Gender Identity: How It Is Constructed, Represented - Essay Example

? Gender identity: How it is constructed, represented and negotiated in a market place. of Introduction The word gender refers to behaviors, socially constructed roles and activities that the society considers suitable for girls and women or boys and men. These have a great influence in the way they feel about themselves, act and interact amongst themselves. Gender identity is the internal sense of being female, male or something else. When people identify their gender there is a way in which they communicate their gender identity to people. This is seen through the way they dress, their behavior, voice, hairstyle, or body characteristics (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). An individual’s identity should not be considered from ones behavior but from the way, others react towards you and the ability to keep on going narrative. This essay will focus on how self-identity has contributed to identity construction in the modern consumer society, and how gender identity is constructed, negotiated and presented within a market place. There will be a discussion on issues of masculinity and how they have contributed to gender identity. The existence of a body as a conduit for intentionality and the role of body image body image self-identity. Body The modern consumer society, which is marked with high reflectivity, is conscious of the heightened need for the construction of individual identity. In the modern consumer, society individuals have learnt how to construct, negotiate and represent their gender identity in a market place (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). The centrality in the reflexivity within the modern consumer society has resulted to individuals’ ability to confront and conceptualize their identities. In their quest for self-identity, they always want to know how they should act, what they should be, and what they need to do regarding their gender roles. These questions about what an individual should do and how to behave are always answered from the day-to-day social interaction. Self-identity is not made up of set characteristics but understanding of self-identity is through reflexivity, which creates an understanding of a person’s biography hence representing him as a social actor who has a consistent sense within self (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). This is evident from the way a person interacts with people and the way in which he represents himself in a social setting for example in a market place. Existence of a body as conduit of intentionality The behavioral theorists have published a lot of work that theorizes the relationship between self and the body. Together with other phenomenologist’s course satire and Merleau Ponty recognizes that, a person’s presence in the world means that there is existence of a body, which is a material thing. For the body to exist the process should be dynamic. Existence means that you should always be in action. A person attains correctness and the fullness of existence if he is always active (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). To exist means to perform, Heidegger and Merleau in their ideas about the body as a conduit for intentionality have reversed Descartes’ claims that the certainty of existence is through relocating the locus from” I think” to “I can”. Death therefore is a transformation from” I can “to “I can no longer do”. This issue of death therefore says that there is no activity because there is no life. The account of bodily existence that was highly articulated in the theories of feminism meant that although there was that essence of the body, the point of view lived in a different manner for both men and women. There was an assertion that there is lack of significance in the biological facts that bring the difference between men and women (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). The image of the body The image of the body is understood with others depending on the image that they create about a person and this plays a great role in the modern consumer society. Several definitions define the body image. It is also argued that this body image and structure can change over time and this varies depending on the culture. There is an argument that the body has shifted from the closed body image to a body, which is open-minded and is ready for transformation. In modern consumer society, people usually represent their body images in a way that is instrumental. This is based on the physiognomic assumptions that body image especially facial expression is a representation of a persons’ inner character. A persons’ personality is known through his outer appearance and beauty in a person is linked to the moral goodness of the person (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). The corollary in the modern consumer society is that, the enhancement and cosmetics that are used in the body through a certain period of time and the developed technologies can be used to enhance beautiful appearance in an individual, and thereby creating a beautiful self-image. Given that the regimes for beautification are open to those who are willing to invest their effort and money, it is argued that beautification or the potential of beauty is brought to the reach of ordinary women and men. Therefore, personal identity a person should always strive to present himself in a manner that is a pealing as this is important in a market place. In modern consumer society people are supposed to take care of themselves and not let their bodies to be fat and lose beauty (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). People with enhanced appearance will always want to present their selves with a lot of confidence in a market place because they tend to enjoy their face and body, as they are congruent with their self-identity. Groomers and stylists emphasize that it is not all about the clothes that you wear but how you wear them. The way you wear clothes has an impact on the impression you create to the people in a market place. In effect, to this, more is done to teach people on how to reform their bodies, the walking style, the posture when standing how to hold the head and hands and many other aspects that are important in represent self-identity in a market place. The appearance of an individual has greater impact on gender identity. To develop a framework, which is used to make sense on the sexual differences, the feminist philosophers have given an account of the relationship between