The discussion in class for the past couple weeks has been focused on sex, sexual orientation, and gender, and how they contribute to a person in society. Many people see sex and gender as the same thing and or they correlate with each other, but really they are completely different from each other. Sex refers to the “biological characteristics that define men and women” (World Health Organization, 2011), and gender refers to the “socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women” (World Health Organization, 2011). Therefore, the terms male and female are different than masculine and feminine. Throughout history we have been taught that the norm is that females are to associate themselves with feminine activities such as cleaning and nurturing, showing emotions, and being interested in tangible items such as esthetics and dresses etc., and the norm for males is that they are to be the dominant, strong, and courageous breadwinner, that has little or no emotion, and are not to associate themselves with anything feminine that could deviate away from the normal masculine traits. I am going to talk about how sexual dichotomy is expressed during the childhood development which can lead to either homosexuality or heterosexuality.
Sex is biologically determined at birth, either defining you a female or male depending on one’s genitals, but sometimes there are cases of intersexual, where a person can have both genitals externally and or internal organs.. When parents know the sex of the child they will begin to gender train their children in a way of communication, by the way they refer to their children, and the things that they let their child associate with by gender-socialization with typical male or female clothing, colours (pink and blue), toys, etc. The process by which children learn their own gender identity is not a passive one in which they simply absorb the information that bombards them. Schools are the second most important agent of socialization for children after parents. Schools solidify gender, race, gender, class, and sexual differences by peer influence, gendered lessons, segregating the sexes and coaching masculinity and femininity. Some parents choose to take the path of androgynous socialization where they bring up their children to have both feminine and masculine traits which diminish the heavy social emphasis on gender distinction, but this has been experimented and has caused some serious psychological problems for the child in their later years of childhood. But this type of socialization has also benefited society in ways such as androgynous fashion; it has been used to diminish gender stereotypes by associating both genders’ traits with the individual.
A persons’ sexual orientation is the sex for whom one feels erotic and romantic desire. Most countries have a heteronormative culture where heterosexuality is the norm, but it is also a taken-for-granted mode of sexual expression assuming that it is always a male and female that must be together and referring homosexuality as a defect and abnormal. It wasn’t recently until “2004, the Canadian Parliament passed C-250, sponsored by gay legislator Svend Robinson. The legislation added ‘sexual orientation’ to the list of protected minority categories in Canadian law” (Clausen, 2005), which made homosexuality much more accepted in the Canadian Society. After this law came into legislation, lesbians and gays became more comfortable ‘coming out of the closet’. Lesbians viewed their acknowledgment of their sexual identity as a choice, but gays acknowledged theirs as a discovery. There are two theories to this acknowledgement. One, constructionists think that “what we know to be real and essential is always a matter of human and historical period in which we live in” (Newman, 2007, pp. 36); it is always a matter of human definition which would determine someone’s sexuality as a choice determined by the social life, but essentialists would contradict by saying that “peoples definitions and labels can change, but an individual’s essence always exists” (Newman, 2007, pp. 35). So for example, a gay who had just revealed his sexuality has always been gay from birth but didn’t realize until now.
Sexual dichotomy is expressed everywhere in our society, for example by dividing male and female restrooms, grouping girls and boys clothing separately from one another in clothing stores, male and female sport teams, and many more. Distinguishing someone from their gender and sex is not as easy as some people think it is. I know that I have a hard time distinguishing sometimes because their physical appearance doesn’t always give it away. The way I see it is that their choice is their choice. The way that homosexuals want to dress, talk, and act is up to them and it should not be a bother to anyone else. I think that homosexuals are human beings just like everyone else, and they are free to express their autonomy in their choice of sexuality.
That first video was hilarious - I love how the stubborn guy's name was Christian haha, perhaps a slight bias from the creators?
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