartthinkingforthemselvesanddroptheideaofastereotypical
genderrole.Differentpeoplelikedifferentthings,andduetothisfactitisnotunreasonableto
understandwhygenderrolesshouldbeversatile.Intheend,weareallhumansandweidentify
ourselvesaswhowetrulyare,regardlessofwhatotherstellustobe.Peopleshouldshowtheir
truecolorstoexpressandidentify,inordertobrightensocietyitself,aswellasitsfuture.

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WorksCited
Devor,Aaron.
BecomingMembersofSociety:TheSocialMeaningsofGender.
Print
Groner,Rachel,andJohnF.O'Hara.
ComposingGender:ABedfordSpotlightReader
.Boston:
Bedford/St.Martin's,2014.Print
Kane,W.Emily
NoWayMyBoysAreGoingtoBeLikeThat:ParentsResponsesto
ChildrensGenderNonconformity
Print.
Lorber,Judith.
NighttoHisDay:TheSocialConstructionofGender.
Print.

Beitdashtoo7
WritingLabVisit
OnSeptember16th,IvisitedtheLearningResourceCenterandmetupwithArpine,a
tutorfromCSUN.IfilledoutaformwithmygeneralinformationandIwaswalkedtoatable
whereIfoundmytutor.Igaveheraquickintroductiontowhattheessayisaboutandalso
showedherthewritingpromptinstructionsfrommoodle.Ithentookoutmyroughdraft,aswell
asthebook
ComposingGender
,andwegottowork.ItoldArpinethatIneededsomehelp
polishinguptheintroduction,creatingacounterargument,andfinalizingtheconclusion.Arpine
suggestedthatsomeofmysentencesshouldbeshorterandstraighttothepoint.Shealsotaught
meamethodcalledFANBOYSwhichstandsforfor,and,nor,but,or,yet,so.Ilearnedthat
ifyoueverwanttoaddacomma,youshouldtrytoincludeoneofthosesevenwords.Wealso
discussedarticlesthatcanhelpsupportmycounterargument.Ialsotoldherapersonalstoryand
webeganbrainstormingideasaboutwhatIcanincludeinmypersonalstorysegmentofthe
essay.Finally,sheaidedmeinbuildingtheproperstructureforaconclusionaswellassetup
thoughtsandideasthatcanhelpfinalizemyentireessay.