Category: Assignments

Jhulio Vargas Final Portfolio

Jhulio Vargas Gender Identity Project

I was brought up in a typical Hispanic family, with both parents and two siblings; however, I feel that my family was more of a conventional one, where certain things, and tasks were obviously reserved for men while others were meant for women. For instance, my father was seen as the breadwinner and my mother as the homemaker. While both parents were actively involved in family matters, I mostly viewed each one of them based on their respective roles, authority and the differences which they had. Looking at this, I believe that the manner in which my family is structured is partly responsible for the development of my unique gender identity, right from childhood. Also, I believe that since none of us had a choice on how our genders will turn out to be, the society needs to understand that being male or female is all about the social forces involved in identifying with a certain gender (Foss et.al, 5). With todays’ civilization, it’s unfair to still use societal stereotypes that have been constantly passed from one generation to the other to determine one’s gender. Instead, people need to understand that gender can be constructed through factors such as race and social class, and still influence the experiences and expectations of someone.

Thanks to my educational exposure, I am in a better position to understand the subject of gender formation. For instance, I now realize that some of the experiences which I had as a child were clearly meant to help me understand myself. It is funny but I remember my mother telling me things like; ‘Stop crying, and be a man!’ but I always thought that she was teasing me; however, I Recently realized that such words were not just a consolation, but they were meant to indirectly communicate something to me-a man is not expected behave that way. Then when I look at how some girls my age were treated whenever they hurt themselves, I realize that how people see themselves is clearly dependent on their experiences as children (psychological theory). For instance, people grow up observing how girls were reserved to do certain things while boys were to do the other things (Social learning). They include how to walk, the clothes to wear, the sports to associate with, how to talk, how to sit, the movies to watch or even the music to listen to. In short, it’s not always about the biological characteristics; it’s also about the cultural and social factors that affect how one’s gender is constructed.

Personally, I never got to understand that gender is not always about being male or female till I was all grown. The subject of gender binary is something that most parents have failed to educate their children while they are growing up. When it comes to sexuality, people should be free to say they fall under the ‘others’ because they do not identify with being male or female. Still, children need to be exposed as early as possible to enhance their sexual orientation in a way that they can grow up feeling comfortable with themselves (Foss et.al, 12). Through the same exposure, children can perceive gender and sexuality in the most appropriate ways. Apart from that, the theories of gender/sex also have an impact on how a person can identify with a certain gender, including justifying the features that they have. For example, theories help people understand that one is either born male or female; they go through different experiences that trigger internal development and based on their culture, their genders are viewed quite differently. Even with that, I feel that in order to create a better world, children should be raised knowing that being male or female does not restrict one to behave in a certain way.

Works Cited

Foss, Sonja K., Mary E. Domenico, and Karen A. Foss. Gender stories: Negotiating identity in a binary world. Waveland Press, 2012. pp. 1-29

Sue, Derald Wing. Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

Institutional Artifact Project

The marriage institution allows for a platform to analyze the subject of gender. When it comes to marriages, therefore, most people prefer making it official through a sacred ceremony and special ritual commonly referred to as a ‘wedding’. The religious wedding ceremony is an artifact that has existed within us for decades, probably one that often illustrates the meaning of sexual relationships and behaviors among humans. Nonetheless, while the manner in which religious wedding ceremonies are conducted has dramatically changed over the years, they still offer the opportunity for people to reflect on the topic of gender in general. For instance, this is a ceremony where both men and women play different roles; they put on different attires and they are each expected to behave in a certain manner. When one looks at gender, in reference to anything, it does not always mean just the women, it also means looking at how different things are done out of the experience of being a man or a woman (Kang 11).  For instance, in a gay wedding ceremony couples of the same sex who play quite the same roles; they put on almost the same attires and they are assumed to be the ‘same’ since they are of the same sex. When one looks at gender in reference to such weddings, it does not always mean being a man or a woman, it also means looking at how different things are done out of the experience of being a man or a woman (Kang 11). In that light, this essay provides a sexed/gendered analysis of the ‘religious wedding ceremony’ as an institutional artifact. Applying gender lens to the artifact of the religious wedding ceremony illustrates that men and women are socially accustomed to occupy dissimilar roles, expectations and challenges that allow them to be treated differently thereby creating biases, barriers and indifferences, lessons that people can learn when it comes to redefining gender roles

