In relation to psychology there is the concept of "gender identity" and this involves "only one aspect of the person: his involvement in gender relations or sexual practice" (SIG 106) . This proves that defining someone simply by gender is wrong. In psychology, we have learned that there are three main characteristics of an individual: the Id, the Ego and the Superego. Overall, they create a personality for the individual and explain the person's behaviors, as there is a conflict between personal desires and morality. If someone were to be defined solely by the id, they would be considered irrational and selfish. However, it is clear that many individuals do not behave in this way, and therefore should not be condemned for this single aspect. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Moving away from the topic of psychology, another part of this text that struck me was the fact that the above quote was worded as “she or his.” I didn't fully understand how gender could be so common in language until it led me to reread the line it was in. I reread it: “her or his” and then realized it stood out because is as opposed to the typical “he or she,” “he or she,” “Mr. Even in language, the male figure is placed before the female one. This chapter also contains many significant ideas regarding the development of the genre. Barrie Thorne's observations of elementary school children confirmed one of my beliefs expressed in my previous essay. Thorne notes that “boys and girls don't sit back and let gender norms overwhelm them. They are constantly active on the matter. They take up the gender divisions provided by adults, sometimes they accept them, sometimes not" (SIG 96). I firmly believe that the main source of gender differences comes from what we are given, what we are told and what we see. Thorne clearly agrees and, furthermore, this introduces the idea of “genre as an activity”. Part of growing up is learning to “do gender.” Page 101 explains the personal development process of gender models. In the model, the genre is the activity and the individual is the learner of this activity. The end result of improvising, copying and creating strategies to deal with situations where gender is prevalent, is the emergence of femininity or masculinity in a person. Please note: this is just an example. Get a customized document from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay One final important point made in this chapter is that societal pressures to meet gender expectations can have very negative physical impacts, in addition to emotional trauma. An example given in the text is that men often die in car accidents trying to express their masculinity, and women have had a history of struggling with life-threatening anorexia in trying to achieve their "ideal" figure. There are countless examples beyond the ones provided, however it is important to note that gender can affect an individual on multiple levels.
tags