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Gender roles have often been assigned based on sex and morphology. However, the words "man" and "woman" are descriptors of gender rather than sex. The concept of gender is much more varied than commonly thought; in some cultures there is a third or even fourth gender. Gender is historically ever-changing and has never been a biologically determined characteristic. Despite this, the violence perpetuated against those who are trans continues to do harm. Gender is also not something that you "are" but rather something you preform based on cultural norms and assumptions. Sex becomes gender through these cultural norms, which include gender indicators such as clothes or names. Gender serves as an organizational tool that assigns people into roles for the supposed function of society.

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The "assignment" of gender is not a victimless action. The rigidness of gender roles contributes to the restriction of outward expression for both men and women; they often dictate who one is and who one will become. The expectations perpetuated by gender roles force women and men to be caught in a cycle of performance that creates the need to behave in a certain manner, whether it represents who they are or not. This cycle also affects the trans population, who often feel they must conform to the expectations of their preferred gender in order to "pass" and be accepted in society. Gender roles therefore exacerbate inequalities between the genders; the responsibilities and expectations for men are often considered more valuable and worthy of respect than those of women. A man is allowed (or perhaps forced) to take on leadership positions and labor jobs. As a result, their emotional needs, such as loving parents and intimate friendships, are often disregarded, and many live in self-loathing and project this loathing onto women. Women are expected to suffer through life-changing pregnancies and unpaid domestic labor in the home, leading to an imbalanced and often unhealthy relationship with one another.

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Through advocacy and challenging of gender roles, feminist women throughout history have created outlets through which they can escape these gendered expectations. For example, the Seneca Falls Convention was considered revolutionary because rarely were women ever allowed to question or express their dissatisfaction with how they were treated and categorized in comparison to men. The Feminine Mystique, written by Betty Friedan, challenged gender roles by representing the population of women that didn't enjoy being saddled with domestic labor, and it emphasized the inequality between opportunites and life paths for women and men. The level of influence this book had was unprecidented, it showed women that being subordinate to their oppression was no longer an option, they needed to fight, and fight they did. The womens movement of the 60's and 70's met many of its ideological goals, including access to reproductive care, birth control, and educational opportunites for women. Similarly, Anita Hill's testamony against a Supreme Court nominee highlighted the ways that women were still being subjugated under societal norms. The women of third-wave feminism decided that femininity was just as valuable as masculinity despite its differences.

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Trans-liberation is a movement that emphasizes the destructive parts of gender roles while also encouraging one to deconstruct gender roles, allowing oneself to participate in behaviors or activities that don't culturally align with one's sex. The trans-liberation movement blew the lid off of societal expectations for what it meant to be a "real" man or woman. It demonstrated that there are an array of different ways people can experience self-expression outside of the binary that restricted us historically . The existence of trans people serves as evidence for the complex nature of sex and gender; it is representative of how the two are not necessarily intertwined as we've been made to believe. Transgender people have pioneered much of the LGBTQ movement, allowing not just queer people but also heterosexual and gender-conforming people the privilege of self-expression, happiness, and self-love rather than hate.

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Although the progress made by feminism and trans-liberation is undeniable, the amount of conservative, homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic pushback is apparent. I cannot emphasize enough how important advocacy is under this administration, which continues to rip more and more of our autonomy as women and as a people away. In a time when it is common to hear ridiculing of the history of the women's movement and the ridiculing of trans lives, how do we move forward? In order to continue, we must make our voices as amplified as possible and continue to challenge the assumptions made based on restrictive gender roles. We must challenge our peers to think critically, to think beyond the gender binaries, and to analyze what truly is under attack under this administration, which is, as a whole, human rights.