The artifact and its context

A religious wedding ceremony is an artifact that remains quite symbolic for different people and regions across the world. Traditionally, it was said to be a ceremony that was more of a spiritual celebration meant to bring the people together as a symbol of sharing life forever. For such a ceremony to happen, the couple must not just be strong in faith and religion, they are also required to enroll in pre-marital counseling and attend services occasionally before the actual wedding day. Usually, such weddings are associated with artifacts such as a white wedding dress, music, an album, vows and flowers. The selection and meaning of these particular artifacts in any typical religious wedding make the event appear quite sacred for those involved. In such a wedding ceremony, the couple is also expected to say the ‘Till Death Do us Apart’ wedding vows, exchange rings, unify the event, sign a marriage license, declare that they are officially married and then head out to the reception. So, during the entire time from the ceremony to the reception, a religious wedding is one that is fully governed by certain traditional customs that are often handed down from generation to generation.

For gay couples, a wedding ceremony as an artifact remains quite symbolic for different people and regions across the world. Same-sex ceremonies often come up with different ways to change what the crowd thinks when it comes to a traditional ceremony. Such ceremonies do not always do things the same way as opposite-sex couples’ wedding, particularly when it comes to walking down the aisle, choice of song, speeches, labels and displaying affection to the crowd. Whereas there are those who think that planning such a wedding can be reasonably difficult, this is one ceremony that always turns out to be beautiful right from the procession to the reception.

How the artifact helps understand the aspect of gender

While attending a religious ceremony, irrespective of whether it is a gay wedding or one between a man and a woman, it is easy to notice how certain things that actually happen in the event reflect on the aspect of gender. Traditionally, weddings between a man and a woman were said to be highly-gendered when it comes to the expectations and roles played by both genders. For instance, when it comes to stereotypical gender roles, the bride is expected to wear a white dress, carry a bouquet of flower and take her husband’s name, while the man is expected to wear a suit and ask the bride’s father’s permission (DeFrancisco et.al, 133). These practices have grown tremendously, and are now very common among people; this is so, that they tend to be assumed as very important and necessary in the ceremony. It is true that there are alternatives to most of these conservative wedding artifacts, ones which people need to consider. For instance, while the white dress might currently be a standard artifact, it was just introduced by Queen Victoria back in the 19th century and does not have to be a norm. Customarily, the bride is expected to wear white as a symbol of purity and innocence on her wedding day, a color that may not necessarily portray who they are. Then there is also the aspect of handing off the bride to the groom by her father that often happens in conventional weddings till date. Men often find it respectful to acquire the bride’s father’s blessings before legalizing the marriage, but others would rather view it as an outdated practice that needs to stop. Interestingly, the same weddings are said to be the ‘bride’s day’ as though the man is not to be fully involved or honored as much as the woman.

On the other hand, in a gay wedding the ceremony portrays the values of the couple, including who they are. This makes same-sex wedding ceremonies different; not just because they are based on the couple’s creativity, but also because they lack a specific guideline to be adhered to.  Whether it is a lesbian or a gay ceremony, there are a number of ways in which the couple may decide to walk down the aisle. For example, the couple may walk together, one partner may do it first then the other follows or the couple can have more than one aisle. So, with the gay-wedding ceremony, who walks down the aisle, who waits for the other or who makes the speech may not necessarily matter.

