Category: Post 2

What is Gender?

When looking up gender on the internet the definition provided is “either of the two sexes (male and female), especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones.” I think the biggest thing we must take in consideration when looking at this definition is the idea of gender being more a social and cultural construct. 

where do we see it? I think the real question is where don’t we see it. Gender is everywhere. From clothings to colors, society has pressed the idea of everything having a specific categoric place of either male of female. Lets look at colors for example, before you’re even born depending on if you’re a boy of girl there are certain colors society has deemed worthy of you wearing. For example, if you are a boy the color blue is already associated with your gender seeing as it Is deemed a more “masculine” color rather than pink of purple. Another example we can look at is emotions and how it’s associated with gender norms. For a very long time society made it Clear that for men, their job is to be the bread winners of the household and unfit to show any type of emotion as It would make them weak where as women were supposed to be the care takers and give the children the love and emotion.

This ultimately relating to power and privilege. From the beginning of time men have always had more power and privilege than women. This being because society has made up this idea that men posses certain qualities and characteristic that women don’t. This in the end effecting women place in society as a whole. I think a prime example in which we see this is the gender wage gap. The gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly wage between men and women across a workforce. This being a consistent problem seeing that it has been proven that women put in way more effort than men yet get paid less. In the end, in ever case scenario, men always benefit more than women. 

And while society has pressed these ideologies when it comes down to gender and how things are categorized, The truth behind it all is that these ideas are unreal and unfair to the world we live in today. We have seen that in the world we live in today we cannot place people In these 2 boxes to try to understand them but realize that gender exist in so many different forms.

Blog 2:

Pedagogy vs. Education

After reading Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Chapter 2 talks about its “banking model”. Which is the scope action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits. My experience with the “banking model” of education, I have had several educators who have made deposits on their teachings. I can only remember to intake as much information. Educators expect us, the students to repeat the material that was taught to us. But the educators make sure the information is transparent for us to understand it.

Freire talks about power intersecting with education. Education is thus constantly remade in the praxis. In order to be, it must become. Freire’s reading states an example of problem-posing education. Affirming men and women as beings in the process of becoming as unfinished, uncompleted beings and unfinished in reality. From my own experience to Freire, education has always been made a mode of memorization. In order for us, the people to be something, we must become something.

The Pedagogy attempts to stands for what a person gains and loses. The people gain being more human but lose its power of fighting attempting to the oppressed.

What is Gender?

What is gender exactly? Gender was something that lots of people in society would define as what sex you were born with. However, in today’s society, I feel like we have grown into a place where we could choose to identify as what we feel comfortable with. The idea behind identifying yourself as one gender is such a big deal since it’s something that means a lot to you. You shouldn’t be labeled as being one gender when identifying yourself by another gender is what makes you feel more secure. The way that we see gender roles being shown is usually this whole stereotypical idea where men have more advantages while women are supposed to be the ones who follow men. In my household, my parents have raised me in a way where women are supposed to be in the kitchen cooking for the men while men are supposed to just sit back and be the breadwinners for the family. I’ve seen this dynamic all my life and it’s because they’re old fashioned so, the way that their mindset is, is one where they can’t understand that it shouldn’t be this way. That times are changing so of course it will be hard to understand. Gender related to power and privilege due to how, again, there are these stereotypes that are kind of instilled in our minds. Society is just trying to make us conform to ones where if we were to not follow the traditional idea of gender roles, then we wouldn’t be accepted by society. That isn’t fair since it forces people to try to change their mindset in order to fit with the standard they society has set.

What Is Gender?

there’s a thin line between gender and sex. the definition of sex is “the biological differences between males and females, such as the genitalia and genetic differences.” whereas, gender can be refered to the socially constructed roles of a male or female in society, known as a gender role, or an individual’s concept of themselves, or gender identity.

Our society has built these expectations that girls and women are generally expected to dress in typically feminine ways and be polite, accommodating, and nurturing. Men are generally expected to be strong, aggressive, and bold. so if a male starts to dress with a little more color in their clothing style they called on as “feminine” same goes for women if they dress with jeans and sweats all the time they get called as more manly.

The expectations and boundaries set by society makes it very hard to define what gender is. But it influences how people perceive themselves and each other, how they act and interact, and the distribution of power and resources in society.

