Gender and sexuality are two topics that are, without a doubt, cultural constructs with definitions that represent a failure to “delineate where nature ends and where culture begins" (Gottlieb 2002:168). As we know, people are born into three different categories: male, female, or intersex. This is biological. However, our definitions as a society of what it means to be male or female are not. The three pieces we read: If Men Could Menstruate by Gloria Steinem, Fixing Sex by Katrina Karkazi, and Interpreting Gender and Sexuality by Alma Gottlieb all illustrate this idea. Other themes that exist within the three pieces include: straight male domination (patriarchy), the distribution of power in relation to gender and sex, and the idea that although
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Your gender identity depends on who you are, where you came from, and how the people around you respond to that identity. In most cultures, it appears that the female tends to assume the role of cooking, cleaning, and taking care of their children. We are associated with weakness, high emotions, and a lack of independence. Males, in contrast, are taught to be “manly” by assuming the role of working, building/fixing things, and protecting the family. Men are associated with strength, stability, and independence - quite the opposite of the female role. However, it is clear that defining gender and gender roles is not as clean cut as we would all like it to be - particularly across different cultures. In America, it is strange for women to be firefighters - but they still exist. In Andalusia, female bullfighters are rare due to the criticism of other people (mainly men). Most cultures are like this, but in the case of the Igbo people of Nigeria, “female husbands” and “male daughters” (172) exist where biological females assume male roles and it is perfectly normal. A similar concept exists in American cultures. Lesbian couples will tell their children that they have two mothers, but one will assume the “maternal” role while the other may assume the more “masculine” role geared towards a career (Gottlieb
Your gender identity depends on who you are, where you came from, and how the people around you respond to that identity. In most cultures, it appears that the female tends to assume the role of cooking, cleaning, and taking care of their children. We are associated with weakness, high emotions, and a lack of independence. Males, in contrast, are taught to be “manly” by assuming the role of working, building/fixing things, and protecting the family. Men are associated with strength, stability, and independence - quite the opposite of the female role. However, it is clear that defining gender and gender roles is not as clean cut as we would all like it to be - particularly across different cultures. In America, it is strange for women to be firefighters - but they still exist. In Andalusia, female bullfighters are rare due to the criticism of other people (mainly men). Most cultures are like this, but in the case of the Igbo people of Nigeria, “female husbands” and “male daughters” (172) exist where biological females assume male roles and it is perfectly normal. A similar concept exists in American cultures. Lesbian couples will tell their children that they have two mothers, but one will assume the “maternal” role while the other may assume the more “masculine” role geared towards a career (Gottlieb