By viewing the artifact of religious wedding ceremony using the aspect of gender, I realize that most of the things which happen in weddings remain intensely gendered. Arguably, weddings are good, but they tend to portray different genders in a certain way. For instance, feminists would argue that certain traditions need to be done away with, to reduce the many barriers that are created in the process. Through the traditional wedding gown, a woman is restricted to wear white on ‘her day’ even though it does not reflect on her personality. Still, the same woman is handed over from her father to her husband as though she is a burden or property (Foss 16). While the other traditions such as the standing ovation and the ‘first look’ appear to be moderately harmless in wedding ceremonies, they often paint women as ‘romantic’ objects that need to be admired by everyone. While looking at the crowd, they want to attend weddings to witness how beautiful the bride is or how the groom stares at her or to know who catches the bouquet and garter.  As a result, I hold that the religious wedding ceremony is an artifact that implies that there is only one way of saying ‘I do’ and that it is the only wedding custom that religious people should adhere to. Some practices and artifacts are sweet, others are mystifying, yet others are just bizarre. Thanks to same-sex weddings, a lot has changed ever since they were legalized. These ceremonies have taught the world that gender roles can be re-defined, and that it is not always about ‘who the bride is’ and ‘who the groom is’.

The gendered nature of a religious wedding often portrays itself even before the wedding day, usually through the proposal that is mostly done by the man. More gender distinctions begin to reveal themselves throughout the planning process and on the day of the wedding.  A couple of examples make it easy to comprehend that religious weddings are full of gendered practices and traditions that often promote the continuity of gender inequality and sexism. It is the perceptions that people have towards masculinity and femininity that determine the roles that both men and women play within weddings. When certain things such as throwing the bouquet or the bride walking down the aisle are omitted from the wedding, then it is seen as less traditional. In other words, a religious wedding ceremony is an artifact that illustrates that gender inequality is propagated through the presence of gender unequal roles, sexism, stereotypical beliefs and the gender differences linked to certain wedding practices.

Works Cited

DeFrancisco, Victoria Pruin, Catherine Helen Palczewski, and Danielle E. McGeough. Gender in communication: A critical introduction. SAGE Publications, Inc., 2014. Pp.129-137

Foss, Sonja K., Mary E. Domenico, and Karen A. Foss. Gender stories: Negotiating identity in a binary world. Waveland Press, 2012. pp. 1-29

Kang, Miliann, et al. Introduction to women, gender, sexuality studies. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries, 2017. pp. 9-42

 

Discussion #5 Jhulio Vargas

If you think about it, no matter who you are or where you come from, we all have privileges even within our own culture. Privileges is a specific right, advantage, or immunity given or available only to a particular person or group. Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that it is not an issue; some people have more privilege than others.  Privileges have caused unfair moments in history that has even impacted the lives of many in a very negative way. To get more into detail, let me explain with this example. For example, I could be considered privilege if I, as a Dominican man, attend a Dominican restaurant, and the service I get is better than a white male that attend. That’s not always the case, but it can happen. I personally had experience that situation where I was treated better than other. That is something I can consider as my privilege. Another example is a white male who could be considered a privilege if he attends Harvard University vs. a Hispanic male. This example demonstrates how two people from different groups could have privileges on different occasions. Furthermore, to tap into it, the more in-depth compound privilege could have a tremendous impact on social groups. For example, the minorities groups especially, the black community has been oppressed for many years causing a gap of inequality; That is why on our demographic and data  we see how there is a lot of black people who are uneducated, and not able to sustain a “good life”.

I also experienced micro-aggregation because I am a man and sometimes, I help out my mother with the house shores. My cousins always made fun of that, they said “that’s for girls man. Or aren’t you supposed to be the man of the house?” I always tried to help out around the house because I know that gender does not limit people to help out and still be useful. Stereotypes always play big roles in this situation’s, it is our job to break those ignorant thoughts.

