Synthesis Essay On Gender Identity

Gender identity and the process by which children come to learn more about themselves has been a strongly debated topic as of late, especially due to our recent election and repeals of various bills and laws that were put into effect in order better protect children identifying as art of the LGBT community. However, gender policing negatively affects children with cis-het identities as well, especially through the “sex-category sorting process” observed by Michael Messner. Gender segregation and reinforcement of traditional gender roles is common in our current society. Although society enforces arbitrary gender rules, this continuous gender policing negatively affects society, especially youth. As long as younger generations are confined by rigidly traditional upbringings, gendered language and
It is a common occurrence for children to confide in each other when they feel uncomfortable or even downright unsafe in their own home, and the reoccurring theme is often parents’ act of imposing rules on their children which take away their individuality and sense of freedom and safety. Reasoning behind enforcement of these arbitrary rules is usually centered on the social expectation for a child to act a certain way according to their gender, and any deviation from this expectation is met with scorn and belief that the parent has somehow done something wrong, bringing shame upon said parent. Judith Lorber, in her essay “’Night to His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender”, discusses the “assignment to a sex category” starting from birth, which dictates how children are to be displayed to the public in order to be considered normal. This assignment is what leads parents to dress their children differently based on their biological sex, such as piercing a girl’s ears or not buying pink for boys. In her essay, Lorber uses the example of pierced ears and flowered sneakers on a