Gender and Sexuality Photo Essay by

jorte102_ — 2023-11-28 17:19:03 UTC

A mirror shows us what we look like but unfortunately when you don't look like what society is telling you you're supposed to look like you tend to focus on your insecurities. As "Gendered Bodies" points out in western society White people often have the privilege of getting good jobs, into elite schools and into social circles, so many poc have the burden of trying to look and act a certain way in order to get those same things. Many times because of this they try to change their appearance and even their behavior to advance or not be judged. People try to follow the social norms because as soon as they are born they are taught that is how they should look or act in order to be successful, which creates insecurities. Society scrutinizes those who are different, so in order to fit in they feel they must change which sadly continues this pattern.

jorte102_ — 2023-11-29 00:26:33 UTC

Today's society is automatically divided into two genders men and women with different expectations. "Gendered bodies" explains how each major area of our lives are divided by gender and the gender standards create a social division maintained by those who benefit and those mistreated by the inequalities. These expectations unfortunately continued due to the fact that they have become the norm so those benefitting from them don't see a need to change them and others conform in order to avoid being looked down upon or deal with the societal repercussions. Men and women are expected to act differently and meet the gendered expectations constantly even if they aren't genetically accurate. This creates inequalities because based off of the gendered expectations many assume men are more capable and begin to pay men more even if they are doing the same work. Society tells women they should act motherly, soft compliant and nurturing. While men are pushed toward physical and mental activities and told to be strong assertive and rational. This is seen everywhere in our culture from trying to get an important job to the differences in toys marketed towards boys and girls. Although this is harmful for women it would take a lot of work to break this societal norm since a women trying to break the standard would be judged and face more challenges in their day to day life, which is why feminism is so important.

jorte102_ — 2023-11-29 06:23:44 UTC

As a society we need to work on becoming more inclusive this starts by not excluding those who don't identify as male and female in our everyday language. I am a Latina but I often would question when addressing a coed group, or all of latin people why it is automatically the male nouns? I feel this is not inclusive toward the women in the group as it implies the males in the group are more important. Christine Garcia explains not only why only using latinos or even latin@ isn't progressive enough for today's society since it excludes many and puts them in uncomfortable situations but Latinx allows for those who are gender fluid, gender nonconforming, cisgender and apart of the lbtqia to claim there ethnicity while still being true to their gender identity. I am proud of not only my ethnicity but also that those with the same culture are openminded enough to admit there was a problem and fix it in order to be more inclusive. I hope in the future when addressing a group you choose to use Latinx as it is more expansive and those you are addressing will appreciate it especially those who are figuring out their gender identities.

jorte102_ — 2023-11-29 09:43:33 UTC

The concept of gender is a concept that is always changing because it is determine by how people interact with each other. In the article "Night to his Day": The Social Construct of Gender by Judith Lorber it clearly explains gender constantly changes since as soon as you are born you are assigned a sex based off genitals but once markers based off your sex occur that have nothing to do with your actual physical body capabilities start to be placed on you it becomes your gender, and changes the way people expect you to act but as people interact with each other overtime the societal expectation for that gender can constantly change. As a child your told your sex and gender but the gender you identify may be different then your sex because you may not identify with the gendered expectations. Gender can tend to be confusing for many people because they often believe sex and gender are interchangeable even though sex has to do with genetalia and gender has to do with a label and how you are expected to behave. Gendered differences are not the same as biological and physiological differences, but instead a way your society divides itself by placing a gender into categories and filling in the way they are expected to act. It is important to know what gender is as it can be confusing but is apart of your everyday life.

jorte102_ — 2023-11-29 10:17:51 UTC

As soon as a child is born they are given the gender of boy or girl but once they are given that label of boy society expects them to play sports. This is a gendered norm that is extremely common in today society and how could it not be. While a boy is growing up they see all the men in their lives being praised for playing sports and little by little the next generations wants to gain that successful feeling as well. So in order to chase that sense of success they join a mainstream sport and soon every boy their age is plaling a sport. So how could they not also play a sport when their peers/friends and male role models are all playing as well. The research Michael A. Messner provides gives specific examples of different pathways young boys felt pressured to meet the social norm from a young age. The paths described are being pushed into a sport by a father/ or male role model who wanted you to fit in so they played sports to prove themselves to those around them , or they see how a male role model have gained community support by playing sports and want s to achieve the same thing so they use sports as a way to compare themselves to their role model. Theese socially constructed organized sports were made to develop masculinity as young boys would see their communities giving support to those in sports and want to gain that support as well as sports developing their self esteem. Sports were pushed onto young boys by society giving them an emotional connection to trying to be masculine through sports so their fathers can be proud, changing they way they viewed themselves. Their self image was now based off of their game day performance if they were masculine enough to get the real underlying achievements from sports.

By: Jocelyn Ortega

jorte102_ — 2023-11-29 10:19:31 UTC