Before We Explore Gender
Through a very weird and random lapse in my sanity after watching DoroHedoro, I was led to write Noi: An archetype or An evolution?. The article itself is a bit haphazard (though I still love it) but the preceding rabbit hole had brought some interesting ideas, musings, and research around gender expression. Through my excessive amount of reading, I became interested in gender identities and expressions in other countries and their respective media. Since this is my year of writing, I thought “why not write my articles on this?”. Like, who doesn’t love a learning experience not regulated by a grade, right?
As with any wholly-new-to-me topic, I have to get more definitions and concepts straight to lessen the chances of looking like an idiot.
The Genderbread Person
I love me a good infographic and so do most sites when you look into gender identity vs. expression vs sexual orientation, etc. A very common comprehensive one comes from https://www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/
Gender Identity
Your psychological sense of self. Who you, in your head, know yourself to be, based on how much you align (or don’t align) with what you understand to be the options for gender.
Gender Expression
The ways you present gender, through your actions, clothing, demeanor, and more. Your outward-facing self, and how that’s interpreted by others based on gender norms.
Anatomical Sex
Sex (sometimes called biological sex, anatomical sex, or physical sex) is comprised of things like genitals, chromosomes, hormones, body hair, and more. But one thing it’s not: gender.
Attraction
Like sex, attraction isn’t really a component of gender. However, we often conflate sexual orientation with gender, or categorize the attraction we experience in gendered ways.
Identities & Representation
Although my plan is to focus on gender identities and expressions (whilst being aware of how they exist in tandem with sexuality) there’ll be no escaping the acknowledgement of factors like race, geography, and even the pre-existing societal attitudes towards gender.
Thirty years ago, Morales (1989) argued that, “most of what we know about human sexuality today and the acquisition of sexual identity has been studied within the context of a White American mainstream population” (p. 218). This sentiment rings true in present sexual and gender diverse (SGD) research.
Excerpt from Identity as Resistance: Identity Formation at the Intersection of Race, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation (Cerezo, A., Cummings, M., Holmes, M., & Williams, C. (2019))
Note: I’ll take this point to mention here that my exploration of these gender-related topics will not — with the exception of indigenous tribes — be centered or include North America
My specific interests in media not only led me to this topic but became a lens with which I could easily discern the progression of acceptance in societies worldwide.
Ever since 1922, Lippmann argued that stereotypes held important functions as products of the culture and heritage of the group’s ideas, since they are the vehicles of creating homogeneity of values and beliefs. This reveals one of the reasons why the agents of social influence (family, group of peers, media…) which are able to form, transmit and maintain stereotypes in the generations and between social classes, play an extremely important role.
Excerpt from Gender and Media Representation (Piano, Tanja & Gerino, Eva & Marino, Elisa & Brustia, Piera & Rollè, Luca. (2014))
They also served to give voice to these groups of non-conforming individuals from their perspective. Of course, the most accessible data and analyses are central to North America. As a fan of international media, these aren’t entirely helpful, hence decentering my approach from the start. Alongside media, I know I’d have to tackle history because most existing documentation would be the words and observations of the biased victors of that time — colonizers. As with many facets of modern-day society, there is a direct link to the forceful assimilation from European powers. Acknowledging these multiple factors will help to understand the intricacies of the non-conforming identities in response and in tandem with the gender norms an individual is exposed to.
This is always the beginning
Think of this series of gender-related articles as my beginning to examining, contextualizing and challenging my internalized notions on gender by examining what came before the binary.
Resources
Cerezo, A., Cummings, M., Holmes, M., & Williams, C. (2019). Identity as Resistance: Identity formation at the intersection of race, gender identity, and sexual orientation [Abstract]. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 44(1), 67–83. doi:10.1177/0361684319875977 (link)
Piano, Tanja & Gerino, Eva & Marino, Elisa & Brustia, Piera & Rollè, Luca. (2014). GENDER AND MEDIA REPRESENTATION. Romanian Journal of Experimental Applied Psychology. 5. 8–20. (link)
