Genderqueer Essay

Over time, the general understanding of the distinction between sex and gender has ceased to exist. It is now most common for them to be known with a combined definition instead of coinciding. Despite the false descriptions, those topics are recently playing a major role in the self-defining aspect of our human lives today. Across the nation, people are beginning to be more open and expressive about the gender that have decided to be, despite their sexual orientation. This is a major step for social acceptance and personal expression in our American culture. It also forces people to be more understanding while knowing that one’s personal identity is their own choice and the idea of male and female being the only two genders is starting to …show more content…
On one episode of MTV’s True Life: I’m Genderqueer, they follow two genderqueer people as they cope with their decision and construct a way to successfully explain their identities and personal feelings to their parents. Most of the time we only hear the genders that exist within the binary, like transgender, that is why it is such a huge step in surfacing their identities as genderqueer. MTV’s episode played a major role in making this group that has generally been invisible to the public, now visible to the world. Over the course of the episode we watch as the individuals struggle with not only being accepted by their parents but also accepting themselves. Jacob Tobia, 24, uses the pronouns as they/them to describe oneself, whereas Brennen Beckwith, 17, uses the pronouns he/his. Both of them are very passionate and involved in gaining attention and bringing about a better understanding of the fluidity of the concept of gender. "It 's really something that we should be talking about and that kids and adults are really confused by,”(Zulch) declares Beckwith. And he is right, the younger generations need to be more aware and the older generations need to learn and try to be accepting because the world is constantly changing and so are social statuses, it is inevitable. Tobia informs us, ”I think for me it’s about creating a world where …show more content…
A cultural anthropologist would understand that sex is biological and gender is social/cultural. We must look at a topic like this holistically, mainly because it is seen in vary different forms but within every culture. Gender is a social role of individuals with some regards to their biological sex, but in this case, they have relinquished that idea completely. The levels of masculine and feminine will vary depending on the culture but overall we see the same two concepts. The other ideas, much like genderqueer, although, have not recently been developed. We see in a study of the Zuni culture by Ruth Benedict that there are clear distinctions between sex and gender. The culture views gender as something you acquire over time as you get to know yourself, not something you are immediately born into. Their third gender that is recognized is called “berdache”, or in their own terms “ihamana” (male prostitute). It combines the social roles of men and women that a boy chooses at puberty, and is not exclusively homo/heterosexual. This is not the only culture with a third gender, and most definitely will not be the last. The United States is slowly becoming more diverse in the gender world, due to the acceptance of new ideas and beliefs that are almost entirely spread through social media. We see many similarities between gender and culture and that one’s culture can influence the way that gender is portrayed. Ultimately,