The Fashioned Body - Essay Example

Social Norms and Gender Identity Social Norms and Gender Identity Introduction The term “gender identity” is used to refer to a person’s sense of their gender that is of being a man or a woman. Overall, these two are the categories of gender by which people are identified in relation to other members of society. However, some societies have a third category of gender that is designed to accommodate those people who are uncomfortable with simply being a man or a woman(Hall & LaFrancce, 2012). Most societies assign different attributes to males and females. However, in almost every society, some members will not submit to all or some of the gender attributes that society has assigned to their biological sex. How gender identity is formed is not well understood. However, several factors are believed to influence the development of gender identity. These include biological factors such as genetic constitution. Social factors also influence gender identity. This paper discusses how one set of social factors, namely social norms, influences a persons perception of being a man or a woman. In order to accomplish this task, backgrounds on gender identity and social norms will be discussed. Thereafter, specific aspects of social norms and how they affect gender identity will be examined. Background on Gender Identity Sigmund Freud is largely held as the father of modern psychoanalysis. In 1905, Freud presented their theory of psychological development in a publication titled Tree Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. Freud claimed and purported to prove that prior to birth, infants do not distinguish between the sexes(Elgstrom, 2000). To them, both the father and the mother have the same reproductive organs and abilities. Based on this, Freud inferred that that originally, a person is wired to be bisexual. They added that heterosexuality was the result of repression during infancy when gender identity becomes embedded in the infant. According to Freud, at this stage, the child experiences sexual fantasies for the parent of the opposite sex while developing hatred for the parent of the same sex. The problem with Freud is that they tried to explain everything in terms of sex and sexuality. For instance, they are on record for claiming that the reason a farmer engages in crop farming is they derive sensual pleasure from watching the folk penetrate the earth. During the 1950s and 1960s, psychologists began to study the development of gender in young children. Their main aim was to comprehend the genesis of the phenomenon of homosexuality. At the time, homosexuality was believed to be a mental disorder(Levy & Lo, 2013). In 1958, UCLA University established the Gender Identity Research Project to study intersex and transsexuals. Based on the generalized findings of this research project, Robert Stoller, a psychoanalyst, wroteSex and Gender: On the Development of Masculinity and Femininity in 1968. Stoller coined the term “gender identity” during the International Psychoanalytic Congress held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1963. John Money, a behavioural psychologist, also played an important role in developing early theories of gender identity. They popularized the interactionist theory of gender identity. According to this theory, up to a given age, gender identity is amenable to change, but becomes fixed thereafter. Their work, Man and Woman, Boy and Girl, published in 1972 was widely used among colleges as a textbook. Many of the psychologists ideas have since been refuted(Lev, 2006). In line with Money’s theory, many psychoanalysts today agree that gender identity takes root by the age of three. After this age, it is extremely resistant to change. For children, however, gender identity may not develop until the ages of four to years. Judith Butler began lecturing on the topic of gender identity in the 1980s. In 1990, they published Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. The book borrowed heavily from the ideas that had been developed in the late 1950s. The work also criticized the inadequacies of feminism. Butler’s main argument was that gender identity and sex are not mutually exclusive(Yun & Silk, 2011). Rather, they complement each other. Butler’s book is seen as the most authoritative work on the theory of feminism and in gender studies. In medicine, late 1800s literature labelled as “inverts” women who elected not to conform to their assigned gender roles. These women were presented as being interested in knowledge and disliking the chores of a homemaker. For the most part of the 1900s, doctors believed that the therapy could change behaviour that were deemed not to conform socially accepted gender roles(Markman, 2011). The purpose of the therapy was to tame deviant children to resume their socially correct gender roles and, by so doing, reducing the number of children that became transgender. Background on Social Norms Norms are unwritten rules about how a society expects people to behave and act. While they are not explicitly told, people are nevertheless expected to know and behave and act according to these rules(Yun & Silk, 2011). At the same time, people are not rewarded directly for observing these rules, but failure to comply with them may result in sanctions being imposed on an individual or group. Some groups within a society may get away with behaviour that the society frowns at and discourages. These groups include dance groups and cheering squads. Social norms play an important part in maintaining order and organizing groups in society. It is important to note that norms vary from one culture to the next. For instance, in America it is the norm to maintain eye contact with a person while talking to them. This gesture is interpreted as a sign of respect and interest in the person and the conversation. By contrast, in Asia, one is expected to avoid eye contact while conversing with another. There, maintaining eye contact is a sign of rudeness. With respect to maintaining law and order in society, norms, while not being formal laws, can be enforced officially through sanctions, for example. They can also be enforced informally through non-verbal cues most people in a society will belong to at least one group whether formal or