Week 5 – Blog Post

In determining someone’s race, we look at physical traits like skin color, hair texture and color, and social attributes. In terms of gender, we usually use visual cues like the length of hair, type of clothes they wear, their anatomy, and if they “act” feminine or masculine. With the traits associated in determining the race or gender of an individual, they are mainly explained as social constructs instilled in us by society or made distinct by society (Lecture 5.1, 2019). I think that societal “norms,” certain beliefs, peers, and my family has shaped my ideas about race and gender and how I perceive race and gender. In my growing awareness of others that may be different than I am, I can see that it has shaped how I look at those two concepts – where gender and race should not be factors for division and only used for one’s own appreciation and respect for others’ unique differences.

Things like race and gender have been used as tools for dividing others into categories of worth. Recent research showing this says that biographical markers like income amount has influence on how a person is assigned a race (Freeman et al., 2011). Overall, interaction of social stereotypes and physical cues can ultimately shape what race an individual is perceived as (Freeman et al., 2011). Things like race and gender have been used as tools for dividing others into categories of worth. In researching the different concepts of race and gender, I have chosen to look more into the Caitlyn Jenner’s journey on gender identity.

Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, has made the transition to become a woman. In an interview, Caitlyn said that her brain is “much more female than male” (Sawyer, 2015). As the brain is an anatomical part, but no one can physically see that it can be hard for some people to understand the concept of transgender, or having a physical identity that does not match with their gender identity. Though a brain cannot blatantly be called that as male and female brains are differentiated by the “drip, drip, drip” of the gendered environment (Burkett, 2015). People who are perceived as men and women have different opportunities and society as Caitlyn did identify as female some years ago, she had most of her life experienced the privilege and “safety” of being a male for most of her life (Burkett, 2015). Dangerous realities that women have to face were not faced by Caitlyn as she was perceived to be a man for a majority of her life.

In Sawyer’s interview, Caitlyn says that her children were upset because they did not want their parental figure to be hurt because of her transgender identity. Tabloids have downplayed her hard transitional experience by only going through her process to get ratings and more fame for her family’s show (Sawyer, 2015). It is true that some individuals may not be receptive to this idea stemming from strict religious beliefs or social constructs by society dictating “right from wrong.” Many other social constructs are seen today as men are supposed to act tough and be strong and muscular, while girls are more feminine, dainty, and sensitive. With Caitlyn being a former Olympic athlete, some were receptive as that is not how they see the females. Caitlyn did express changes that she went through in her transitioning process, such as changing her style, hair length, and anatomical genitalia. People of the transgender community have tried to change the public’s perception of gender identity where genitalia is not necessarily a determinant of gender just as how Caitlyn identified as a woman before the anatomical surgery (Bissinger, 2015). According to Burkett, Jenner has seemed to miss that not all women have to be feminine-looking, -dressing, -acting (Burkett, 2015). Though, those changes have made people associate Jenner with being more feminine and womanly making it possibly “less work” for people having to associate her with a certain gender. Some people may not identify with any gender. A celebrity named Ruby Rose has identified as being gender fluid and “androgynous” by having a combination of masculinity and feminity and not fitting into a specific category (Access Hollywood, 2015). This is all different from sexual orientation. Sexual orientation and gender identity are two different things. Caitlyn says that it is like comparing “apples and oranges” (Sawyer, 2015). Sexual desire is an attraction, while gender identity is an individual’s personal outlook in defining oneself as male, female, etc., which may not be the same as assigned sex at birth in Jenner’s case.

All in all, how I perceive race and identity was formed by my influences from my family, my peers, and society. My family is neutral on these instances and are more open about learning about the differences of others. My peers do all come from different backgrounds and sometimes we share different experiences because of that. In the area that I live in, there is diversity with my classmates being all different races and gender identities. In learning more throughout this week about race and gender, as well as, my previous knowledge and awareness, I think that race and gender are more complex than society makes it seem. You cannot tell of someone’s race and gender by their outward appearance. Though, stereotypical and physical traits are somewhat perceived as ‘hints’ in determining one’s identity, they should not be the only things that should define an individual. Like Jenner, someone’s mind, heart, and soul might be different than their outward appearance. The stories told by Jenner and Rose have gave me a broader and clearer perspective on gender identity and in the importance of awareness and respect of someone’s identity as no one knows another person’s struggle.

Works Cited

Access Hollywood. Ruby Rose: 2015 “Gender Fluid” Interview with Access Hollywood. Anthropology: Women and Health, 2019. anthropology.msu.edu/anp270-us19/lecture-videos/ruby-rose-gender-fluid/.

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.

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. 

Freeman, Jonathan, et al. “Looking the Part: Social Status Cues Shape Race Perception.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 26 Sept. 2011, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0025107.

Lecture 5.1: Intersectionality. Week 5, 2019. Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University.http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp270-us19/lecture-videos/intersectionality/.

Sawyer, Diane. “Bruce Jenner: The Interview.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 2015, abcnews.go.com/2020/fullpage/bruce-jenner-the-interview-30471558.

One thought on “Week 5 – Blog Post

  1. I agree that our perception of gender and race is something that was socially constructed and instilled in us since before we can remember. As children, we were raised with societal ‘norms’ that we were forced to abide by (in one way or another) and have come to expect from others. So now, without really thinking about it, we attribute someone else’s race, ethnicity, or gender by the social constructs that have been instilled in us. I also think it is important to add Freedman et al.’s article about our perception of wealth and how it is tied to physical appearance and things like race and gender. As Freedman et al. states throughout his article, our perceptions of others are based on stereotypical categories that have been created by our perceptual bias. Like when he was discussing clothing and how people would match certain outfits with certain races, it was not because it’s unacceptable for certain races to where certain types of clothing, but rather, our perception of certain races has been instilled in our expectations of who should wear what. (Freedman 2011) These perceptions are associated with worth, as you mentioned and is very important on how we perceive other’s genders. For instance, there are certain ways in which individuals use femininity and masculinity to outwardly express their gender to others. In the case of Caitlyn Jenner, I think you summarized the trouble she had with coming out and how to express herself very well. Society places a huge emphasis on appearance, gender norms, and sexuality and I think that a lot people had a hard time accepting her transition because her behavior and appearance did not match well with societal norms. Her Olympic past, how she kept her femininity secret by acting as a man for half of her life and then switched her appearance to match feminine gender norms, and how her ‘sex’ did not meet her ‘gender’ was all something that caused people to question how genuine this decision was and how people had their doubts and criticisms because it did not align with our expectations. I think you did a really good job summarizing the important points on why Caitlyn had been bombarded with so many questions from society and how she started to match her ‘gender’ to her ‘sex’ so that it did not become as much work for people to have to identify whether she was a man or a woman.

    Source Cited:
    Link: 5.1. Freedman et al. (2011) “Looking the Part: Social Status Cues Shape Race Perception”

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