DISSCUSSION # 4

After reading “Identity Terms” the term that most describes me is “Latino,” “Latin American,” “Latina,” “Latino/a,” “Latin@,” “Latinx,” “Chicano,” “Xicano,” “Chicana,” “Chicano/a,” “Chican@,” “Chicanx,” “Mexican American,” “Hispanic.” I arrived in the U.S  from the Dominican Republic when I was seven years old. I immediately saw how my identity completely change; Back in the Dominican Republic, our population is not as diverse as the U.S, and coming to the U.S completely change the way I perceive my identity and others. Here in the U.S, my identity went not only from being a Dominican but being Hispanic or Latino; That what people call me. These were terms that I was not exposed back in the Dominican Republic. Also, experience a lot of people confusing my country of origin, saying are you Mexican, Colombian, and sometimes even white. I remember people saying, “you don’t look Dominican because Dominican are of dark complexion; Are you Puerto Rican?”. That’s when I realize that Americans had an stereotypical way of identifying individuals base on how they look.

One of the theories in the “Feminist Philosophy of Language” was “ 2.5 Generics” it really caught my attention. For example “Generic statements are ones such as “cats are furry”, or “a cat has fur”, which are neither universal generalizations (there are furless cats) nor existential generalization (the claim being made is clearly stronger)”.  This demonstrate that we as individuals speculate or even categorize individuals or things creating an illusion that because humans have hair all human need to have hair. This exclude those that does not have hair is creating the illusion that everyone need to have hair and if you don’t there is something wrong with you.

Jhulio Vargas Journal 1

Reading the article was eye-opening, and it helped me understand a few of my behavior and how other people think and perceive sex and gender. In society, the programing of sex begins even before a baby is born, you see parents say things like if I have a boy, he will be treated like a king or if it is a girl she will be treated like a queen. This picture the mindset that immediately is created when we think of a specific sex, and we start to quickly attach the different ways we should be treating a human base on sex. Don’t get me wrong is not like we are not supposed to be handling it differently; it is how some people or cultures treat human base on sex. Attaching different stereotypes; Is like society creates particular requirements of how a male or female should be perceived or treated.
Now, as society focuses more on studying gender and sex, we have come to understand better that it is okay to identify as a man or a woman, depending on how you see yourself as. Self-identity is very important, rather than how society perceives you. In the first chapter of the reading, it talks about transgender. According to the article, a transgender person is a person born of a specific sex and grows older to discover that they feel like the opposite sex. When this happens, the person chooses to operate and physically become how they feel inside. For example, I met a woman who was born a man but identified as a woman and decided to replace most of her body parts to look like one. Now her transgender boyfriend is pregnant. This concludes that identity is developed within ourselves.
Furthermore, some cultures dress and tell their kids that a boy has to dress like a man, with hats, dark neutral colors, that pink is for girls and blue for boys. Yet those are standers and requirements created by society and is delivered by how we communicate. In reality, what you wear does not define who you are or your gender. As the community continues to study gender and communication, we can continue to progress and have a better understanding of human sexuality and gender.

Srijana Bhandari_Final Portfolio

Gender Interpretation

Today, people decide the gender of a baby even before they are born. When we ask what gender is to people, there will be the same answer of either of two sexes, male and female. But is it true? What is the gender of a person who likes both pink and blue, or the one who loves both Barbie dolls and toy guns?  Binary gender is a classification of two distinct genders, male and female. It has been the most significant issue, especially now when people deny following the social construct and move on to find themselves.

