Gender, Sexuality and Race - Essay Example

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Gender, Sexuality and Race Gender, sexuality and race are issues in the modern world that have brought a lot of controversy. These are sensitive issues which humanitarians are trying to create awareness on and ensure equality for all individuals. These issues have effects on the minority groups in society such as lack of equal opportunities for the people who are different in terms of sexual orientation, race and gender. Differences in gender, sexuality and race have been used to reshape the society. There is the Australian Human Rights Act of 1986 which plays an important role in protecting people from discrimination in their public life. These laws are also meant to protect human rights of individuals from being breached by Commonwealth agencies and departments (Delgado &Stefancic, 156). The Human rights laws are available all over the world and ensure that human rights Gender, sexuality and race still have an impact on how individuals work. Despite the government establishing laws on gender equality, there are fields in many professions that are usually male dominated and those that are female dominated. Race can be seen as a social construction. Difference in gender and sexuality are biological or natural. However, sometimes other people can pass as members belonging to category. This is seen in the case of actors who play roles as people from different races. However, it is quite difficult for an actor to play the role of someone of a different gender unless it is a comic drag or a transgender situation. Physical features have diversity and a person from a different race can fit in when in a different society or not. Differences in gender and sexuality have been used to change the society. This is because these differences show that different people can play different roles in the society regardless of their gender. According to sexual orientation, men are more likely to be either homosexuals or heterosexuals. On the other hand, women are more flexible on their sexual orientation (Nagel, 80). These differences in gender and sexuality have been used to bring the society closer together. By embracing the different sexual orientation of individuals, it allows the opportunity of embracing women and men into fields which were previously male dominated or female dominated. Example is the field of fashion that was previously female dominated and now has many males in the field. Education has been a useful tool in reshaping the society’s opinion on race, gender and sexuality. This has been possible because of the diversity in modern day classrooms. Also, the availability of long distance learning bringing people from different parts of the world and culture together has been useful with reshaping the society’s opinion on these issues. To ensure that gender, racial and sexual equality is achieved through education, one way to go about it would be to have teachers and tutors from different backgrounds and races. This would make students have diversity from young age and enable them embrace equality. Education should also deal with different cultures and not focus on a specific culture. Topics on equality should also be embraced in the classroom so that the students can know and understand the fight for equality and its importance. Good governance is also important in embracing differences in gender, race and sexuality. For instance, the best way a government can deal with issues on gender differences would be by making sure that the number of men and women in the government offices are equal. The women should get an equal chance at governing as the male members of the society. To deal with the issue of sexuality and sexual orientation, the government can create laws which embrace different people regardless of their sexual orientation as long as they do not interfere with other people who do not share similar ideas (Andersen &Collins, 104). The government would be able to embrace different races by making sure that people of different races are given the same treatment as people who are originally from their country. Also, this would be possible by making sure that citizens of their country are familiar on other cultures through educating them. According to Foucault’s theory of power, gender and the body are cultural constraints. His theory on power can be used to change individuals’ character of lives’ (Foucault, 120). The body of a woman is seen as weaker as compared to the man as it is different. This brings about the issue on gender and sexuality. His work focuses on establishing new patterns of cultural forms, attitudes and behavior and the importance of this in empowering the vulnerable. Hence, this theory can be used to encourage and establish equality. The critical race theory argues that racism is an enduring part of American life. According to this theory, adult educators have acknowledged this and made its confrontational and analysis a main feature of practice and study. In spite of the many races of individuals living in America, racism can be seen in the country. An example is the Black American being considered criminals when compared to the whites and the Mexican being viewed as servants and drug dealers. This is stereotyping individuals based on the difference in their ethnicity. In America, racism is an on-going judgment that has been hard to deal with. Example is employment in the United States where people of color get limited employment opportunities and life chances as compared to white people. Racism in America is seen in different situations such as access to educational services, healthcare, wage levels, employment opportunities, criminal justice system, capital and media employment. There has been affirmative action that is meant to give minority groups and women equal opportunities by giving them life skills. However, issues are arising as to whether the affirmative action is equal and fair. Another angle to look at affirmative action is it makes white people look less important and unequal to the minority group. These issues are baseless as equality regardless of race sexuality and religion is still not achieved in America. In spite of all the issues arising due to racism, confronting racism is the main solution to discursive practices which are experienced in the world. This is because creating awareness on this issue is what makes people aware of what is happening and how it affects individuals. There are also other issues around sexuality, gender and race. Racial discrimination victims’ suffer different kinds of injustices. One of these issues is limited employment opportunities. This is because individuals may fail to get jobs because of their gender, race or sexuality hence an issue to minority groups (Butler, 52). Other issues are endemic poverty and segregation. Women too also face injustices such as high illiteracy rates, poor access to healthcare and lower pay for work as compared to men. Women sometimes have to face double discrimination because of their gender and their race. There are also issues which arise to individuals because of their sexuality and sexual orientation. For Instance, gay people may face hostility from other individuals with differing sexual inclinations. People with high cultural problems should be given a chance to attend classes and social meetings on sexuality, gender stereotypes and racism. This would make them demystify the assumptions they make. Education is important to these individuals and they should be made to see the similarities between different people. For instance, despite interracial differences, people are very similar. This is similar in the case of gender and religion. There are environmental and social factors that influence the development of culture in individuals. Environmental factors for development of culture include geography. Development of culture is usually a function of where the culture is situated. For example, people from highland regions would have different culture from people who grew up in deserts. Also, people living in coastal regions will have a culture that is dependent on water. Hence, regardless in the difference in races between individuals, we should learn about different cultures as learning about our differences also brings out our similarities. Growing in a particular area may also influence the culture that can be adopted in time. For instance, a Chinese child who grew up in America may adapt the American way of life and when they move to their original place of origin, they may find it hard to fit in. The child may end up facing discrimination because of this difference. This shows that we are similar as humans than we are because of the difference in culture which we do not choose. In conclusion, it is true that gender, race and sexuality are less biological facts than the outcome of contextually-specific discourses and discursive practices. As a result, we should embrace ourselves as one and promote equality for all individuals. This can be done by creating awareness and education to eradicate discrimination based on sexuality, gender and race. Work cited Andersen, M.L. & Collins P.,. Race, Class, and Gender: An anthology. California: Wadsworth Publishers. 2009. Print. Butler, J. Gender Trouble: Feninism and the Subversion of Identity, NY: Routledge. 1993. Print. Delgado, R. & Stefancic, J. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, Second Edition Critical America. New York University Paperback. NYU Press; 2 edition.2012. Print. Foucault, M. ‘Body/Power’ and ‘Truth and Power’ in C. Gordon (ed) U.K: Harvester. 1980. Print. Nagel, J. Race, Ethnicity, and Sexuality: Intimate Intersections, Forbidden Frontiers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2003. Print. Read More