Summary of Real-World Problem Many people struggle with problems relating to gender identity. These problems often include harassment, discrimination, and acts of violence. Oftentimes, the harassment can result in suicidal thoughts and actions. Gender is a social construct that people use to define the difference between masculine and feminine in an individual. Similarly, gender identity is known to be a fluid spectrum, because people are often not completely fulfilling the norms of their gender role relating to their biological sex (Friedmen, 2015). However, many people believe that individuals should conform to the gender norms that are associated with one’s biological sex. Sexual orientation is how people identify whom they are sexually
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However, that is not the case for everyone. Some people choose to physically change their appearance and hormones to better identify as their gender. Others choose to have sexual reassignment surgery (Friedmen, 2015). For example, Caitlyn Jenner, who was previously known as Bruce Jenner but has recently gone through sex changes. He was biologically born as a male, identifies as a female, and is sexually attracted to females (Bissinger, 2015). Much like Jenner, many people have gender dysphoria. Meaning, they emotionally and psychologically identify as the opposite of the biological sex to which they were born. This is a psychological issue because society has such a poor level of acceptance for people with feelings of gender dysphoria causing them to feel like outcasts. Some people disregard their emotions, which causes even more psychological problems and depression. When analyzing the importance of this issue on a scale rated from 1 (fairly weak) to 5 (exceptionally strong), it should be rated as a 5, because many people have suffered from hate crimes and even self-harm due to not being accepted for who they truly are. Society needs to recognize the psychological consequences it can have on someone …show more content…
The societal problems of gender identity can be described using Wilhelm Wundt’s concept of cultural products. He explains how people naturally have higher mental processes that are caused by cultural products. These products can be influenced from religion, social customs, myths, history, language, morals, arts, and the societal law (Manza, 9-3-2015). When referring back to the societal issue of gender identity, it is important to recognize that people are socially constrained. Meaning, that society has the ability to set standards for people, known as societal norms. One specific societal norm is gender. Culture greatly influences how people perceive the standards for one’s biological sex. If a person is biologically born male, it is expected that they would have all of the functioning of a man. This does not mean that a male has the chemical makeup that says play with trucks and love the color blue. That is a culturally influenced idea known as gender. When people are influenced by cultural ideas they become cultural products as describe by Wundt (Manza ,9-3-2015). Those who are cultural products get confused when people do not follow the norm, and it can cause victimization of those with gender identity
However, that is not the case for everyone. Some people choose to physically change their appearance and hormones to better identify as their gender. Others choose to have sexual reassignment surgery (Friedmen, 2015). For example, Caitlyn Jenner, who was previously known as Bruce Jenner but has recently gone through sex changes. He was biologically born as a male, identifies as a female, and is sexually attracted to females (Bissinger, 2015). Much like Jenner, many people have gender dysphoria. Meaning, they emotionally and psychologically identify as the opposite of the biological sex to which they were born. This is a psychological issue because society has such a poor level of acceptance for people with feelings of gender dysphoria causing them to feel like outcasts. Some people disregard their emotions, which causes even more psychological problems and depression. When analyzing the importance of this issue on a scale rated from 1 (fairly weak) to 5 (exceptionally strong), it should be rated as a 5, because many people have suffered from hate crimes and even self-harm due to not being accepted for who they truly are. Society needs to recognize the psychological consequences it can have on someone …show more content…
The societal problems of gender identity can be described using Wilhelm Wundt’s concept of cultural products. He explains how people naturally have higher mental processes that are caused by cultural products. These products can be influenced from religion, social customs, myths, history, language, morals, arts, and the societal law (Manza, 9-3-2015). When referring back to the societal issue of gender identity, it is important to recognize that people are socially constrained. Meaning, that society has the ability to set standards for people, known as societal norms. One specific societal norm is gender. Culture greatly influences how people perceive the standards for one’s biological sex. If a person is biologically born male, it is expected that they would have all of the functioning of a man. This does not mean that a male has the chemical makeup that says play with trucks and love the color blue. That is a culturally influenced idea known as gender. When people are influenced by cultural ideas they become cultural products as describe by Wundt (Manza ,9-3-2015). Those who are cultural products get confused when people do not follow the norm, and it can cause victimization of those with gender identity