AP Language

Hannah Smith

AP Language

Social Issues Argumentative Essay

Gender: Breaking the Construct

People who do not conform to gender stereotypes have always existed. From pre recorded history to today, people who with varying gender identities have always existed. The diversities of gender identity have not only been the cause for prejudice and oppression for those who don’t conform to the gender binaries, but an increasing threat to everyday life. It is important to acknowledge people outside of the binary of gender, and to include them in society proceedings. They are people, they are valid, and they aren’t going anywhere.

“Gender roles are taught to children in our society at a very young age. They are taught to behave in gender-normative ways.” From the moment we are born, the concept of gender determines what we can and can not do. When a woman is pregnant, people are already expecting to be notified of a gender. There are even whole reveal parties about the gender of unborn children, and the labels of its a boy or its a girl even hold weight on the colors we are allowed. Everyone has noticed the age old assignment of pink to girls, and blue to boys. Not only do people force gender normative colors on babies, they even restrict the toys that they can have. Girls get the dolls, and the toy cleaning products like vacuums and broom sets. Boys are given trucks, and tools. Separating toys by gender is only enforcing stereotypes harmful stereotypes. Children are being taught that they must follow the norms, and that crossing or blurring the lines even on small things like what colors they can like, is prohibited.

The limits set by gender norms don’t stop at children. As a society, we have been groomed to follow rules without question, which brings a rise to the exclusion of those who step outside of those lines. “People who violate gender norms are often sanctioned by society.” Seeing parents pull their children to the side or redirecting attention away from a person who unapologetically blurs the lines between the gender binaries is not a surprise. When a person is raised a certain way, they are more inclined to let their beliefs affect the way that they see other people. For some, the concept of ambiguity in the context of gender is hard to understand. The issue arises when the ambiguity or transitions within gender are not respected. They are instead seen as a threat and a source of discomfort. There is a metaphorical bubble of comfort that some people have built around themselves, and when something “violates” that encirclement of what they consider to be safe they quickly attempt to deter the threat. Whether that deterrent is regressing back to internalized gender ideals or incorrect religious interpretations, the person on the receiving end is always in the line of fire.

For someone in a state of self identification, conformity creates a strain on mental health. The need to feel a sense of belonging is a powerful thing for humans. We strive for each other’s attentions and validations. Rejection and being sanctioned off from comfort can be incredibly detrimental to a person questioning their identity. Not only does the expectation of conformity need to be dispelled, it should instead be replaced with teaching acceptance and respect. “People who were highly invested in being society’s ideals were more likely to have lower self esteem because they had external contingencies of self-worth.” Self reflection and comparison to others about conformity abilities lead to an overall devalued sense of self-worth and confidence.

Even small seemingly insignificant actions towards dissolving the barriers of gender norms are beneficial. In 2014, Barack Obama took a stand at a toy donation event by putting sports equipment in a box labeled for girls instead of boys. He justifies his action with the simple statements that girls play t-ball too and that sports are no longer just for the boys. In the same year, Mo’ne Davis became the first girl to pitch a no-hitter in baseball. Mo’ne not only set a new standard for inclusion in baseball (which is traditionally a male dominated sport), she became a role model for children world wide. Specifically those who identify as female received a role model who was not only a double minority as a black female, but one that took strides in a sport that was not designed to benefit her.

There are people who attempt to justify the lack of acceptance for gender non-conformity with the excuse that scientifically there are two genders (male and female) and everyone fits into those two categories. Contrary to popular belief, that isn’t correct. In a 2010 TED talk, Alice Dreger, a leading historian of science and medicine explained the way that gender is categorized is far too facile. She stated, “the farther our science goes, the more we have to admit to ourselves that these categories that we thought of as stable anatomical categories that mapped out very simple identity categories are a lot more fuzzy than we thought.” So not only is gender recognized as something that isn’t simply two binaries (and has never been simply that), even professionals agree.

From a historical point of view, conformity to gender has always existed. Up until Lili Elbe, a transgender Danish painter in the 1900s, there weren’t even documented accounts of gender- reassignment surgery. Her medical case was the first recorded worldwide, realistically implying that gender dysphoria and discomfort with conforming to the binaries has always been prevalent. With the increase of media, technology, and reconstituted scientific information there shouldn’t even be issues concerning conformities. People are entitled to choose how they conform, if they even conform at all, and determining their identification.

Work Cited:

Good, Jessica J, and Diana T Sanchez. “DOING GENDER FOR DIFFERENT REASONS: WHY GENDER CONFORMITY POSITIVELY AND NEGATIVELY PREDICTS SELF-ESTEEM.” Psychology of Women Quarterly, 2010, N/a

Weingarten, Elizabeth. “The Past, Present and Future of Gender Norms.” Time, Time, 20 Jan. 2015, time.com/3672297/future-gender-norms/.

N/A, N/A, director. Obama Tackles Toy-Gender Stereotypes. YouTube, 2014, youtu.be/_fjlXo5nT-o.

Encyclopaedia Britannica (Lili Elbe)