Do you have a choice
to be male or female? What determines your sex or gender? The reading assigned for Monday looks to
answer these questions. As it was stated in the West and Zimmerman article “Doing Gender”, “in the beginning there
was gender and there was sex” (175). The
purpose of the study was to understand gender socially as not something just
learned but a routine; something that is a reoccurring accomplishment. Typically,
sex is ascribed through biological constructs such as physiology and hormones. On
the other hand, gender is achieved through social and cultural means. In the article
they studied Hermaphrodites and the implications of having both male and female
reproductive organs. Students began to reevaluate the way gender and sex was
classified in the “beginning”. The
students began thinking that sex in the context of research wasn’t just given
at birth (Zimmerman 175). Gender also seemed much less as an achievement (Zimmerman 175). The doing in gender is socially explained through
men or women’s production. West and
Zimmerman state that “gender involves doing. Doing gender involves a complex of
socially guided perceptual, interactional and micro-political activities in
pursuit of masculine and feminine “nature” (Zimmerman 176).
I would
agree with West and Zimmerman. They
state that one’s sex category changes because of the social consequences and
resources available, whether it is male perceived dominance or female difference,
as human beings we practice our gender. A good example of practicing your
gender is drag queens. Drag queens
according to an article written by Taylor and Verta can teach us a lot about
gender. Drag shows challenge common sense or natural social notions of gender.
The article highlights interviews and observations with a drag show setting.
What is interesting about drag is that some of the guests might not be gay and
neither will some of the performers, but all of them enjoy practicing and
challenging typical societal norms. Why
are these men comfortable with expressing feminine qualities within a certain
setting and not in public? According to West and Zimmerman, we practice gender.
The question is how do you practicing both? https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/11636469/taylor-rupp-learning-from-drag-queens-it-educjmuedu
The article “The five
Sexes” by Sterling Fausto, used examples of individuals who were born inter-sexually;
after their changes, they faced a number of issues both emotional and social. What
was very interesting in this article, were the examples and ideas regarding
individuals who were born with both genitalia but were changed surgically after
birth. Stories like the joan/ john, brought to light examples of other
individuals who rejected the other assignments of sex/gender they were taught
and given at birth. This article
reminded me of an episode on Law and Order: Special Victims when a set of
twins, both born boys, but after a freak accident during circumcision, one of
the boys was changed into a girl. The boys on the show went through emotional trauma
due to their parent’s lack of understanding and treatment. However as Sterling Fausto says in his
article, “in my vision , however, strong colors coexist with pastels . They are
and will coexist” ( Fausto 23).
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