Gender Sex and Sexual Identities - Case Study Example

Gender Sex and Sexual Identities Introduction Gender, sex and sexual identity is an enriching that creates a great sense of balance in the society as it contributes to the stability of social respect and status of all individuals. It has enabled the society to adjust to defining the difference between morality and criminal behaviors especially when it comes to gender, sex and sexuality and how each should be perceived. There are benefits accrued from providing gender, sex and sexual identity as a much neutralized subject as it is not subjected to being taught according to a religion, a cultural belief or even a race but rather as common knowledge to be learnt. It used to seem hard to deliver education on gender, sex and sexual identity in the past especially since the topics are very sensitive to the personality of every individual. However, in the modern times it is rendered to every age group as it is recognized to be a necessity more than just a common discussion in the society. It enables many young individuals to gain sufficient knowledge on the different genders, sex and sexual identities in the society (Shaw & Lee, 2007). The society is able to gain a great sense of maturity with how they approach each of these topics as they do not have to shy away but rather learn how to accept themselves and the diversity of the people around them. Personal Experience In my high school years, one of my classmates played a dirty bullying prank on a student who always seemed reserved yet only social to a few. He was an A grade student and a great violin player and had been given the honor of playing the anthem by the school principal at the high school graduation ceremony. However, some of the classmates were not only envious but searched for all ways to shame him. The main way they did this is by tampering with the teachers’ board and draw up figures that implied the A grade student to be gay. They placed it in a manner that was meant to provoke a great sense of discrimination among the other students towards the top student. Considering the fact that gayism was already legally accepted in society it was quite shocking to realize that a majority of the younger generation not only discriminated against gays, but also treated this student as an outcast. It seemed that the religious moral perception of society both young and old still placed gay individuals at a very uncomfortable position. However, at the graduation ceremony since the top student still needed to give a speech, the student did manage to alleviate this perception with his speech. The student did marvel the entire congregation by admitting that he was not in fact gay, but had managed to experience firsthand what any individual who is gay would have to undergo with discriminatory perceptions. He went on ahead to explain the difference between how being gay can seem to be morally wrong to the society due to the religious laws. However, he clarified that it is not criminal to be gay and neither were it wrong to acclaim your own sexual identity publicly. This great courage did make other students that had succumbed to peer pressure to gain the confidence also to join in the fight against sexual identity discrimination. It was highly noted that this type of precedent behavior eventually nurtures violence against humanity and that this not only created great discord in society but also influenced the notion that violence against the gay society was justified when as matter of fact it is not at all. This did also lead to the approval of parents towards sex education being taught in its diversity in a means to eradicate the discriminative perception toward gay individuals young or old. Hence, this personal experience did also enrich my own view on the diversity of the world views and on the relevance of sexual identity in its diversity. The most successful Personal experience in this class The gender, sex and sexual identity class has been a very interesting stage of the course. The most successful personal experience in this class for me was in realizing that neither the gender nor the sexual identity of an individual define the model of success one can achieve in their careers and other areas of their lives. The gender aspect of the class did expand on several important lessons such as when women were classified as the inferior gender of the human race and how they did still manage to surpass the expectation of the society was remarkable. With great women engaging in an endless battle with their male counterparts towards seeking equality; the results have greatly enveloped a new world all together (Shaw & Lee, 2007). From the research I could do through the classes and from my own personal curiosity; it became clear that when any organization or nation is headed by both women and men there is profound success achieved than when there is only a male leader or only a female leader. There is a great level of balance in combining the strengths of both genders towards increasing the potential leadership of the company or nation. When it comes to the sexual identity aspect, it was very interesting to experience how equal the society is, and the peace accomplished through acceptance of gay and lesbian individuals. The least successful experience in this class The least successful experience in this class was perhaps in having a gay and lesbian society no longer treated as a minority community. For many decades, now their rights have been greatly established, and the society is well aware of respecting every individual gay or not as an equal. This is a great challenge as it did come to the attention of many that the classification