Gender Bending Party Reflection
Gender Bending Party Reflection Eugenia Lo Yue Ching We are living in a twisted world. When I first heard of this gender bending party, I did not feel special at all because I experience this gender bending process myself everyday in my life. However, this party did raise the old memories of my teenage days. I was a typical little girl when I was 3 or 4 years old. I behaved very gently and followed everything my parents said. I also dressed very girlish at that time. I remembered that I refused to wear trousers even we were off to the playground (I just could not believe that I wore a dress to climb up the 'monkey mountain') 2 years old. My hair was such a disaster! I did not wear dress (expect school uniform) since then until entering university. I kept this hair style for many years the recent year. For 9 years I was living a gender bending life. I was called 'little brother', 'mister' whenever I was out in my casual wear. I am so used to 'be a boy' or 'have a male's identity' that I would not feel embarrassing when the others misjudge my sex. My mother asked me if I needed a transgender operation or not. This is a very inspiring question indeed. I agree with some of the 'trans' revolutionists that male / female norms are no longer objectively defined by the sex organs a person was born with, but subjective and socially constructed (LaBarbera, 2001). Here, the word
“Language and Gender”.
"LANGUAGE AND GENDER" Introduction All of us have different styles of communicating with other people. Our style depends on a lot of things: where we're from, how and where we were brought up, our educational background, our age, and it also can depend on our gender. Generally speaking, men and women talk differently although there are changeable degrees of masculine and feminine speech characteristics in each of us. But men and women speak in particular ways frequently because those ways are associated with their gender. Language representations Language can act as a powerful source of discrimination. Since we rely on language to communicate with each other, the way we describe ourselves and others, or the way in which we address one another, can have a deep impact on our self-image and our relations with other people. If individuals or groups are labelled consciously or unconsciously in stereotyped ways, they often experience pain, develop a negative self-image, feelings of inferiority and even expressions of anger. Such feelings can place a strain on relations between groups and individuals. It is therefore important for authors, editors, professional writers, public speakers and all others who use language in a public manner to be aware of how discrimination through language operates intentionally or unintentionally, and how language can also be used to eliminate
The current debate surrounding the roots of sexual orientation
The aim of this essay is to describe the current debate surrounding the roots of sexual orientation. To answer this question the terms 'sexual orientation' and 'inborn' need to be clearly understood. Sell (1997) describes sexual orientation as a term commonly used to refer to the actions or erotic desires of a person, and describes that ones orientation need not have an effect on ones action - a common problem that confounds the definition of sexual orientation. Le Vey (1993) defines sexual orientation as "the direction of sexual feelings or behaviour toward individuals of the opposite sex (heterosexuality), the same sex (homosexuality), or some combination of the two (bisexuality)." Le Vay (1993) is arguing the consensus position that sexual orientation exists along a continuum, with two extremes and bisexuality in the middle. This description of a continuum is also favoured by Kinsey (1948) who adds that the norm is to experience a mixture of homoerotic and heteroerotic feelings, each kind to a different degree. Francoeur et al. (1991) imply in contrast to this positions, that sexual activity is a necessary determinant of a person's sexual orientation. Since sexual orientation can be defined by actions, drives or a combination, this essay must address the causes if these actions and drives. Within a scientific setting, a person is the products of their genetics and their
Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Homosexuality - the issue of same sex marriage.
Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Homosexuality - the issue of same sex marriage I. Introduction There are many studies examining the issue of homosexuality from many different disciplines like mental health, psychology, clinical perspective, sociologists, law, communication, history, religion, market research, or multidisciplinary approaches etc. In particular, research on negative attitudes toward homosexuals has rapidly increased in the past decades. Researchers have been seeking insight into factors that differentiate between individuals who have a generally positive attitude toward homosexuals and those who have a generally negative toward homosexuals. One of common interest is gender differences and their homophobic attitudes. Homophobia is a personality trait with deleterious effects, also labeled as homosexphobia, heterosexism, homoerotophobia. It is generally refer to the personal and institutional prejudice and fear or negative attitudes toward lesbian and gay men (Herek, 1988). Although not proven empirically, people who hold negative attitudes toward homosexuals also tend to disagree same-sex marriage whereas people who hold positive attitudes toward homosexuals tend to support same sex marriage. Canada has recently become the third country in the world that legalized same-sex marriage after Netherland and Belgium. However, there are still
Philosophy of Sex Essay: 'Explain Mackinnon's critique and critically assess it."
