FREE ESSAY ON GENDER ISSUES

GENDER ISSUES

After reading through my gender log, during the past few weeks, I observed that many
people are trained to determine their gender by their biological sex. Some of the people
that I have observed and written about would probably never have doubted their sexual
orientation. Others have definitely examined their sexuality. Whether this sexuality is
male or female is entirely up to them. This is their true sexual identity. Still others
that I noticed have actually convinced themselves, whether it is true or false that their
biological gender is not, their true gender.
The people who seemed that they were completely sure that their gender was solely based
on their biological sex, were easy to identify for me. These are the people we have been
familiar with all of our lives. These people self-categorize themselves. By acting and
dressing according to their gender assignment, these people gave me the impression that
they ultimately know if they are male or female. I think that they truly believe, without
ever questioning their sexuality that they were born either male or female. They act out
their assigned gender roles. They either see their sexuality as, black or white, with no
gray areas. 
In my journal, I wrote about how I observed a man and a woman at a restaurant. The man
automatically paid the bill. This is androcentric behavior. It is assumed in our society
that the man should pay, although it is becoming more common for women to pick up the
tab, or even them both. This is an example of people who believe that their biological
gender is their true gender.
The second type of person, the person who may have at one time or another wondered
whether or not they were gay, is also pretty easy to identify, if you are able to observe
and truly learn about their habits. As an example I'll use a male teenager who I went to
high school with. I'll call him Joe. Joe was a very good looking male, biologically
speaking. When Joe was a small child, I notice growing up with him that he had more
female friends and that the boys did not like him very much. Many of the boys would often
call him homo, or say go play with your girlfriends. He was very damaged by all of this.
He would usually sit with the girls at lunch, but never the boys. He was often picked on
in class with taunts and under the breath innuendoes. He did very well in all subjects in
school but did best in art class and theater. His general body language was feminine, the
way his hands moved and the way in which he would walk, talk, and even carry his books. I
notice that he never tried to change his behavior to please others, which seemed to be
gender assigned feminine behavior. He would also state I am not gay. His mother actually
was going to sue the school to put the responsibility on the school to prevent the
students from harassing her son. Joe never conformed, to his biological sexual identity
being male. He was who he was and everyone believed he was gay. I don't know if he is or
isn't gay because he went to art school in the city. I think he was having an identity
crisis.
The third type of person is a person who biologically without a doubt is male of female
due to society's guidelines of gender. However, this type of person may want to be the
opposite sex. They either are kidding or they want to be the opposite sex. Something
about it embraces them. This brings to mind a movie I saw the other night, Silence of the
Lambs, by Thomas Harris, when the serial killer believes he was born a female in a males
body. These people are sexually dysmorphic, meaning that their self-concept does not fit
their sexual biology.
He wanted a total sex change and had many psychologists trying to help him. The
psychologists did not agree with his desires and he was prohibited from having the
operation because they felt he was not psychologically stable. As a result, his fixation
with being female caused him to become a serial killer. The idea of being a woman was so
important he would try to harvest enough skin from these very large women. Since he had a
background in sewing, he sewed together a garment of human skin to make into a girl. He
also danced in the mirror while putting his penis in between his legs to look like a
girl. He would wear earrings and makeup and tried to look feminine in womens' clothing.
These things are symbolic, showing that his gender identity and his gender assignment
were different from the norm. He practiced feminine traits and tried to be non-male.
There are many people who have experienced gender identity crisises. 
Basically gender identity crisises occur because of some environmental influence, maybe
family, and its members, friends, school or even the community they are brought up in.
For example, in my log I wrote how I went back to my old high school where my parents
work to visit them. As I walked down the halls of Onteora I noticed that males and
females wear the same things today. In my parents generation, if a guy wore a skirt or
makeup he would be labeled gay. Another thing I noticed was that many girls wear black
and the color black would probably be considered a male gender color. Similarly, short
hair is supposed to be a male feature, but it is becoming accepted more today. Our
society allows kids to act this way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a male acting
female or looking female when examining their biological sexuality.
I always used to think that I could just look at someone and determine instantly if they
were gay. Boy, was I wrong! Many of my friends like the same sex partners. They are not
different people, and people treat them differently anyway. There is no possible way to
prove that someone is homosexual just by merely looking at them. 
Societal influences, or being in a non-traditional gender setting such as San Francisco,
generally allow for more exploring of different genders, whether a person is or isn't
going through a crisis. For example, I was talking to some friends who live in Woodstock
and they were telling me how being interested in the same sex is really no big deal in
that community. People may conform to society and it is not accepted or respected in the
community where they live. If they are unhappy they move to another setting where they
will be accepted. Women's and men's psychological development depends on their families,
partners, and if their community is a healthy place for them to be living. they are not
well respected, then you will not be that type of individual. Their whole life will be a
series of conflicts. It is accepted in certain places and not accepted so well in other
places. 
In our permissive society, as I observed people most were happy, some were flaunting it,
and still others hid it. If behaving in the 'accepted' manner of the alternate sex is not
illegal than why shouldn't someone have the option to try it? They don't feel that they
have anything to be ashamed of so it does not bother them to hear obscene gender
stereotypes such as dike, or queer. Sometimes men are feminine but are not gay at all.
Different things make different people happy. Gender is more than just sex, according to
our text. Gender shouldn't determine how one may dress, speak, or their personal
preferences, and comfort in your community that you want to live in. If one has a healthy
respect then they become a well adjusted healthy individual. I think that in order to be
content in life and be a well adjusted human, your gender identity needs to be satisfied.