corporeality, subjectivity, and self-identity, which are always applicable in an individual’s existence. To facilitate a comprehensive understanding on how people perceive and construct their identity, a useful framework was constructed which establishes the role played by self-identity in the market (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). This approach is taken care of by structuralism theory, which argues that micro- level activity, and macro level forces are interrelated. It is also noted that although social structures exist, individuals tend to repeat their actions and therefore they are liable to respond to the changes that occur in their behaviors and attitudes. However, the actions and behavior of an individual are moderated by the social protocols. The impact of capitalism has played a great role in helping individuals to construct their gender identity in the modern society (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). It is said that modernity opens up an individual, although that happens under strong conditions, which are influenced by the effects of capitalism. Whereas capitalism is seen to provide a variety of products through which there is an expression of individuality, there are other available options, which the market forces to dictate how individuals construct individuality hence reducing self into limited range of the choices, which the consumer should make. This situation is considered as the quest for gender identity. Lifestyle plays an important role in gender identity. The more a person moves to a post-traditional setting the more the lifestyle changes and he develops a sense of gender identity. It is asserted that the choices of a lifestyle are not exclusive and every social actor should adopt and create a lifestyle, because there are some possibilities, which are restricted due to an individual’s social positioning (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). Lifestyle is more than professional status, behaviors, beliefs and attitudes. Hence, life style can act as a guide to gender identity and this in return helps although it does not determine the outcomes of life. In this sense, it is said that lifestyle choices help an individual bring together their individual issues in a recognizable manner hence helping them to establish networks with people in the market. Masculinity Transition from traditional to modern society has raised an alarm in questions about gender roles. This is pertinent to the issues of masculinity, where the changes that have taken place in gender roles have led to what the commentators’ term as masculinity crisis. This is characterized by the changes in family patterns, increase in the levels of violence, crime and abusive behaviors, increased rates of depression and cases of people committing suicide as well as the effects caused by gay movements and feminism in popular discourse. While it is argued whether that masculinity crisis really exists, it is evident that the instability of male and female identity in the modern culture contributes and reflects the parallel developmental crisis (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). This usually happens to those boys who engage themselves in identity construction, especially in a context where they have few role models to emulate and the masculinity images present are confused and complex. It has to recognition that the early sociological research on masculinity tended to focus on the position of men in relation to that of women, hence prioritizing the gender dynamics that were obtained between these two groups (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). Men were afforded power and women were seen as the subordinates however, in the research that is done in the modern society, masculinity is regarded as complex issue. To acknowledge this, the contemporary theorists argue that there are ranges of masculinities that contribute in the construction of gender identity and emphasis should not be put in a single masculinity. Furthermore, a theme has arisen on the issues of gender with influences on the ethnicity, race, class and sexuality. The theme also explains how these factors have contributed to the construction of gender identity in the modern consumer society. Negotiating ones identity in social interactions Depending on the gender identity of a person an individual, adjust to the aspect of their individual presentation and the reaction of those around them. Fundamentally social interaction means negotiating between the individuals who are performing within a given social context to convey some aspects of their gender identity (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). The negotiations occur with little or no conscious thought. People are always comfortable to reveal what is in their mind after assessing what the other person has to offer or how much ready the other person is willing to reveal. Self-awareness in the market place Gender identity empowers people in that it gives them the ability to understand what they can do and what they cannot do. For example in a market self identity is constructed through very many ways .when in a market place people always want to know how they do their presentation in a given context for example when doing sales and how the buyers perceive them. In the physical environment, gender identity is easy as people derive the meaning of information that is conveyed by those around them and their bodies (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). In their interaction with others in the market, they are able to know how they represented themselves to people and the stuff that they delivered. They can know what message the clothes they are wearing presents, they also take care of what there facial expression tells to other people and it makes it easy for them to comprehend the reaction of others towards them. Conclusion Finally, it was discovered that there are many aspects, which contribute to the construction, representation and negotiating of self-identity in a market place (Edwards & Alexander, 2008). The issues of masculinity develop an important role when it comes to gender construction in a market place. The image that is created from ones personality, body image also has an important influence when it comes to the negotiation and presentation of one’s identity in the market place. It was also noted that gender performance is equated to the choice that people make in their daily lives. References Edwards, H., & Alexander, G. (2008). Gender identity. Clayton South, Vic: Blake Education. Read More