The terms sex and gender are often used as interchangeable terms, but this is inaccurate. According to the World Health Organization, “Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women” (World Health Organization 2015). Although we are naturally given a sex based on our DNA, society determines our gender as we grow up. This can lead to someone’s gender identity or gender expression not matching their assigned sex, which is referred to as being transgender. This essay will show that the practice of transgenderism proves that gender is a socially constructed
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Transgender men try to demonstrate the understanding of feminine ‘gender’ that they may have. This means they have to rely on other men who are transgender to help guide them on what it takes to be feminine. This means that transgender men don’t natural know all that is considered feminine, and choose to learn more on what it takes to act the way society believes females should act. It also suggests that ‘gender’ is neither natural nor innate. There is forced femininity on females, but for males it is their choice. One way transgender men achieve this is through drag, also known as the act of men dressing in women’s clothing. However when men choose to dress in “women’s clothes” they choose the stereotypical feminine outfits such as dresses or skirts. However women where more than just dresses and skirts, they often wear shirts and jeans just like men. To men “women’s clothes” are the apparel that a male dominated society considers feminine and therefore appropriate for females (Jeffreys 1990, p. 167). This apparel usually makes things more difficult for women, including wearing high heeled shoes that hurt their feet and wearing dresses that force a woman to be keep her legs together or crossed which will mean they will take up less space and appear to be less powerful. Cross-dressing men choose to follow the rules of femininity by wearing “feminine” clothing, which …show more content…
The struggle for women’s rights and equality has been a long and difficult road. And although some feminist have chose to accept men who identify as women, there is the belief that male-to-female transition devalues the feminist’ fight for equality because most transgender people embraced traditional gender roles and stereotypes. That might be one of the reasons so many governments have chosen to recognize transgender. Renowned feminist Germaine Greer examined that "governments that consist of very few women have hurried to recognize as women, men who believe that they are women, and have had themselves castrated to prove it, because they see women not as another sex but as a non-sex. No so-called sex-change has ever begged for a uterus-and-ovaries transplant; if uterus-and-ovaries transplants were made mandatory for wannabe women they would disappear overnight. The insistence that man-made women be accepted as women is the institutional expression of the mistaken conviction that women are defective males," (Greer 1999, p.64). Women are women because they have the biological genitalia and XX chromosomes, that is what makes their sex difference. If there were no stereotypical behaviors prescribed by patriarchy for either sex, transsexuals could behave as they
Transgender men try to demonstrate the understanding of feminine ‘gender’ that they may have. This means they have to rely on other men who are transgender to help guide them on what it takes to be feminine. This means that transgender men don’t natural know all that is considered feminine, and choose to learn more on what it takes to act the way society believes females should act. It also suggests that ‘gender’ is neither natural nor innate. There is forced femininity on females, but for males it is their choice. One way transgender men achieve this is through drag, also known as the act of men dressing in women’s clothing. However when men choose to dress in “women’s clothes” they choose the stereotypical feminine outfits such as dresses or skirts. However women where more than just dresses and skirts, they often wear shirts and jeans just like men. To men “women’s clothes” are the apparel that a male dominated society considers feminine and therefore appropriate for females (Jeffreys 1990, p. 167). This apparel usually makes things more difficult for women, including wearing high heeled shoes that hurt their feet and wearing dresses that force a woman to be keep her legs together or crossed which will mean they will take up less space and appear to be less powerful. Cross-dressing men choose to follow the rules of femininity by wearing “feminine” clothing, which …show more content…
The struggle for women’s rights and equality has been a long and difficult road. And although some feminist have chose to accept men who identify as women, there is the belief that male-to-female transition devalues the feminist’ fight for equality because most transgender people embraced traditional gender roles and stereotypes. That might be one of the reasons so many governments have chosen to recognize transgender. Renowned feminist Germaine Greer examined that "governments that consist of very few women have hurried to recognize as women, men who believe that they are women, and have had themselves castrated to prove it, because they see women not as another sex but as a non-sex. No so-called sex-change has ever begged for a uterus-and-ovaries transplant; if uterus-and-ovaries transplants were made mandatory for wannabe women they would disappear overnight. The insistence that man-made women be accepted as women is the institutional expression of the mistaken conviction that women are defective males," (Greer 1999, p.64). Women are women because they have the biological genitalia and XX chromosomes, that is what makes their sex difference. If there were no stereotypical behaviors prescribed by patriarchy for either sex, transsexuals could behave as they