Gender Identity

Today’s youth, or Millennials, grew up in the digital revolution when the web became public space. As such, the youth of America could now use a medium by which to communicate with each other across the nation. For the most part this lead to new, productive, or at least uninfluential ideas and inventions. However, with all the positives also came some creations that makes one take pause and wonder. Of these are: otherkin, headmates, the never-ending stream of new gender identities, and the phenomenon of self-diagnosis of mental illness. Yet, in examining these issues, it is important that we do not forget this point: The purpose of this research is not to ridicule these people or their beliefs, but instead to examine the reasoning behind their …show more content…
General gender identity theory states that gender is a diffused status characteristic from ones biological sex, which would coincide with typical gender socialization. Note, when I say gender identity I am not referring to the LGBT community. I am referring instead to the individuals who claim to be outside of these categories. They are a part of the community they refer to as the LGBPTTQQIIAA+ community, which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Pansexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Intergender, Asexual, Ally. This list continues to grow, almost daily, as people continue to think of new ones to create. From these come a countless supply of subgroups to which people further categorize their gender. In addition to the never-ending metamorphosis of new gender identities, they also take it upon themselves to look down upon heterosexuals and ‘cis’ …show more content…
These changes previously discussed defy social norms. The social norms these groups are defying are ‘should-behaviors’ or as Sumner defined it, “folk-ways.” They are contradictory to the conventional ways of doing things in our society, but are not crucial to the survival of the individual or society. The sociological concept of association also plays a role here. These groups were formed expressly for the purpose of being understood and accepted by society. Ethnocentrism also plays a large role in these groups. Since a macro-level analysis shows that these groups are almost universally shunned as taboo by general society, they believe themselves to be superior to them. A meso-level analysis shows that cooperation between these groups has formed in order to combat the competition offered by the rest of society. This alienation due to these groups’ collective behavior and refusal of internalization of society’s main norms, values, and mores results in prejudice and discrimination. Social control enforces social conformity that shuns this perceived social deviance of these subcultures. However, acceptance of these subcultures, or at the very least understanding of them, is necessary to avoid further social conflict and