Post 2

There are different genders in today’s society and it can be described as what people identify as to express themselves and who they are. We see gender everywhere; everyone has a gender assigned to them as they are born based on social norms of what to associate different genders with but then later on people can choose their own genders to fit their identity. Society manages gender by assigning different traits to them. Society determines what different genders are able and unable to do, everyone is confined into a box and has to do what is expected of their gender. An example of this is painting your nails. Painting your nails is something associated with femininity so it is for the female gender.If a male was to paint his nails society would bash them and assume that they are gay simply because the male gender isn’t supposed to do things like that. Gender relates to power and privilege because men are given more power in society than women are therefore they have more privilege. Society deems men as smarter and way more capable than women are so they get paid more, they get more opportunities and they are always awarded positions of power over their women counterparts. Genders definitely have fewer obstacles than one another. Women face more disrespect and setbacks at work than men do because we are coming from a time where women just did domestic work. Women get paid less than men and their are many sexual harassment cases as well. The people who ultimately benefit from this are men because it boosts their egos and gives them room to be themselves in a space that favors them. Society determines which gender is legitimate and people go with it to fit into the social norm. There are many different genders even though society traditionalized only two because now people are starting to be proud of their identity and break the social confinement that has been normalized and spread throughout history. The times are changing and we are starting to create a society that is more aware and accepting of the many other gender people might decide to identify with. Although times are changing, there are still people who are stuck in the ways of the past and just cant accept the fact that there are other genders and that people can identify as any gender they want despite their sex.

Post 2: What is gender?

Gender is the sex a person identifies themselves as. We see gender everywhere we go, an example of this would be bathrooms signs, whether it’s male or female. Society manages gender by limiting the options to male and female. Some examples of society reinforcing gender roles are making products specifically for the specific sex. By making toys like cars for boys and Barbie dolls for girls.

Gender relates to power and privilege because society has made this stereotype where men are seen as the working and dominant whereas women are see as the the housewife and submissive. This puts obstacles to certain genders versus others since some jobs are more dominate to a specific gender than others. An example of this would be the sports, the sport community is more dominated by men than it is by women. I think this is because it wasn’t recently until women started to get freedom and rights to do things the way they want to. I believe men benefit more off power and privilege since its less difficult for a male to get a job than it is for a female.

Growing up I’ve been taught that there are only 2 genders, male and female. But throughout the years, I’m starting to see that’s not true and that there are actually many more genders out there in the world. So to answer the question “How many genders might there be?” I honestly couldn’t say but what I could say is your gender is what u believe to be and what you want to identify yourself as.

Gender

Gender is a social construct in which people are identified and assigned roles in society based on that identity. Society forces us to take on those roles and is rigid in its beliefs. People are put into boxes based on their assumed gender/genitalia and then must fit into the stereotypes and assumptions of society or they won’t fit in. Gender in society has of course become less rigid over time but we still see the effects of it in our daily lives. Women still take their husband’s last name (arguably a sign of belonging to him) and are expected to be the caregiver while the man makes money etc. We can also see gender being reinforced in children’s toys, boys have toy guns and cars and girls have toy kitchens and dolls to take care of. Men are expected not to share their feelings which can lead to negative mental health effects (higher rate of suicide). We also see gender in oppression. Women have historically been paid less than men for the same jobs etc. And the above are just the women and men, but there are other genders that have faced even worse ostracization and oppression. Transgender individuals have had to face so much negativity and lack of empathy from society. Even recently they’ve been the target of laws that negatively affect them. Examples of this would be under the trump administration he targetted transgender individuals in the military, who already face so many difficulties. And just a few months ago states made it illigal for transgender women to compete in women’s sports. Gender is a social construct so though many only know about a few, there could be many more as many people don’t fit into their assigned social boxes, and they shouldn’t have to.

