How do Experiences Challenge Dominant Models of Gender?

This week our readings looked at gender from the transgendered view point. This is something that I did not know much about before. I have to admit my only really conscience interaction with intersex of any depth was reading Jeff Eugenides book, Middlesex. This very limited understanding of transexuality and intersexuality was forced to expand and really look at all aspects of our society. These articles allowed me to understand the logistics of being transgender and what that involves throughout life. The consistent theme to all of these was the combination of struggle that is endured due to living in the wrong body and the perceptions that exist in society related to gender. Throughout reading I couldn't help but think about how much emphasis there is on gender in everyday experience, and when really thinking about it those emphasises are unnecessary. It could be argued quite well that gender is unnecessary altogether.

This leads to the discussion we had today dealing with infants born with genitalia that are neither clearly male nor female. The quote that I used for Wednesday's discussion still sums up a lot of what I have gotten out of this topic. In The Five Sexes, Revisited by Anne Fausto-Sterling it is stated,”People come in even wider assortment of sexual identities and characteristics that mere genitals can distinguish." This quote not only delves into the weeks focus but also a wider array of gender questions. The pressures of society are incredible when it comes to gender expectations. When a baby is born with unclear genitals the parents are expected to define the child as boy or girl, the grey area in-between is not acceptable. The parents and doctors decide for the child, primarily based on size. However, how can anyone predict what the individual will identify as their gender 10, 20, or 30 years from now? This then leads to the concept of defining gender in our society. In the western world there are two widely accepted genders, male and female. While other genders exist they are not in the norm. Fausto-Sterling addresses this precisely when she mentions the "assortment of sexual identities." There are other identities but not genders. Our society constantly attempts to classify gender. Yet, is gender something that can be classified? Isn’t it more about who you personally are than anything else? Society has forced us to think of gender as a public display of self. These readings make it clear that while gender is something that will have to be perceived as the norm, that doesn’t mean we have to accept those classifications.

More than anything the readings this week showed me how fluid gender can be and really should be. We can learn so much from these individuals who have become so comfortable with themselves that they are not letting themselves be defined by socially constructed genders. While most people are not in situations that are as extreme as those we read about I think that this idea of gender fluidity can be applied throughout everyday aspects of life. With this new perspective I will constantly be rethinking what I think of as “normal” gender roles.