I was born into a huge family. With five sisters, including me and only one brother, anyone can imagine the importance of him, the only male bloodline after my father. Son or male bloodline was very important in my country; a son was someone who can send their parents to heaven; someone who runs the home. In our culture we burn the body of dead ones and according to the “holy book” you can only have a peaceful afterlife if your son is the one who carries out the ritual of your funeral, including burning, or if you don’t have a son any male member of the family can do and woman are not allowed to take part in any of this rituals. We can see the cultural aspects of gender as a social construct, you will need to have a son for a peaceful afterlife. Not long-ago women were also considered as an underprivileged group in our society, which brings out the social aspect of gender construct. The only thing a woman could do was grow up well and get married and leave their house so the male member or son was the future of the family, someone who will support you in your old age and someone who runs the household. We can see how the roles of two genders have been clearly divided in the name of culture and social factors of the society, most of which have ignored or have shown female deficient in comparison to males. Even in the family when our brother is not around we often have to listen to people’s questions like, “so all sisters no brother?”, “you have many daughters, it must be hard without a son”, “after all daughters are gone(married) it would have been very lonely, thankfully you have a son”. Although my family did not make us feel like we are any less important than him, our society has a clear idea of where male and females stand. With all these divisions in roles and how clearly it has been taught since childhood, we can clearly see the birth of my only brother was important.

Among all the other sisters, I was always considered a different one—someone who does not like to follow the social construct. The social construct, in this case, was gender. The social construct of gender is the theory of the cultural origin of masculine and feminine character in people. Mostly girls are expected to have feminine nature, good at cooking, cleaning, crying, or having too many emotions. I never fell into those categories. At a young age, I started living in a city with my brother; he was the only guardian I had. I do not know if it was the influence of my brother, but I was “tomboy” during my schooling years. I loved basketball, so skirts were not my thing, had more male friends than female, and was not good at expressing my emotions. I was always someone who wanted to take the lead and show myself as a strong person, which usually falls under being masculine. Even after I came to the United States of America, there was a phase in my life where I had short hair. One of the most asked questions to me at that time was whether I was into girls. I was not offended by them for asking if I like girls but annoyed by the prejudice because of my appearance. Now when I think of it nothing has changed in me except that now I wear more skirts and play less basketball, have long hair, and without any doubt, I am a woman now.

I am a woman now just by the fact that I am wearing a more feminine dress. I liked the fact that men had so much power and control. I had always seen my dad solving problems for my mom or my dad taking the lead. I wanted to be someone who can take the lead for my family, especially for my mother. And for me, as a child, it was only possible if you were a man, strong. The fact that our society is built so deeply with the concept of binary gender, that me someone who likes taking the lead and wearing pants was always thought of as being a semi-boy.

We people concentrate so much on creating categories for people who do not fall under the construct, the constructs of masculine and feminine. The gender you have been classified as during your birth also, by default, has a specific role in society. Like my father brings food, and my mom cooks. My sisters get married right after they finish their studies, but my brother looks for jobs and opportunities for self- development. Socially taught gender lines to have much influence and power over who we think we are and our gender.

A gender role, gender identity never stopped me from self-identifying myself. I was someone who decided for myself instead of falling under the social construct of gender. As a girl, I was expected to stay at home until I finished my studies and then get married. But instead, I challenged myself and applied for the United States without telling my family. It was one of my many steps to challenge the gender construct within my family.  I got into a good college and started my studies. Slowly without knowing, I became the so-called “male” of my family. I began to take responsibility for my family, and I did that, sometimes wearing pants to my work and sometimes wearing a skirt, sometimes writing with my pink pen, and sometimes carrying my blue coffee cup. Gender is a social construct that will take a very long time to change, but what we all can do is identify yourself and march towards a genderless society challenging the binary gender concept.

 

 

Gender Analysis of an Institutional Artifact

 

A social institution is a set of norms that are distinct and independent of individuals. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy, according to Seumas Miller, “the term institution and social institution are used to refer to a miscellany of social forms, including conventions, rules, rituals, organizations, and system of organizations.” Institutions are patterns of social orders focused on meeting social needs such as government, education, family, religions. Among various institutions found in all human beings, a family is one of the most important, created by blood, marriage, or adoption. Family is deeply rooted in human nature and exists everywhere. It is essential for the development and maintenance of order. Order here can connote the way things work in society, different rules which are followed, or should follow. Family plays a vital role as they shape our first step into the world.

