Exploring Gender
A person’s identity is made up of many parts, including their gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, and sexual orientation. Sam Killermann’s “The Genderbread Person” can be a helpful tool for exploring each part.
Gender and Society
We are born into a world with a pre-written script about gender. According to this script:
1. Gender is determined at birth or sooner, based on anatomy. People whose gender identity is the same as their biological sex are normal, natural, moral, and healthy. Trans and two-spirit people are abnormal, unnatural, immoral or ill.
2. Men should have a masculine gender expression. They should be strong, rational, and self-reliant. They are naturally aggressive. Women should have a feminine gender expression. They should be gentle and caring. They are naturally weak and emotional.
3. Femininity is inferior to masculinity. Women (especially trans women) are inferior to men. Feminine men are inferior to masculine men. Since masculinity is superior, masculine voices carry more weight and masculine people are better suited to the most powerful roles in society (leadership roles in government, business, finance, military, etc.).
Trans, Two-Spirit and Gender Expansive Identities
A trans person is: Someone who identifies with a gender that is different from the one they were assigned at birth, all or part of the time. Some of the people who may identify as trans include:
A two-spirit person is: A First Nations, Métis, or Inuit person who has a dual-gender identity, gender expression or gender role.
Gender expansive refers to: A person who does not conform to society’s expectations of their gender role or gender expression. It is a broad term that includes boys who behave, dress and interact in feminine ways and girls who behave, dress and interact in masculine ways. Some of the people who may identify as gender expansive include:
The challenges faced within each of these groups are unique, and further shaped by factors unique to each individual such as their race, class, sexual orientation, ability and religion.
Rewriting Gender Scripts
Here are some proposed alternative beliefs:
1. People have the right to self-determine their gender identity. We should respect and affirm each person’s gender identity. This includes female, trans and two-spirit identities.
2. We should respect and affirm each person’s gender expression. This includes gender expansive people, such as men who behave, dress or interact in feminine ways and women who behave, dress or interact in masculine ways. It also includes people who express themselves in androgynous ways and people who explore gender for pleasure and performance.
3. Femininity is just as good as masculinity. Feminine voices should carry as much weight as masculine voices. Feminine people can be excellent leaders.
4. There are more than two gender identities (male and female) and more than two forms of gender expression (masculine and feminine).
Children & Gender
Most babies are labeled as being biologically male or female at birth, but the process of becoming a man or a woman is heavily shaped by our culture and society. Most children are assumed to be male or female at birth (or sooner) based on their physical characteristics. From that moment on, they are surrounded by overt and covert messages about what they should do and who they should be, based on their gender. Just walk down the aisle of a toy or baby clothing store and you’ll see a wide variety of products sold in specific colours, designs or styles that are directly marketed with gender stereotypes in mind.
Gender is a fundamental aspect of identity for all kids. Children are typically aware of gender, their own and others’, by about age two. As this awareness forms, they learn what personality traits, behaviours, and attitudes are thought to be appropriate for their gender, based on messages from many sources: family, friends, school, and media. For boys, there tends to be pressure to appear strong, be aggressive, suppress emotions, and develop an interest in girls. For girls, there tends to be pressure to be pretty, care for others, and develop an interest in boys. Pressure to conform to these gender expectations affects all aspects of a child’s personality, appearance, everyday socializing, interests, and career choices. Children who don’t conform to traditional gender expectations are often subject to exclusion, harassment, and violence.
Source: http://pridenet.ca/wp-content/uploads/the-gender-spectrum.pdf
Gender and Society
We are born into a world with a pre-written script about gender. According to this script:
1. Gender is determined at birth or sooner, based on anatomy. People whose gender identity is the same as their biological sex are normal, natural, moral, and healthy. Trans and two-spirit people are abnormal, unnatural, immoral or ill.
2. Men should have a masculine gender expression. They should be strong, rational, and self-reliant. They are naturally aggressive. Women should have a feminine gender expression. They should be gentle and caring. They are naturally weak and emotional.
3. Femininity is inferior to masculinity. Women (especially trans women) are inferior to men. Feminine men are inferior to masculine men. Since masculinity is superior, masculine voices carry more weight and masculine people are better suited to the most powerful roles in society (leadership roles in government, business, finance, military, etc.).
- There are only two genders: male and female.
- Which of these assumptions do you hold to be true?
- Where did you acquire these assumptions?