of the gay and lesbian population to be minorities does provide them with more job opportunities hence compromising their ability to acquire the skills required for qualifications. These opportunities take away the very same opportunity that could be provided to any other individual gay or not who is more qualified for it. Some students rather agreed that the gay and lesbian population should still be considered as a minority population due to the fact that there are some individuals that do still undergo discrimination under this identity. With all this speculation of argumentative reasoning, it was quite unsuccessful to push that the gay and lesbian should rather be provided with equal employment opportunities as every other individual. Lessons learnt on Gender The main lessons learnt on gender include: 1. Gender is generally understood to be a differentiation between masculinity and femininity (Shaw & Lee, 2007). From the moment an individual is born their gender is directly determined and as the female, male or intersex. 2. In the past, majority of the society only defined two main genders, and that is either female or male. However, the modern society has come to terms with the existence of the intersex individuals as they have become more popular and well rounded in the society as well (ACON, 2010). 3. In the past individuals that were intersex had to hide their gender and declare one gender either male or female in order to not be discriminated against or be treated as bad omen. 4. The acceptance of the intersex individuals is also marked on the medical records that show a more open recognition of intersex born genders. 5. All genders should be treated respectfully, and the society should continually induce the recognition of intersex individuals in order to eradicate gender discrimination. 6. Women who were once considered the inferior gender in society have played a great role in influencing the stability of nations, organization and the overall society. This leads to the acceptance of gays and lesbians in society to create more stability and prevent violence in the society. Lessons Learnt on Sex Sex in one definition does mean the establishment of the gender of an individual. Another meaning of sex is the physical intimacy between two individuals. 1. Sex was once only approved to be an activity conducted by married individuals, and anyone who was not married and did pertain to this act was considered immoral. 2. In the modern society whether an individual does have sex before or after marriage or even engages in sex at both seasons of their lives is not considered morally wrong and neither are they discriminated against. It is left free to provide every individual the freedom to make a personal choice of when they want to be sexually active and with whom. 3. Partaking in sex should be approved by both parties and/ or all of the individuals involved without being forced or pressured into. If forced into this act can be reasoned under law to be criminal and can thus be charged under the law with sufficient evidence. 4. Sex does pertain to the arousal of sexual organs and thus lengthens the definition of sex from just being sexual intercourse between a man and woman. It opens the platform of defining the sexual intercourse partaken by lesbians and gays as well. 5. Through sexual intercourse, the society can spread sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV much faster due to lack of using protection. 6. Reproduction/ pregnancy which can be prevented if unwanted should be educated to all individuals whether they are sexually active or not (Your Sex Health, 2014). 7. Women in marriage do have a right to either consent or not consent to sexual intercourse and if forced or abused can report the matter and have judicial action taken to protect them (Shaw & Lee, 2007). Lessons learnt on Sexual Identity The lessons learnt on sexual identity include: 1. It is not a crime to be gay or lesbian, and the law does fully protect this society against discrimination and violence as well (Dillon, Worthington & Moradi, 2011). 2. Sexual identity does help to an individual to make their stand on realizing themselves as individuals rather than what society defines them to be (Shaw & Lee, 2007). 3. The main preferences of sexual identity in society include; heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, gay, or straight. Most surprising experience in this class The most surprising experience in this class was the discovery of how women’s movement did greatly influence the active movement of gays and lesbians acceptance by law and in society (Epstein, 2001). This did enable the society to realize that benign violent towards gays and lesbians does change their sexual identity and hence acceptance does create a more affable environment. References ACON. (2010). Gender +Sexual Identity. Youth. Building our community’s health and Wellbeing. ACON. Retrieved from: http://www.acon.org.au/youth/Sexuality Dillon, F. R., Worthingtion, R. L. & Moradi, B. (2011). Sexual identity as a universal process. Schwartz, S. J., Luyckx, K., Vignoles, V. L. (eds) handbook of identity theory and research. Vol. 1 and 2. Pg. 650- 671. New York, NY: Springer Science+ Business media Epstein, B. (2001). What happened to the women’s movement?. Feminism; Movements; Philosophy. Monthly reports. Retrieved from: http://monthlyreview.org/2001/05/01/what-happened-to-the-womens-movement/ Shaw, S. M. & Lee, J. (2007). Women’s voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings. Feminism. McGraw- Hill, Boston Your Sex Health. (2014). Sexual identity. Your sex health. Retrieved from: http://www.yoursexhealth.org/sexual-identity/ Read More