There are many visual cues we use to determine someone’s gender. We determine someone’s gender based on their “ name, pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice or body characteristics”(Glaad). What we believe are male and female traits are learned from our environment through media, parents, school and stereotypes we observe. Gender identity starts even before someone is born. When parents find out the sex of their baby they might have gender reveal parties, even though sex is not interchangeable with sex. For girls, the dominant color will be pink, with lots of flowers and dolls. If the baby is a boy, the dominant color might be blue,with cars. Even at that early stage, visual cues are being used to indicate the gender identity of the baby. According to Dupuis – Roy “ our brain is wired to identify gender based on facial cues and coloring” (Dupuis – Roy 2009). When the environment conditions us to believe there are specific male and female traits, we automatically put people into two distinct categories, male or female. But these characteristics and behaviors are very subjective . Each culture has different views on what they consider to be masculine or feminine.
The articles from this week looked about Caitlyn Jenner. Caitlyn was born a male, as Bruce Jenner, but in the vanity fair article, Jenner stated “ I was not at a point in my life where I was comfortable with myself” ( Vanity Fair). In an interview with Diane Sawyer, she mentioned that her “brain was much more female than it is male” (ABC News). She stated that she was looking forward to being able to wear nail polish until it chips off. During the interview with Vanity Fair, Jenner posed in photos with a full makeup, long pretty dresses and high heels. The visual cues from Jenner makes it clear that Jenner is view on female gender identity is very close to the stereotype. But like the author mentions, “ nail polish does not make a women”(Burkett). Burkett goes on to state that it is difficult for other women to support “notions of femininity that they ( people like Jenner ) are articulating”. I agree with the author because while some people might link Jenner version of femininity to the female identity, it is not everyone’s view.
While many events and ideas have shaped my view on gender identity, one specific example has stood out to me. It has been emphasized to me many times that gender and sex are not interchangeable. Gender is a social construct while sex is a biological characteristic. Gender according to the world health organization is defined as the “ socially constructed characteristics of women and men – such as norms, roles and relationships” (WHO). Sex is defined as the biological difference between males and females. Males have XY chromosomes while females have XX chromosomes. While determining someones sex from these chromosomal arrangement is simple, it is not always the case. For example, someone with the XY chromosomes is biologically male. They will have the SRY gene which is found on the Y chromosome. It is responsible for producing male sex determining characteristics. Males born with androgen insensitivity syndrome are unable to respond to certain male sex hormones, androgens, important for male sexual development. Because of this, these males will physically look female in appearance. These individuals are usually raised to have a female gender identity. In this situation, the biological sex of these individuals is XY, male, but their gender indignity is female. From this context, it is easy to see that gender identity is a social construct. These individuals had an external female appearance, they were brought up as female. Therefore they had many visual cues that implied that they were female, even though they were actually biologically male. They probably had female names, dressed in feminine clothing, and were taught to behave a certain way. Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome has different levels of effect on each individual. Depending on the severity of the syndrome, an individual could look more female or male in appearance. Therefore based on the severity, these individuals are thought to be male or female even though they biological sex remains male. It is amazing to think that just from the physical appearance that an individual has at birth,will determine how family, friends and the environment will treat them.
Dupuis-Roy et al. Uncovering gender discrimination cues in a realistic setting. Journal of Vision, 2009; 9 (2): 1 DOI: 10.1167/9.2.10
Bissinger, Buzz. “Caitlyn Jenner: The Full Story.” Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair, 22 Mar. 2018, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/06/caitlyn-jenner-bruce-cover-annie-leibovitz.
“GLAAD Media Reference Guide – Transgender.” GLAAD, 19 Apr. 2017, www.glaad.org/reference/transgender.
ABC News, ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/2020/fullpage/bruce-jenner-the-interview-30471558.
Burkett, Elinor. “What Makes a Woman?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 June 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/opinion/sunday/what-makes-a-woman.html.
“Gender.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 12 Apr. 2019, www.who.int/gender-equity-rights/understanding/gender-definition/en/.
I agree with your statements about gender and how the identity starts even before the child is born. From there on, when you are born, stereotypes are made about you as an individual. What you look like, where you live and much more. This is not an intentional thing people do, in fact, we all judge each other weather we think we do or not. It is a natural thing that we all do and is a part of the nature of humans. When we see an individual, for example, wearing a plain, baggy shirt or pants and they have their hair cut short, that they identify as male ( vise versa) even though this is sometimes not the case. Some people identify as another gender from what they were assigned to at birth and may be different from our quick judgments. Like you said in your example about Caitlin Jenner, whom was born a male and transitioned into a female later in life, she mentions that she always felt trapped in her body and dint feel comfortable with herself. The reason it may take so long for someone to truly identify themselves is because they are either too nervous to see what peoples reactions will be, or they really do take that much time to find themselves as a person. I also agree with the statement you wrote about being that gender is a social construct while sex is a biological characteristic. It is so easy to judge and be biased about the idea of changing your gender, although, it is becoming more and more common today so it is important to educate ourselves about this.
Interesting! I knew there was genetic research being done on trans individuals but I wasn’t aware that any results had been yielded. I was aware of some chromosomal disorders that resulted in inter sexed genitalia, but that was it.