I recently watched the movie “Little Women,” directed by Greta Gerwig. It was a big screen adoption of the novel by Louisa May Alcott with the same name, “Little Women.” This movie is a story about march sisters- four young women based in the 19th century Massachusetts. When their father is away serving in the civil war, the mother and four daughters Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth are left alone faced with poverty. In this movie, Jo March, played by Saoirse Ronan, is the protagonist, who reflects on her life, telling the story of her family and shows the present scenario of all four sisters. In the movie, Jo struggles to make a name for herself as a writer in a male-dominant New York city. The movie starts with Jo going into a publication office full of men. She introduces her writing as someone else’s to Mr. Dashwood, who sits with his leg up on the desk smoking. He takes her story after she agrees to alter things to which he later suggests that “if the main character is a girl, make sure she is married by the end. Or dead, either way.” Jo is an ambitious tomboy whose primary goal is to support her family until her sister Amy marries, someone wealthy. Amy, one of the youngest, is learning to be a lady to please herself and others around her. She is opposite to Jo, who does not like to fall under the ladyhood. Amy, accompanied by her aunt, is expected to marry someone wealthy to support her family. The oldest March sister Meg shows the character of a stereotypical woman, someone who gives up her liking for the family. She is a traditional wife who is struggling to adjust her life under her husband and children. The youngest daughter Beth, who was severely ill, dies later in the movie. The story shows the struggle of the March sister in converting from a girl to woman while Meg then finds her love and marries a professor. Amy finds her love in Laurie, Jo’s best friend. And Jo herself, who rejected Laurie being a tomboy and ambiguous, married a German professor.

The movie not only shows the character falling under gender stereotypes, but it also shows each of them directly or indirectly coming over it. The stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a category of people. They generally conform to a fixed or general pattern. A gender stereotype is an over-generalized belief of male(masculine) and female (feminine). The protagonist, Jo, is shown as a rebellion to the norms of what women should do. Her name or even the way she dresses challenges the stereotypes. Her full name is Josephine March, which gives a feminine side to her, but she prefers the name Jo which gives a masculine touch. Throughout the movie, Jo wears more of male clothes like vests, button-down shirts, blazers, and neck-scarves — a typical dress for boys in the 19th century.  Which goes against the usual dress up girls in the 19th century would do (represented through her sisters). Some of the scenes in the movie show Meg accompanying her sister Jo and asking her to behave in a certain way, do not shake a hand, do not stare, and more.  Meg was pretty and enjoyed dancing; her only dream was to get married and have a family that was different from what Jo wanted. Jo explains her feeling of regretting being a woman as she could not accompany her father in the civil war. Throughout the movie, she is someone who does not fall under the stereotype of what women had to do, job, working alone away from the family, and staying away from love and marriage. On the other hand, Theodore Laurence, Jo’s best friend and later Meg’s lover, is more into music, mostly linked with the female profession. He hangs out with all four March sisters and joins their drama club, hanging with females more than his male friends.

In the 19th century, women’s life was limited at home. The only goal in their life would be to get married and form a family, which has been taught in the family since you are small. The March sister had seen their mom living at home taking care of them while their dad was away in the war. They are said to look pretty and attend many parties where they will be able to meet boys from upper-class families and marry them. That is how I relate Little Women with gender stereotypes and with my life. Directly or indirectly, there were a lot of limitations in my life as well. I learned a lot of things through my family. Seeing my mother giving up her needs for the family’s needs has shown me the limitation I have to face being a wife and a mother. I will be expected to marry before 25 or convince my family until 27. All the incidents that I have seen in my family time and again reminds me of the limitation I must face being a woman. Stereotype also welcomes certain inequalities. Having gender stereotypes also welcomes gender inequality. Gender stereotypes like women should be working at home while males go outside to work leads to males having more opportunities in the workplace than women. Even in the movie, we can see Jo struggling to support her family and working, or even Amy struggling to make herself a lady like to marry someone rich instead of working and supporting her family. We can even talk about Meg who is worried about spending money on her clothes and worrying about finance but not working to support her family. My family not supporting my decision to study abroad and getting happy when my brother decided to move abroad shows inequality supported by gender stereotypes. I personally can also relate to the protagonist Jo, as coming from a family having five sisters, I have always been someone who reacts with impatience to the many limitations placed on women. I am ambitious and have a great sense of helping my family. I can easily compare myself to Jo as someone who is always told by my sisters to behave in a certain way.