informal. Membership to multiple groups is common. However, even where an individual belongs to multiple groups, usually they will have one reference group. Social groups are powerful tools by which social norms are enforced. Members of a group often derive material and other benefits from the group. The group can give out or withhold these benefits depending on whether or not a member observes or flouts group norms. Although there may not be legal consequences for not observing norms, people still do for various reasons(Chinyere, 2011). The first reason is indoctrination. Being of told how to do something the right way time and time again, eventually a person gets accustomed to the "right" way. Secondly, by doing something in the same manner over an extended period, eventually it becomes embedded in a person. This is called habitation. Thirdly, because a person knows in advance how society expects them to behave and act in given situations, the person feels obliged to comply. Finally, most people seek the approval of their peers and the wider society for their behaviour and actions. In exchange, the society grants them that approval for behaving and acting appropriately. Social Norms and How they Shape Gender Identity In this section, several aspects of social norms and their role in determining an individual’s sense of gender are discussed. There are four essential types of norms: folkways, mores, taboos and laws. We now examine each of these in some detail. Laws A law is a norm that written in an official document and is enforced by a formal agency. Usually, the law stipulates what can be done and what cannot be done with respect to a given subject(Lev, 2006). For example, a traffic law may state that a motorist stops at a pedestrian crossing. It may also state that a motorist must not exceed 50 miles an hour in the central business district of the city. Usually, these traffic rules will be enforced by the traffic department of the police service. The motorist who does not obey these rules is faced with sanctions. For example, their driving license may be withdrawn in addition to being fined. Where an offense is grave, or the motorist cannot pay the fine, they may be sent to jail. Clothing is a major factor in gender identity(Ashmore, 1996). One can tell from a distance a persons sex depending on how they are dressed. Except for Muslim countries, most countries do not have laws on how people should dress. Even in Muslim countries, laws on dressing mostly affect women while it is left to the discretion of men to choose what they wear and how they wear it. Even in the absence of laws on dress, society expects men and women to dress in a certain way. Failure to comply with these expectations will leave many people disturbed even though they may not approach the person who has deviated from the norm to ask them why they are not dressing as is expected of them. For example, a man may want to experiment with skirts to get a feel of them. That may be fine as long as they do it in the confines of their bedroom, but certainly, not in the streets. It is instructive to note that social norms are not static. They change with time(Ashmore, 1996). The subject of dressing illustrates this point adequately. For many cultures, it was unthinkable for a woman to adorn a pair of trousers a couple of years ago. The rules were simple and straight: men wore pairs of trousers while women adorned dresses and skirts. Today, most, but not all, cultures are comfortable with women wearing pairs of trousers. This shift in attitude may tempt one to speculate whether a few decades or centuries from now men will adorn skirts and get away with it without raising eyebrows. Folkways Folkways are also known as customs. These are standards of behaviour that society has approved, but are not morally binding(Nahar & Richters, 2011). Members of the society follow them as a matter of tradition or for convenience. Otherwise, they are not obliged to observe them. Consequently, breaking a custom has no serious repercussions. Eating habits are an example of customs. For example to belch loudly while sharing a meal with other people at the dinner table would constitute breaking a folkway. However, a person who belches may not be thrown out of the room or arrested by the police. Until recently, it was the norm for fashion models to be predominantly women. In recent years, however, we have witnessed increasingly more, and more men getting involved in modelling. Whereas not everyone may approve of this trend, instead insisting that modelling is a reserve of women, the trend is here with us. In fact, if the growing popularity of reality shows involving male models is anything to go by, then the phenomenon of male models is here to stay. The probable outcome is that with time, people will come to deem male models as being socially acceptable. Taboos A taboo is something that societal norms deem forbidden and, therefore, to be avoided by every member of society. The society holds the taboo so dearly that the person who engages in it generates a lot of outrages. Usually, a person who violates a taboo is deemed to continue living in that society. For example, among Muslims, eating pork is considered taboo. The pig is regarded as unclean such that the person who eats pork defiles himself or herself. For many cultures, same-sex marriage is taboo. Society and culture expect that only a man and a woman will join hands in marriage. However, in recent years gay rights activists have come out strongly advocating the official recognition of the rights gays and lesbians. According to the activists, these rights include the right to seek the hand of a person of the same gender in marriage provided that their consent was secured. These efforts of same-sex marriage advocates have been met with fierce resistance from religious groups who maintain that from the beginning of mankind was meant for a man and a woman. While the same-sex debate largely remains a Western phenomenon, in recent years its promoters have attempted to sneak their ideas into developing. In most cases, they were met with a lot of opposition. The media play a major stake in promoting and trying to legitimize same-sex marriage. One cannot deny the influence of the print and electronic media in shaping public opinion and