Debra Rosenberg's Rethinking Gender

In her May 21, 2007, article, “(Rethinking) Gender” from Newsweek, Debra Rosenberg informs, and subtly persuades that the definition of gender, specifically stereotypical categories should be reevaluated. In the beginning of the article Rosenberg tells the story of the NASCAR driver, J. T. Hayes, who suffered a race car accident then decided to change his name and become Terri O’Connell. She said that she changed her ways that she had always felt like a woman and that this has been an ongoing struggle. From her accident she feared that her life was not at its fullest potential and that is her reasoning for becoming a female. Since the transition she could no longer continue her racing career because of society’s current understanding of transgender …show more content…
Rosenberg then asks the following question, “What is gender anyway?” (482). She asked this question in order to evoke deeper thoughts from the reader. Rosenberg continues and states that gender is more than the anatomy that creates humans male or female, that it is something more complex. As Rosenberg argues this, she references history and how men and women were stereotypically perceived to be. She describes that males were known to be the ones who were less emotional and were providers. Then in contrast that females were less of providers and more emotional. She uses history to show that stereotypical gender roles are false accusations of how men and women act. The author then continues to state that the term transgender is a broad term to label people who express themselves differently than their gender that they were born with, wether or not they have had surgery. Rosenberg then articulates that gender identity crises does in fact occur at very young ages of children. She then tells the story of a little boy named Jonah age six who wanted to become a girl. The parents decided to let him be a girl by changing his name to Jona and …show more content…
Rosenberg explained how the Olympians had to pass certain tests to prove that they were male or female. They tried visual screening and genetic testing, but the results were not reliable, so they decided to quit testing the Olympians. The Committee was worried about transgendered women who were taking supplements. It feared that the supplements would give them an advantage. The author explains the difficulties that the Olympic Committee had to show that there is not a definite definition of gender. Rosenberg purposely mentions the Committee to prove that if one of the most prestigious sports committees could not define gender, then gender does in fact vary. The author explains that more people are less willing to get surgery and become content with being a gender in between. She then references the National Center for Transgender Equality says that over a period of one year that, “…Only 1,000 to 2,000 Americans…” (487) decide to get surgery because of the cost and the risk of being reassigned. Rosenberg uses numbers to show that many transgendered people are more receptive to not be a single gender and that surgery is not a very popular or convenient