What is gender !

gender is a identity choice . gender is looked at in a flexible range of choice roles no longer confined to the norms of out past or stereotype of simply male and female. these roles with highlighted characteristics relating or not relating to sex can easily determine a persons life experiences. the male sex in more is perceived as stronger dominate and even more discipline rough etc.. yet how do we describe those men with feminine characteristics ? and for woman submissive , delicate , domestic all ” play ” a role in being a woman . yet, how do we describe woman whom are more aggressive and dominate ? gender roles help this issue of misunderstanding. over time with is own complexity gender and its significant matured beyond imagined . genders like non- binary not identifying with neither male or female etc.. allows people to be free in a way that makes sense for them . these generational changes have broke the glass ceiling of self identity and challenges us now with responsibility and the knowledge of ability as well. gender in relationship with power will never be one of absence . since as long as we can remember men were the dominate role and species even great woman of there time then and today threatened the limits of their normality and what it may have meant for the world . in the 21st century its hard to say these stereotypes and limits dealing with male and female have gone away yet we can say that woman have broken the boundaries to their own greatness by unconditioning learned behaviors and perspectives. the transgender community really helped with this pushing the envelope on what it means to real be a male or a female and how it fit into society. for strength , smarts and endurance the choice of strength always went with the men and why ? because of limits placed in places they don’t belong. Now woman can be iron workers like myself yet being a certain type of woman comes into perspective with that acceptance as well. woman took care of the home , the kids , and the husband . Leaving the man to tend to the labor and money making … a strong hold of and older gender derived perspectives. whom are who to say who you are ? gender as a choice in identity plays a big part in every aspect of life : where you from, your job , kids , opportunity, family , community . I’m grateful the world has become just a little more understanding to allow everyone to be free with choice and even more happy place.

Post 2: What is Gender?

Gender is classified to be these groups that categorizes masculinity and femininity. Gender can be seen everywhere, from the clothes sections of stores that labels men and women, boys and girls, to the advertisements of products that displays these clear differences on what is meant to cater towards these gender groups.

Gender can be often seen throughout our society, one of the examples of gender relating to power and privilege is that there is a significant difference of wage between a man and a women receives. To this day, the male gender group has fewer obstacles, especially when it comes to work related matters. For example, the STEM field is heavily male dominated and although there might be a significant number of women who are there too, their skills, which could be at the same level or even a higher level, would be more likely to be doubted than that of their male counterparts. I’m not too sure of who exactly would consider a specific gender to be legitimate. And finally, gender, I believe, is as much of a wide spectrum as sexuality.

What is Gender

Gender is defined as pre-established characteristics that society has set in place that differentiates the different roles and behaviors of man and a woman in a community. Gender is not based on physical characteristics (sex organs) but more so how someone identifies oneself.

There are many stereotypes/social norms that are based on one’s physical characteristics. One of which is that women are the cooks and cleaners and shouldn’t get their hands dirty. On the other hand, men are viewed as the hard workers. They are supposed to get their hands dirty and to provide. Another example would be in the way a man and a woman are supposed to be dressed. Skirts were only worn by women but nowadays you may even see a man in a skirt.

Growing up in a Caribbean household my father worked mostly and my mother did most of the cleaning and cooking. But today, these norms are being broken down. Today, you can observe women taking on roles that were set about for men such as harsh labor and positions of power. Men are now playing the role of stay at home dad and chef.

Societal norms vary based on the community. In some communities men have been given more power and privilege over women for as long as I can remember. Men hold higher ranks and are more respected. One of the privileges that men hold over women would obviously be being heard. Women’s ideas and opinions are often ignored because “she” is a girl. Some women have also benefited from certain privileges that are not accessible to men such as; Traffic stop warning instead of a ticket, and skipping ahead in line for the bathroom.

Gender used to be defined as the sex organ you were born with. Today, due to more openness and understanding, gender goes beyond being a boy or a girl. There are many different gender identities that one may identify as. I for one was very confused about the different identities until I did my research. Many issues can arise from these different identities. There are already so many stereotypes placed on both man and woman that it gets confusing when someone identifies as a gender that is different from their sex.

What is Gender?

According to Google, “gender” is a “range of characteristics pertaining to and differentiating between femininity and masculinity.” In order words when talking about gender you are either talking about “man” or “woman”, “male” and “female”. Society manages it by separating the two. To society, you can only be either one, whether male or female. However, gender in reality is a social construct and is made up. Society enforces gender roles by setting values, rules, and categories that are put under female/woman and a set under male/man. For example, the color pink, dolls, and being “sensitive” is categorized under female status. Whereas blue, sports, and being “strong” is categorized under a male status.

Power and privilege plays a big role in gender. Research and data shows that men benefit the most out of the two sexes. Men are paid more, respected more and face fewer obstacles than women do. Why this is, is a question that is asked every day.

There should be no limit on just the two genders. There can be as many genders as one wishes. The term and idea is made up by men from ages ago. One can and should be any gender they please and feel most comfortable with.