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7 Lecture Notes: The social construction of gender (part 2) RECAP:…
7 Lecture Notes: The social construction of gender (part 2)RECAP: What have we learned so far?
Sex is a biological identity based on genitals/reproductive systems, hormones, chromosomes, and secondary sex characteristics.
Male
Female
Intersex
Gender is NOT biological. “Gender” refers to the socially learned behaviors we associate with being a man or being a woman, being masculine or feminine.
Gender expression: our outward expression of gender (masculinity, femininity, androgyny, gender nonconformity, etc.). We have an INCORRECT MYTH that you are either 100% feminine or 100% masculine.
Gender identity: our internal sense of our gender (man, woman, boy, girl). Some people do not identify as 100% man or 100% woman (for example: gender nonbinary people)
Here’s how we put all of these ideas together last time:
When they are born, Baby A is given a sex assignment based on their genitals.
MALE
Immediately, people assume Baby A’s gender identity. This is just an assumption or a guess since we can’t yet ask Baby A how they identify or see themselves. We call this a gender assignment because it is the gender assigned to Baby A at birth.
“It’s a BOY!”
People assume that as Baby A grows up, Baby A will have a certain gender expression:
MASCULINE
People assume that when Baby A reaches adulthood, Baby A will have this adult gender expression and gender identity:
MASCULINE MAN
For many of us, these “maps” I’ve written out below match our lives. It may feel very comfortable for us and may align with how we see ourselves:
MALE ? MASCULINE BOY ? MASCULINE MAN
FEMALE ? FEMININE GIRL ? FEMININE WOMAN
But for some people, as they grow up, the gender they were assigned at birth does not feel correct or comfortable to them. It is not how they see themselves.
When that happens, that person may identify as transgender
Transgender person: someone who now identifies as a gender that is different from the gender they were assigned at birth
Examples: MALE BOY WOMAN FEMALE GIRL MAN
Here are two famous examples of transgender people: Caitlyn Jenner: Olympic gold medalist and former member of the Kardashian family. MALE ? BOY ? WOMAN
Caitlyn is a transgender woman.
Chaz Bono : Child of Sonny and Cher FEMALE ? GIRL ? MAN
He is a transgender man.
A very important note about RESPECTFUL LANGUAGE
Many people feel confused about the most respectful words to use when talking about transgender people. Here are my suggestions.
ONE PERSON: a transgender person (or a trans person)
We need to say “transgender person,” “transgender student,” etc.
For you grammar folks: “transgender” is an adjective, so you always need a noun after it
In other words, you always need another word after “transgender”
Just like it wouldn’t make sense if we said “a disabled” (“One of my students is a disabled”). Instead we say something like “a disabled person” (“One of my students is a disabled person”).
NOT “transgendered person” (no need to add “-ed” to the end)
NOT “a transgender”
2+ PEOPLE: transgender people (or trans people)
We could say: transgender people/students/employees/etc.
NOT “transgenders” (need a noun after “transgender”)
NOT “transgendered people (no “-ed”)
We always respect and honor how the person identifies now.
We do not refer to what their name used to be, what pronouns (he, she, they, etc.) they used to use, etc.
We only call them the name they go by now. We only refer to them by the pronouns they want to be called now.
This is just like if your friend decided to change their name for any other reason. You respect them, so you start calling them by their preferred name.
Is Caitlyn Jenner “she” or “he”?
Caitlyn now identifies as a woman and says that she now prefers to be called “she.” We respect a person’s wishes right nowregardless of what happened in the past.
Whenever we talk about Caitlyn, we should call her Caitlyn, she, and a woman.
Is Caitlyn Jenner a transgender man or a transgender woman?
Caitlyn now identifies as a woman, so she is a transgender woman.
What about the many people who are not transgender?
When someone is not transgender, we say that they are cisgender.
Cisgender people identify now as a gender that aligns with the gender they were assigned at birth
Example: A person who was given the gender assignment of “girl” who now identifies as a woman. FEMALE ? GIRL ? WOMAN
The Social Construction of Gender
All of our categories for gender (man, woman, boy, girl, gender nonbinary, masculinity, femininity, androgyny, etc.) are all socially constructed.
This means that those categories were created by human beings over a long period of time. (In other words, we made up the categories!)
Socially constructed: created by people in a social setting
Summary paragraph: In your first paragraph (5-8 details), summarize both the reading and the lecture notes
Reactions paragraph: In your second paragraph (5-8 details), give your own reactions, thoughts, and reflections on the reading and/or lecture notes