attitudes. Today, increasingly more people around the world have access to these media. The television especially is a very powerful tool for modifying public opinion. Most television viewers perceive television personalities as role models and take whatever comes from the mouth as the gospel truth. Realizing this fact, those opposed to same-sex marriage claim, the promoters of same-sex marriages are channelling a lot of financial resources to promote their ideas through the television. In addition, public support of same-sex marriage by key political figures adds impetus to the campaign. For instance, in 2010, President Barrack Obama publicly expressed their support for same-sex marriage, thereby becoming the first reigning President of the US to do so(Hall & LaFrancce, 2012). Mores Mores are strict standards that govern moral and ethical behaviour. They are based on society’s definition of right and wrong(Markman, 2011). Mores have moral significance, unlike folkways. Members of the society take them seriously and violating them often results in disapproval. For example, a parent who believes that only a married couple should live together as a man and a woman is likely to rebuke their son who tries to co-habit with their girlfriend before the two wed. Today, many people of all ages and from different cultures around the world are tattooing parts or the whole of their bodies as an expression of fashion and for artistic reasons. However, many religions regard tattoos as devilish and prohibit. For instance, the Second Council of Nicaea, in AD 787, outlawed all body markings, labeling them pagan practice(Levy & Lo, 2013). Thus, many religious groups discourage their members from tattooing. Whereas this information may not be advertised in the media, the new member who joins the group is expected to know it and comply. If they do not do so the member being rebuked. Besides these four major categories of social norms, there are ways in which social norms influence the way a person perceives their status of being a man or a woman. These are gender roles and fashion. These are elaborated in the paragraphs that follow. Gender Roles Society has assigned men and women certain roles they play in various social set ups(Levy & Lo, 2013). In the family setting, for instance, in virtually all cultures, the traditional role of a woman was to bear and raise children. In addition, the looked after the family home. The role of a man, on the other hand, was to provide the basic needs for their family. These included food, shelter, clothing, education, healthcare and security, although this list has since grown longer as populations become wealthier, and new needs emerge. If the man and a woman each played their role, the family was established. Where one or both of them developed laxity, the family fell. It was more common for men to fail at their responsibilities, except siring children, than women. Then came the industrial revolution and women started to work in addition to making their homes. In the beginning, women who took jobs were seen as social deviants, departing from their socially designated roles. Thus, in the late 1800s, doctors called women who did not stick to their expected gender roles “inverts”(Lev, 2006). These women were as suffering from a type of disorder that led them into seeking knowledge and paid work instead of staying at home and raising children. As a result, in the mid-1900s, adopted corrective therapy to cure, during the early stages of life, this peculiar that led women to abandon their “rightful” role and assume the role of men. Today, however, women are playing key roles in leadership positions in all spheres of life – politics, business and religion among others. At the same time, they still attend to their home-making role. Fashion Clothes tend to give people a sense of security in when they present themselves to society. They afford people to present themselves as feminine, masculine or any other identity they want(Ashmore, 1996). If a person leaves their house without being sure of their so-called fashion choice, they are likely to have low self-confidence throughout the day. The term “fashion identity” is often used to describe something bigger than just the clothes people put on. The term also includes the identity the person elects to present for the day. The identity may be either gender or sexual identity. For instance, a blouse can make a woman feel confident, but on another day, the same blouse can make them shy. Given the power of clothing to influence how we feel about ourselves, some people have claimed that fashion and clothing are everything. Whereas it is true that clothing and fashion give us the power to present ourselves before society, it appears that some people abuse this power (Ashmore, 1996). For example, an attention-seeking woman may dress provocatively as a way of drawing attention from oneself. True, there may not be laws on how a person should dress. In addition, given that we live in a free world where a person may act as they feel provided they are not breaking any law, people who are offended by the woman’s dressing may not stop them in the streets and question them why they are dressed scantly. Dressing has become a contentious issue in the contemporary society. Many people are left asking just how far a person may in expressing their gender identity through fashion and clothing. Conclusion Gender identity connotes the way a person perceives and expresses the fact of their being a man or a woman. Ordinarily, a person should not have difficulty accepting their state as either a man or a woman. However, there are people who, for reasons not well understood, deny their biological sex. These people have led some societies into creating a third gender to accommodate them. There are number factors that determine a persons gender identity. These include fashion, society-defined gender roles, mores, taboos, laws and folkways. When people accept their biological sex and have a positive sense of gender identity, order prevails in society (Elgstrom, 2000). On the other hand, the transgender issue that arises because some people would not accept their gender creates much friction and tension in society. References Arvanitidou, Z., 2011. 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