Discuss the influence of gender on identity in contemporary Western Society.

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Ian NelsonIdentitiesYSE-1004

Discuss the influence of gender on identity in contemporary

Western Society.

In this piece of work the ideology of gender identity in western society will be discussed, the piece will draw on the theories of multiple sociologist and examine the role of gender inequality in society. The Work will briefly examine Gender Identity Disorder and its relevance to western society today.

The concept of identity is defined as “A sense of self that develops as a child differentiates from parents and family and takes place in society” (Jary & Jary,1991).

 A person’s identity is what makes them whom they are and what groups they belong too. A person’s identity includes their ethnicity, nationality, sexuality class and gender. Our social identity is whom we are, whom we see other people are and respectively how other people see themselves and others.

To sociologist the concept of identity is paramount, a person’s identity can take many facets that are ever changing, and with these changes there can be many contradictions. Many sociologists believe that identities are not simply formed because of the social groups we belong too. Some theorists believe our identities to be fractured and fragmented. Our identities can be and often are extremely stereotypical, one such stereotype is that of gender.

        “Gender is a term that has psychological and cultural connotations; if the proper terms for sex are ‘male’ and ‘female’, the corresponding terms for gender are ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’; these latter might be entirely independent of (biological) sex. (Stoller, 1968, p.9)

To elaborate, it is not necessarily right to say that being female means they will be feminine and aversely being male does not make them masculine, girls are not necessarily compassionate or caring; boys are not necessarily competitive and aggressive.

There are many differences between men and women; many contrasting approaches have been developed for the understanding of gender identity and the social roles based on such diverse identities. A difference between sex and gender must be understood.

To clarify the difference between males and female sociologists use sex to show anatomical and physiological differentiation, by contrast gender concerns the social, cultural and psychological differences between men and women. Gender is socially constructed; a man is seen as masculine and women seen as feminine; these assumptions are not a direct link to a person’s reproductive biology.

Many theorists argue that many aspects of human biology ranging from hormones and chromosomes and even genetics; the size of the brain is in some way responsible for the innate differences in the behaviour of males and females in the development of identity.

If the definition of gender identity is to be either male or female, include inherited sex chromosomes at conception and the release of hormones during the foetal process can be used to determine the factors of gender identity. This is clearly simplistic and can be flawed. Genetics does not answer the question of how a person’s gender identity can change over time.

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        “Two of the leading theories to explain the formation of gender identities are concerned with the emotional dynamics between children and their caretakers, according to such views gender differences are formulated ‘unconsciously’ during the early years of life, rather than resulting from a biological disposition.”(Haralambos p.110)

Freud’s(1905) theory perhaps the most influential yet controversial suggests that gender is learnt and is the result of the absence or present of a penis; Freud is cautious when suggesting this and insists this is not just an anatomical distinction that matters; the penis is symbolic and divers to the person's gender. Masculinity –v- ...

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