Essay Gender Identity - 1902 Words

Gender Identity Gender identity is an extremely relevant topic today. Many people have their own ideas on what is right and what is wrong for each gender to act, and these people are very vocal and opinionated about their ideas. One recent controversial story about gender identity was when a couple refused to tell anybody whether their child named Storm was a boy or a girl. Their oldest child, Jazz, who was originally born male, â€Å"always gravitated to dresses, the colour pink and opted for long hair often fixed into braids† (Poisson, 2013). Jazz now asks to be called â€Å"she†, and her experiences with gender identity are what inspired her parents to raise Storm as a gender neutral child. People were so upset over this decision that it sparked†¦show more content†¦During this stage comes the Oedipus complex which in his theory is a significant part of child development. Before the Oedipus stage, there is only the direct relationship between the child and t he mother. When the Oedipus stage arrives, the father comes into play (Flitterman-Lewis, 1992, p. 205). The same sex parent becomes a rival for the child because the child desires the parent of the opposite sex, but the same sex parent is in the way. From fear of castration, a boy will repress his desires for his mother and identify with the father and therefore develop masculine traits. The girl realizes she is already castrated and represses her desires for her father and identifies with the mother, causing her to have feminine traits. Although this theory seems sexist, Flitterman-Lewis justifies Freud’s theory by saying that the Oedipus complex signifies the transformation of the child developing its own identity as part of society. She also claims that the fear of castration and the Oedipus complex are â€Å"symbols for the way in which a given culture imposes its rules and order on all of us† (Flitterman-Lewis, 1992, p. 206), and that a child develops their identi ty as a result of these imposed rules. In response to Freud’s theory, Jacques Lacan developed his own theory where the unconscious â€Å"is structured like a language†Show MoreRelatedGender And Gender Identity And Development1303 Words   |  6 Pagesthroughout the years. However, gender identity and development is something that has been both misunderstood and misconstrued by people for quite some time. The differences between â€Å"gender† and â€Å"sex† is quite vast. According to John Carl: Gender is defined as the personal traits and position in society connected with being male or female. For instance, wearing high heels is associated with the female gender, while wearing combat boots is associated with the male gender. Gender is different from sex becauseRead MoreGender And : Gender Identity Disorder1287 Words   |  6 PagesGender Dysphoria, formerly known as Gender Identity Disorder, is described by the DSM-IV as a persistent and strong cross-gender identification and a persistent unease with ones sex. However, gender identity is not diagnosed as such if it is comorbid with a physical intersex condition. Gender dysphoria is not to be confused with sexual orientation, as people with gender dysphoria could be attracted to men, women, or both. According to an article written by, Australasian Sciences there are fourRead MoreThe Concept of Gender and Gender Identity1223 Words   |  5 Pages I am interested in the concept of gender and the deeper meaning of being considered a transgendered person. I feel that a lot of people do not know or care to know about these topics on a more in depth level. People who close their eyes to the idea that a person could be born with the physical aspects of a male yet have the psychological aspects of a female and vice versa, tend to be the ones who say that those people are going against nature or god. Discriminating against people on the principlesRead MoreGender And Gender Identity Disorder2178 Words   |  9 Pageswe re born, our gender identity is no secret. We re either a boy or a girl. Gender organizes our world into pink or blue. As we grow up, most of us naturally fit into our gender roles. Girls wear dresses and play with dolls. For boys, it s pants and trucks.† (Goldbur g, A.2007) However, for some, this is not the case. Imagine for a moment that you are a two year old boy drawn to the color pink, make up, and skirts. If this is the case than most likely, you are experiencing Gender Dysphoria, otherwiseRead MoreGender Identity Essay965 Words   |  4 PagesGender Identity Society should be more open minded with the topic of gender identity. Our society does not like rapid changes when they are publicly made; there is always a dispute or an opposition against those unexpected changes. The LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual) community is the â€Å"rapid change† that society finds difficult to deal with. Although, this community has always existed, but it has never been publicly recognized like it is today. Gender IdentityRead MoreGender And Gender Identity1648 Words   |  7 PagesIn light of performativity, political transformation via hegemonic cultural practices continues to advocate for gender parody. Overall, the recent exploration of alterity ethics complements performativity politics by exploiting the subversive potential of gender identity as well as female identity. For the oppressed individuals, power should be subverted via political strategy guided by the consequences and punishment with the o bjective of maximizing the good in the society. In other words, performativityRead MoreExploring Gender Identity And Gender Roles1809 Words   |  8 PagesEXPLORING GENDER IDENTITY, GENDER ROLES HOMOSEXUALITY Abstract Gender identity display people’s understanding of themselves according to cultural definitions of female and male. In this essay I will attempt to enhance our understanding by exploring different aspects of gender identity, gender roles sexual identity issues. Relying mostly on my research that is conducted in the U.S. EXPLORING GENDER IDENTITY, GENDER ROLES HOMOSEXUALITY Exploring Gender Identity, Gender Roles HomosexualityRead MoreGender Identity : Gender And Masculinity Essay1509 Words   |  7 PagesGender plays an enormous role in every society around the world. There are debates about whether gender is defined by strictly biological characteristics or social attributes. Others argue that gender is a spectrum, rather than the dichotomy of male and female. Masculinity and femininity are sets of attributes, roles and behaviors that are associated with men and boys and girls and women, respectively. Both masculinity and femininity have specific traits that are both biologically and socially definedRead MoreRacial Identity And Gender Identity879 Words   |  4 Pagesdons a pink bow on his head to become â€Å"Erica.† Meanwhile, Randy Marsh (as known as Lorde to most and Stan’s dad) must battle with his gender identity and that of his music as women at his work are uncomfortable with sharing a bathroom with him, therefore he must rece ive his own against his wishes. While both Cartman’s and Randy Marsh’s struggles with their gender identity revolve around the use of a bathroom, through the juxtaposition of the actions of shooting a school and becoming transgender, theRead MoreSocialisation, Personal Identity, Gender Identity And Gender Roles1313 Words   |  6 PagesSocialisation, Personal identity, Gender Identity and Gender Roles: Boundless.com defines ‘Socialisation’ as â€Å"a term used to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies providing the individual with the skills and habits necessary for precipitating within one’s society, thus the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained† (Boundless.com, 2015). The process of socialisation involves an individual such as an adolescent to have interactions