Gender, Power & Sexuality - Essay Example

Gender and sexuality Most studies have confirmed that gender, sexuality, and racial identities are cultural constructs. An individual born in a society has the unfortunate fate of taking such constructs as a guide towards defining one’s identity. This also means that the society forms into hierarchies based on the cultural perceptions of privilege as pertains to one’s gender, race, and sexuality. Although some schools of thought argue that a society may form such constructs unconsciously, significant research confirms that these identities are employed to defend given privileges. It is observable that racial and sexual identities have helped maintain this unfair hegemony in the traditional society. In this sense, the white race and the male sexual identity confers given privileges to respective individuals. It is essential to highlight that both white privilege and male privilege are concepts that are commonly denied. In the most liberal discussions, the society assumes that privileges across racial and sexual hegemonies are the same. Liberal cultural settings have taught males to value that women are suppressed but never to appreciate that men have more privileges (Mcintosh. 47). Similarly, even liberal whites can acknowledge that African Americans are disadvantaged, but never acknowledge that whites have more privileges. Such denial is useful for maintaining the impression that a society is meritocratic, yet, in essence, there is no fair competition between individuals of opposite identities. The society has a tendency to edge masculinity over femininity. The traditional society assigns qualities that are supposed to be feminine as well as those that are supposed to be masculine. In the end, the male seems more powerful and stronger than the female. In examining school shootings Kimmel and Mahler uncovers that the male students who are commonly taunted and abused are usually the strange ones. Although the word, strange, occurs symbolically, it actually represents students who may be obese, artistic, nerdy, gay, silent, or loner types. An inherent characteristic of such types is such that they do not conform to the rest of the population. In this regard, even in the school setting, the society manifests as developing standards of behavior that an individual should conform as regards one’s sex. Such students, therefore, receive hostility because they are simply different from the rest of the students. The article, therefore, describes homophobia in a new sense. The authors explain homophobia may not actually be the callousness and disregard to gay people, but the hatred or contempt towards individuals who do not conform to familiar standards of gender. For instance, in the school setting, majority of the students expect the male student to be sporty and athletic. In turn, indulging in books or sole obsessions, such as art, manifests as feminine. It is observable that such a definition of the male makes the male students deem themselves as more suited for leadership positions. In the end, this conception of genders seeps into the adult world as males accord themselves considerable privileges at the expense of the females. The authors reveal that this perception is even disastrous to male people who do not fit into contours of traditional definition of gender. For instance, sensitivity in males, although a positive quality in every human being, manifests as weakness. This explains the general disregard for males whose obsessions, such as fashion and cooking, are perceived as emotion-based. In the end, these perceptions are so ingrained that the respective individuals accept them as normal. It is arguable that race confers the advantage of lifestyle and quality life. Mahler and Kimmel, in researching about violence, had intriguing findings. The authors found out that more shootings occurred in the suburbs than they occurred in the inner cities (Kimmel and Mahler 1443). This occurred in spite of the fact that the life in the inner cities is stereotyped as comprising violence. The audience is highly likely to conceive an African American student as more violent than the white counterparts yet the findings showed that the majority of the shooters were white students. Such white students emanated from families where gun culture is perverse. In the end, the rural life is emphasized by the fact that a majority of the shooters used rifles rather the smaller guns. Indeed, the authors realized that most shooters were highly likely to come from the areas that mostly vote for the Republican Party. It is essential to highlight that the Republican Party is majorly associated with White conservativeness. From the findings, it is discernible that a white person is highly likely to live in the suburb than an African American. Similarly, the privilege of income allows for buying and experimenting with guns in households. The narrative of the white person’s civilization clouds the fight against racism. Linda Alcoff notes that the white person has subconsciously thought of his civilization as a better one (Alcoff 6). This explains why the fight against racism is a difficult one. In an ideal state, the suppressed person should attain the empowerment to value oneself and the given culture. On the other hand, the write person has mainly fought against racism by gearing the African Americans towards the white culture. In a balanced world, each culture is unique in its own circumstances. By recognizing that one’s history is special and a given culture is rich, self-conception improves. In a misdirected fight against racism, the African American is highly likely to lose one’s self-esteem. On the other end, Europeans have historically enjoyed the self-esteem that is associable to their collective perception of their culture as superior. Besides, there is the inherent perception that the whites can play a better role in the emancipation of African Americans. In addition, white anti-racism struggles acknowledge that the African Americans are suppressed, but rarely acknowledge that the whites are privileged. In addition, it does not recognize that the African American’s plight is unique. Indeed, the white race and the male sexual identity confer given privileges to respective individuals. The male and white privileges are concepts that are commonly denied. Such denial maintains the false impression that a society is meritocratic in spite of unfair competition. In discussing violence in schools, Kimmel and Mahler uncovers that a society has the tendency to show hostility towards individuals who are different. The authors argue that in case findings had showed that there are more shootings in inner city schools, the American society would easily labeled the African Americans. Linda Alcoff highlights the case of whites’ anti-racist efforts, which are slanted, since whites are highly likely to think of their civilization as superior. Works cited Alcoff, Linda. “What Should White People Do?” Hypatia 13.3 (1998): 6-25. Print. Kimmel, Michael, and Matthew Mahler. “Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence Random School Shootings, 1982-2001.” American Behavioral Scientist 46.10 (2003):1439-1458. Print. Mcintosh, Peggy. “White privilege and male privilege: a personal account of coming to see correspondenece through work in women’s studies.” Edited by Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. Critical white studies. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University press, 1997. Print. Read More