Philosophy of Sex Essay: 'Explain Mackinnon's critique and critically assess it." MacKinnon's 'Not a Moral Issue' begins by defining what she believes to be the differences between obscenity law and pornography. Obscenity is a 'moral issue' and is 'abstract'; pornography is a 'political practise' and 'concrete'. Obscenity law is concerned with the views and practises of birth control, nudity, ect. Pornography is 'sex forced on real women so that it can be sold... to be forced on other real women.' MacKinnon asserts that the obscenity law is 'built on what the male standpoint sees' and so is pornography. MacKinnon holds that pornography, by its very nature, involves the degradation and subordination of women. It is an 'institution of gender equality' enforcing the social construct of what constitutes female and what male. MacKinnon criticises the liberalist view of pornography, stating that what liberalists see as love, romance, pleasure and desire is, in the feminist view, the hatred, torture, violation and the lust for submission of male dominance. The liberalist view of pornography is 'a defence not only of force and sexual terrorism, but frees male subordination of women.' By the very aesthetic of pornography it encourages the male viewer to perceive women as objects to be obtained and used by men. Pornography, in MacKinnon's view, creates an 'accessible sexual object,
Drawing from your understanding of Vivian de Klerks The role of expletives in the construction of masculinity (1997) and Finlaysons Womens language of respect: Isihlonipa sabafazi
Name: Shenell Gordon Student number: 202501383 Course: Academic Literacy in Education Seminar Group: R1A Name of tutor: Mr. Emmanuel Mgqwashu Date: 5 May 2005 Task Title: ... the foundations of gender identity are laid down at a time when the child is flexible and impressionable, and follows the lead of role models; people act out the generally accepted social definitions of what it is to be a man or a woman. (de Klerk, V., 1997:72) Drawing from your understanding of Vivian de Klerk's The role of expletives in the construction of masculinity (1997) and Finlayson's Women's language of respect: Isihlonipa sabafazi (1995), critically discuss the extent to which language plays a role in the construction of gender identities. Declaration and signature: I declare that this represents my own original efforts and that I have not plagiarised the work of anyone else in completing the requirements for this task. Signed: _______________________ What is gender? According to research done by Aidan Arrowsmith, 'gender usually refers to socially/culturally constructed (invented) characteristics which are then attributed to the different biological sexes. If sex is 'female and male'; then gender
Despite a reduction of gender differences in the occupational world.... one occupational role remains entirely feminine: the role of housewife"
Amy Whitaker Sociology Hypothesis "Despite a reduction of gender differences in the occupational world.... one occupational role remains entirely feminine: the role of housewife" Oakley 1974 On the basis of the statement above I will research the changes that have occurred within the family concerning the equal division of labour between men and women in the family home. The growth of female's working in higher paid jobs and the idea of men who stay at home to do the housework and childcare becoming more common and popular is contradictive and suggests Oakley's statement is no longer true. However in general and certainly in the media the housewife is still portrayed very much as a feminine role and the breadwinner as a predominantly male role. (110 words) Contexts and Concepts The main concept for joint conjugal roles becoming such an issue of conflict in the home is the increase of women in full time paid employment. This is known as 'dual burden'. When women not only have the burden of their own career but are also still expected to take the responsibility for the bulk of household tasks and childcare. Gershuny's, "Change in the domestic division of labour in the UK" 1975-1987, was a longitudinal study that found an increase in equality within the home. He found the longer the woman was in paid employment, the more the man helped out with household tasks, Gershuny
How does the Surrealist photography (of Man Ray) engage with gender politics?
How does the Surrealist photography (of Man Ray) engage with gender politics? The inherent mimetic quality of photography, its ability to represent 'the real forms of real objects'1, appears to conflict with André Breton's insistence on an uncontrolled, unframed automatism as the primary route to the unconscious. Yet, paradoxically, Breton was suggesting a link between photography and automatic writing even before his founding of the Surrealist movement in 1924. In an early essay on Max Ernst (1921) he wrote 'the invention of photography has a dealt a mortal blow to the old modes of expression, in painting as well as poetry where the automatic writing [....] is a real photography of thought.'2 Two years later, in an essay entitled 'Characteristics of the Evolution of Modernism' (1923), Breton stressed the similarities between Man Ray's (1890-1976) one-dimensional photographic work (rayographs and photomontages) and the sheet metal sculpture and collage of Picasso (an artist he eulogized in his essay 'Surrealism and Painting'). This admiration for Man Ray's work was expressed in the Surrealist's use of his photographs as illustrations for their books, journals and periodicals from 1924 onwards. A manifestation that Breton clearly had in mind when asking the rhetorical question 'when will all the books that are worth anything stop being illustrated with drawings and
1000 word analysis on contemporary representations of gender referring to two contrasting texts. The Full Monty and Bridget Jones
000 word analysis on contemporary representations of gender referring to two contrasting texts. The Full Monty and Bridget Jones. In the West, during the 20th Century the traditional roles, views on inherent abilities and predispositions, and thus their representation in art, underwent a fundamental change, reflecting the feminist agenda that women's role could and should be equal to that of men. Sometimes these changes reflect the changes in the world, sometimes they are propaganda to promote such change, and yet others satirise inequalities. Contemporary representations of gender in art are consequently far different to that of their traditional gender roles, many of them subverted and even swapped; for example the dominant ideals right up to the 1970s was the male gaze, however in the 21st century the amount of media focusing on both the male and female gaze is nearer to equal. The gender roles displayed in both the Full Monty and Bridget Jones Diary differ largely from the traditional stereotypes. Both the Full Monty and Bridget Jones' Diary show how the perception of gender roles has changed over time. Both demonstrate how in today's modern society females are gaining attributes that were usually associated with the male gender and vice versa. For example the Full Monty explores the female gaze - while it is usually assumed that males lust after the female body.
Discuss the view that secondary socialisation is responsible for the creation of gender identities in the contemporary UK.
James Derham. Discuss the view that secondary socialisation is responsible for the creation of gender identities in the contemporary UK. In this essay, I shall be discussing the roles of secondary socialisation in both the creation and promotion of existing gender identities in the UK. The two social institutions I will be looking at are education, and the media - these both constitute as being ways of how we are socialised into particular roles, in this case through 'secondary socialisation'. Firstly, we need to establish what 'gender roles' are so we are able to discuss the importance of socialisation in education and the media on these roles. Ann Oakley distinguishes between 'sex' (the biological differences between males and females) and 'gender' (culturally created differences), in that she focuses on what society defines as 'masculine' and 'feminine' behaviours, roles, attitudes, expectations and so on. Gender identity is the result of gender role socialisation, unlike sex, which is biologically determined. When discussing 'masculinities' and 'femininities' we need to appreciate that these are not merely two types of gender identities, but that in fact, there are different types of these identities. This has been highlighted by Connell, who illustrated that there are both dominant and subordinate forms of these identities, for example, gay sexuality is a