According to Professor Heather Paxson (2006) of MIT, gender refers to the characteristics that differentiate men and women’s behaviors and it includes value judgments connected to masculinity and femininity and everything in between. However, as one learns more and more about gender, they question the necessity of gender and even its existence. In the piece X: A Fabulous Child’s Story by Lois Gould (1978 or 2006) gender is portrayed as unimportant in order to have a good life; gender doesn’t matter. It shows that people have a need to categorize everything into groups because if they don’t, the unknown lingers in their minds and they fear it. People fear the unknown and the different, therefore they fear any gender other than the binary. But…
In the article "Sweeping Away Gender-Specific Toys and Labels" writer Hiroko Tabuchi explains how many companies and manufacturers are now changing their products for all genders. This is a big step in our society because normally some toys and costumes can be seen as targeted towards one gender. For example, the Barbie dolls are a children's toy that could be seen as a toy only for girls and if our society can change on how it sees these types of toys, then in the future it will be more common for boys to be playing with these toys. Companies like Target and Toys R Us have taken some initiatives in removing gender labels for toys intended for children. Even though they removed the gender labels, toys that could be seen intended…
Not knowing the definition of terms has caused the creation of stigmas and stereotypes that reveal more than just the obvious logical fallacy in the mindset of the modern global society. Gender is a simple concept to understand if it is considered without previous influence from respective cultures. Gender is defined by The Gender Book as “Part of a person’s identity. Specific attributes can be gendered like behavior, voice, clothing, haircut, and social roles…We get messages about what it means to be masculine or feminine from our society. These change over…
GENDER: is the range of mental, physical and behavioral characteristics that distinguish between male “masculinity” and female “femininity”.…
The media plays a major role in the way we perceive certain things. When the discussion of gender arises, we already have an idea of what is deemed as normal. Gender is something that controls our everyday lives, whether we realize it or not. Gender is a very interesting term that is determined when the sex of the human is known. The sex of a person is found due to a number of factors, which are psychological and biological. Gender is achieved through cultural and societal influences. With that being said, gender can be viewed as a mass idea that is acceptable by society. In each country, the meaning of gender has its’ unique differences. Men are expected to live a masculine lifestyle while women are expected to be feminine. These acts are the final determination of society’s view of a real male or female. The United States contains strong values when discussing the topic of gender. Before human life begins, gender is already being ascribed. For example, if a male child is being born into the world, the parents will obviously buy clothes related to male gender roles. What does a boy wear? What color is suitable for a boy? These are questions that many people have based on societal views. There are expectations that must be…
Halloween night is often a fun night filled with candy, friends, and fun costumes. While the night may be fun for you and your family, it might not be so fun for your pet. In fact, Halloween is one of the more dangerous holidays of the year for pets because it takes place at night. So no matter your plans, make sure your pet is safe for the night by following these four tips:…
Sex is the biological identity of a human being, “The criteria for classification can be genitalia at birth or chromosomal typing…” (West and Zimmerman, 2015). Sex category is determined through the sex criteria although, according to west and Zimmerman, a person may classify themselves in a specific sex category even though they do not have the sex criteria for that category. Gender is the agreed upon way one person should present themselves if they identify in a specific category (masculinity and femininity). Hegemonic masculinity is dictated through the three societal standards that are put in our heads as a baby. Whether it is the cars and trucks to the guns and swords little boys get; we see masculinity being something in which is taught at a young…
“Gender”, as thought of by many people as simply being either “male” or “female”, refers to the social statuses and cultural attributes associated with being male or female (Soc 1001 Lecture 24, Social Construction of Sexuality) and not strictly the different biological distinction. “Sex” is the biological distinction which includes physical differences in the process of reproduction (Soc 1001 Lecture 22, The Social Construction of Gender). Gender is a process that starts even before a child is born and is constantly changed by societal demands and pressures of acting and dressing in one way or the other depending on what gender one defines…
Throughout the decades, human beings from a small age start learning the characteristics of a male and female. Whether it is from media, clothing and to the way one is brought up, society has similar views of what it means to be a man or a women. Men are envisioned to be strong, aggressive, successful, and someone who avoids feminine characteristics. Women are perceived to be submissive, delicate, passive, dependent, vulnerable, having the ability to care for children and at times worthless. These views of gender identity have been engraved in humanities minds due to the amount of exposure to television, advertisements and the way one is raised in their households.…
Gender is the wide set of characteristics that distinguish between male and female entities, extending from one's biological sex to, in humans, one's social role or gender identity.…
In Composing Gender by Rachel Groner and John F. O’Hara, there is the discussion of how society shapes gender and imposes gender roles on children, even before they are born, through simple things such as names and gender-themed baby showers. Many people think of anatomy equaling gender, however it is not that simple. Gender is more than just the boy and girl binary. It is the way that different toys are separated into “girl sections” which are typically all pink and “boy sections” which are typically blue. From an early age, society separates boys and girls by gendering things such as names and products. In 1972, there was an article published by Ms. Magazine, written by Lois Gould, about how it is always a battle for a child to not fall into stereotypical gender roles. Her idea for an experiment of raising an androgynous child could change the way society sees gender, if it were to ever be carried out. It made me…
D.3) Third, I will discuss a major way in which the roots of the Holiday’s culture is increasing in popularity.…
In its modernity, Halloween is the only day out of the entire year where a person is encouraged to be someone wildly different from themselves, with (almost) no negative repercussions. Thus, people tend to outdo themselves when it comes to crafting their "persona" for the night, taking much of their inspiration from movies, video games, the news, and even Internet memes to build the greatest costumes.…
Recently, Women’s March, a worldwide protest that emphasis on advocating women’s rights and other human rights, has remarkably attracts media and public attention. In the end, these significant events have proven how gender stereotypes have become major concern that receives close attention. Classifying gender as binary has resulted in gender stereotypes and discrimination. In order to get rid of the gender stereotypes that are harmful to the society, people need to be more open-minded and be willing to perceive gender classification in a different perspective. Most of the time, children are raised in societies where there is either black or white perspectives on gender, and they are expected to adhere to the rigid gender roles that have been formed and shaped by the society. Media and industry market target specifically at boys and girls using gender advertising and gender-specific products. For instance, toys companies will take advantage of the use of pink and blue color wrapping paper to attract and manipulate children’s perception on their preference of…
Gender role has been defined in various ways; for example, it has included a person’s preference for, or adoption of, behavioral characteristics or endorsement of personality traits that are linked to cultural notions of masculinity and femininity. Depending on which parent a child identifies this can provide its own identifier towards which gender role a child will attach themselves to. In childhood, gender roles have been commonly indexed and operationalized with regard to several constraints: peer preferences, toy interests, roles in fantasy play, etcetera. When children are asked “what identifies them as a boy or a girl” children often respond that it is there clothing and not their abilities. (Kerr, Multon, 2015)…