Trans, Two-Spirit and Gender Expansive Identities
A trans person is: Someone who identifies with a gender that is different from the one they were assigned at birth, all or part of the time. Some of the people who may identify as trans include:
- People who were assigned a male gender at birth but who identify as female all or part of the time (some use the term Male-to-Female or MTF or Trans Woman)
- People who were assigned a female gender at birth but identify as male all or part of the time (some use the term Female-to-Male or FTM or Trans Man)
- People who identify their gender outside the construct of male/female: having no gender, being androgynous, having parts of multiple genders, moving fluidly between genders, etc. (some use the term Gender queer)
A two-spirit person is: A First Nations, Métis, or Inuit person who has a dual-gender identity, gender expression or gender role.
Gender expansive refers to: A person who does not conform to society’s expectations of their gender role or gender expression. It is a broad term that includes boys who behave, dress and interact in feminine ways and girls who behave, dress and interact in masculine ways. Some of the people who may identify as gender expansive include:
- People who identify as women but express themselves in a masculine way (in queer communities some use the term Butch)
- People who identify as men but express themselves in a feminine way
- People who explore gender for pleasure or performance (some use the term Drag King or Drag Queen)
- People who wear clothing traditionally associated with a gender they do not identify with (some use the term Gender Play)
The challenges faced within each of these groups are unique, and further shaped by factors unique to each individual such as their race, class, sexual orientation, ability and religion.
Rewriting Gender Scripts
Here are some proposed alternative beliefs:
1. People have the right to self-determine their gender identity. We should respect and affirm each person’s gender identity. This includes female, trans and two-spirit identities.
2. We should respect and affirm each person’s gender expression. This includes gender expansive people, such as men who behave, dress or interact in feminine ways and women who behave, dress or interact in masculine ways. It also includes people who express themselves in androgynous ways and people who explore gender for pleasure and performance.
3. Femininity is just as good as masculinity. Feminine voices should carry as much weight as masculine voices. Feminine people can be excellent leaders.
4. There are more than two gender identities (male and female) and more than two forms of gender expression (masculine and feminine).
- Which of these assumptions do you hold to be true?
- Which assumptions do you have difficulty with?
- Spend some time reflecting on what the root of this difficulty might be.
- What might you personally stand to lose and gain by holding these assumptions?
- What might others stand to lose or gain if you held these assumptions?
- How would you need to act differently if you held these assumptions?
Children & Gender
Most babies are labeled as being biologically male or female at birth, but the process of becoming a man or a woman is heavily shaped by our culture and society. Most children are assumed to be male or female at birth (or sooner) based on their physical characteristics. From that moment on, they are surrounded by overt and covert messages about what they should do and who they should be, based on their gender. Just walk down the aisle of a toy or baby clothing store and you’ll see a wide variety of products sold in specific colours, designs or styles that are directly marketed with gender stereotypes in mind.
Gender is a fundamental aspect of identity for all kids. Children are typically aware of gender, their own and others’, by about age two. As this awareness forms, they learn what personality traits, behaviours, and attitudes are thought to be appropriate for their gender, based on messages from many sources: family, friends, school, and media. For boys, there tends to be pressure to appear strong, be aggressive, suppress emotions, and develop an interest in girls. For girls, there tends to be pressure to be pretty, care for others, and develop an interest in boys. Pressure to conform to these gender expectations affects all aspects of a child’s personality, appearance, everyday socializing, interests, and career choices. Children who don’t conform to traditional gender expectations are often subject to exclusion, harassment, and violence.
Source: http://pridenet.ca/wp-content/uploads/the-gender-spectrum.pdf
Examining Gender Issues Activity
Watch, view, read and listen to the following videos and reading (scroll down past the activities). Make reference to them in your responses.
1. INFORMAL WRITING ACTIVITY: A BLOG
In a personal blog discuss the difference between sex and gender. Consider how gender is influenced by both biological and social-cultural influences. For example, what are the personal characteristics, behaviours, appearances, etc that are associated with or generally expected of each gender in your own culture?
Next, respond to the lyrics in the song, contemplating the ideas on gender as presented in the song, "When I was a Boy." Discuss your personal reactions to the song. What are the explicit and implicit messages from the lyrics? For example, what did the singer mean when she talks about having been a boy? What changed for her? Why? What are the dominant emotions in the early part of the song when she’s describing herself as a “boy”? What is the dominant emotion at the end of the song? What message does this send? What does the line that starts, “They got pills to sell” combined with the line about the clothing store imply about what helps drive the construction of gender roles in society?
