Cole Frederick
CAPS blog #1
Gender Identity
Gender
identity is defined as identifying oneself with the cultural norms of being
masculine or feminine (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Gender is completely
different than biological sex. Labeling someone as a man or woman in our
society is influenced by the socially acceptable cultural notions. There are
actions in society that our considered masculine and others that our considered
feminine. For example, watching football is considered a masculine activity
where as watching the food network or soap operas may be considered more
feminine. Gender identity is constructed by culture (Martin & Nakayama,
2009). What may be feminine in one culture may be masculine in another. The
social norms and expectations of a specific culture define specific gender
identities.
I found a very interesting story from a Swedish newspaper
about a couple that didn’t reveal their babies sex to anyone after birth. The
child is now almost 3 years old and no one knows whether he/she is a boy or
girl. They dress the baby in clothes that range from dresses to athletic shorts.”We
want Pop to grow up more freely and avoid being forced into a specific gender
mold from the outset,” the child’s mother said. “It’s cruel to bring a child
into the world with a blue or pink stamp on their forehead.” I think the
parents were right on with this because it is so true that directly from the
womb we are judged by our biological sex. A biological male is shunned if he
wants to become a dancer and the biological girl is supposed to be the
caregiver. I think if we stopped labeling individuals biologically as male and
female individuals would be able to grow on their own without the constructed
expectations of society.
Link to news story http://www.thelocal.se/20232/20090623/
Gender
itself is demonstrated in communication styles. Women’s communication style is
described as a much more supportive and disclosive nature than men (Martin
& Nakayama, 2009). Men supposedly communicate in more assertive and
competitive ways. After further research, it appears that men and women’s
communication styles are actually much similar than people think. This goes
back to the fact that gender identity is constructed.
I think
knowing the facts and definition of gender identity helps with intercultural
communication immensely. By knowing the fact that gender is reconstructed by
society, communication is much easier because you can have a sense and
understanding of different cultures views.
I found another interesting link on youtube.com about a new
story of placing boys and girls on high school sports teams based on their
gender identity rather than their biological sex .
References
Bornstein, Kate “Naming All The Parts” Gender Outlaw:
On Men, Women and the Rest of Us. (1994)
Green, Jamison “The Art and Nature of Gender” Unseen
Genders: Beyond the Binaries.
Maritn,J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2010). Intercultural
Communication in Contexts (Fifth ed., pp. 185-187. New York, NY; Mcgraw-Hill
The Swedish newspaper article was very interesting! I have never heard of anyone hiding their child's gender before. Though once the child grows older, I wonder if he/she will be shunned because he/she is not following the established social norms.
ReplyDeleteGreat media example. There's a similar example occurring in Canada as well. I posted that particular article on Facebook and got some really heated reactions. Some felt that the parents' decision was selfish and detrimental to our children. Even in this day and age we are heavily invested in gender identity. Good post.
ReplyDeleteYou can embed the video in your blog by clicking on the movie icon on the tool bar off to the right next to the image icon.
Also make sure that you cite all of your sources in the blog. Good work with the intext formatting of textbook. If you include sources for the reference list make sure you also include them in your text.
Bornstein, K. (1994). Gender outlaw: On Men, women and the rest of us. City, State: Name of publisher.
Green, Jamison “The Art and Nature of Gender” Unseen Genders: Beyond the Binaries. (see above)
Maritn,J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2010). Intercultural communication in contexts (5th ed.). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill.
Also in terms of the cultural identity project, maybe you explore gender identity? I really like that you cited the Bornstein book in your reference list. Maybe there's something there worth exploring?
ReplyDelete