The movie Little Women shows the struggle of gender stereotypes that remained in the 19th century but still in today’s 21st century. Through different characters, the movie shows the struggle and inequalities women face due to the stereotype of various institutions and families, which every woman can relate to. The way of how a woman is seen and what women should do always comes from the family. I was told not to wear shorts or show skin, speak softly, and help my mother in the kitchen while my brother will help my father with his work and laugh with his friend. Although I have seen most of my sister and other women falling under this institution and following the so-called rules of being women, I have always tried to challenge myself. I have helped my mother in the kitchen but also my dad with his work, looking after finance. I am outspoken and confident about myself but also have my values within me. It is up to us whether we want to follow the stereotype and forget our actual dream-like Meg or Amy or to do what you wish to and devote your time to yourself like Jo.

 

 

Informal Writing

Society has always been divided whether it is by race, gender, or class. These divisions are promoted in society and exist to show the superiority of a group of people. It has been a long-existing social construct, a division based on sex. When we say gender, everyone has the same answer, “male and female” but is it just this binary gender? Binary gender is one of the most promoted social constructs. For people to believe it and implicate it in their day to day life social institutions have created certain stereotypes and rules. The concept of “binary gender” is taught even before the baby is born. Having a gender revelation party and using specifically two colors (pink and blue) is the start of creating the loophole of binary gender. It starts from family then you go to school learning certain characteristics of what your gender should be and like and with adulthood you see and learn it in your work, which ultimately is taught to our babies later. We can see how social instructions create a loop, connected to the beginning.

Today gender has been a controversial topic. Many movements have challenged the binary concept of gender and stereotypes. Females are fighting for

equal rights and are creating their individuality in the men’s supremacy world. As mentioned in the reading Feminist Philosophy of Language, even sentences like, “Man breastfeeds his young.” claims to be gender-neutral sentences when using “man” and “his” does not make sense in the sentence. The term like “he”, “man” makes females invisible as we think of males as females when used in a sentence. Even now it is very normal to use him or he or man in a gender-neutral sentence we make rather than using her, she, or woman. You need to know the gender

of an individual to call them or talk with them, she, or he, but what about the ones who do not fall under the category?

The controversy of gender is not only created because of binary gender and its stereotype but also how that has affected the people who do not fall under this social construct. People who do not identify themselves as men or females or who do not fall under the “normal gender” category has always been suffering to know their identity in society. As stated in the reading Why Intercultural Communication Needs Transgender Studies, the term male and female are so common that trans* are always looked as an outsider. Within the binary gender female are seen less than males, but when it comes to someone who does not feel comfortable with the sex (male) they were assigned by birth are seen less than females ( who are supposedly less powerful than men ). Here we can see how the divisions in the society are created to feel supremacy and misuse the privilege of falling under the majority. Identification of yourself is more important than falling under the loop of social constructs, it is the only way someone can challenge the social construct and institutions. People were, are, and will always fight against the long-existing gender system and other constructs which is not going to abolish anytime soon, but we also cannot forget the fact that we have come a long way from it being illegal to vote by a woman or raced people to them fighting for the presidency and winning it or tans* being a disease to them having their rights and identity. The long fight of race, gender, or class will always exist, but we will always achieve something good with every step we take.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Miller, Seumas. “Social Institutions.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 9 Apr. 2019, plato.stanford.edu/entries/social institutions.

Saul, Jennifer, and Esa Diaz-Leon. “Feminist Philosophy of Language.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 21 Aug. 2017, plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-language/.