2. CREATIVE ACTIVITY: How is gender shaped by culture?
Choose one of the following activities to provide context for the question above (you may choose to create your own activity, but you must address the question above).
- Videos: Dar William's "When I was a boy" (and text); The Whittington Family: Ryland's Story
- Reading: Alice Munro's "Boys and Girls"
1. INFORMAL WRITING ACTIVITY: A BLOG
In a personal blog discuss the difference between sex and gender. Consider how gender is influenced by both biological and social-cultural influences. For example, what are the personal characteristics, behaviours, appearances, etc that are associated with or generally expected of each gender in your own culture?
Next, respond to the lyrics in the song, contemplating the ideas on gender as presented in the song, "When I was a Boy." Discuss your personal reactions to the song. What are the explicit and implicit messages from the lyrics? For example, what did the singer mean when she talks about having been a boy? What changed for her? Why? What are the dominant emotions in the early part of the song when she’s describing herself as a “boy”? What is the dominant emotion at the end of the song? What message does this send? What does the line that starts, “They got pills to sell” combined with the line about the clothing store imply about what helps drive the construction of gender roles in society?
2. CREATIVE ACTIVITY: How is gender shaped by culture?
Choose one of the following activities to provide context for the question above (you may choose to create your own activity, but you must address the question above).
- Create a split half gender collage that depicts what your society believes is acceptable for men and women (or on a related topic)
- Compose a fictional story about someone with a non-traditional gender role (e.g. a male daycare teacher or a female truck driver).
- Write a persuasive speech on a gender-related topic such as whether high school sports
teams should be divided by ability rather than gender or whether clothing stores should end the practice
of dividing clothes into sections by gender.
- Write a poem/song that contrasts cultural concepts of gender and alternative beliefs on gender.
3. FORMAL WRITING ACTIVITY
On the Provincial exams, you will be asked to respond to the stories and poems using a short writing prompt. Here we will practice one such prompt for this assignment. The rubric for this assignment is based on the exam grading criteria that is usually used for the exam.
In paragraph form and in at least 150 words, answer the question below. You should plan your response before starting to write. Remember, this is to be written as a piece of formal literary writing, meaning you must:
Here is the writing prompt:
Alice Munro has often written about the seemingly unbridgeable gap that separates men and women. In Alice Munro's “Boys and Girls,” this gap is examined in the small world of a farm, where a young girl has society’s unwritten rules forced upon her. Discuss the role of gender from the perspective of the narrator in this short story. Use paragraph form, and support your response with specific reference to the text.
On the Provincial exams, you will be asked to respond to the stories and poems using a short writing prompt. Here we will practice one such prompt for this assignment. The rubric for this assignment is based on the exam grading criteria that is usually used for the exam.
In paragraph form and in at least 150 words, answer the question below. You should plan your response before starting to write. Remember, this is to be written as a piece of formal literary writing, meaning you must:
- include the author and the title of the story
- include specific quotes and paraphrased text to support your thinking about the topic. Just to note: when using quotes, avoid starting a paragraph with a quote. After you have given the topic sentence and explained what you will be writing about in your paragraph, you can consider using a quote that proves or illustrates what you claimed in your topic sentence. After the quote, show how it supports your point or idea; this will be in your own words and will demonstrate the connection between your idea and the quote you have used.
- write objectively in the third person
- write full words--do not abbreviate, use contractions or write colloquially (as in conversation).
Here is the writing prompt:
Alice Munro has often written about the seemingly unbridgeable gap that separates men and women. In Alice Munro's “Boys and Girls,” this gap is examined in the small world of a farm, where a young girl has society’s unwritten rules forced upon her. Discuss the role of gender from the perspective of the narrator in this short story. Use paragraph form, and support your response with specific reference to the text.
Author Biography: Alice Munro
Alice Munro was born Alice Ann Laidlaw on July 10, 1931, in Wingham, Ontario, Canada. She attended the University of Western Ontario, where she studied journalism and English, but left the school after only two years when she married first husband James Munro (m. 1951–1972); the couple moved to Victoria, Vancouver, British Columbia, where they opened a bookstore (Munro's Books). Alice Munro, primarily known for her short stories, attended the University of Western Ontario. Her first collection of stories was published as Dance of the Happy Shades. In 2009, Munro won the Man Booker International Prize. That same year, she published the short-story collection Too Much Happiness. In 2013, at age 82, Munro was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. Source: http://www.biography.com/people/alice-munro-9418218#early-life-and-career |
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