Throughout the course of taking Biology of Gender I have learned so much about the importance of gender and how it is interpreted around the world. Going into the class the first day I was clueless on the subject. I was under the false impression that there were two genders and two sexes and that those two went together without question. After having finished the course I am much more informed on the subject of gender and its understanding worldwide.
Gender is not as easy and straight forward as one might think, there is a lot more to it than just genitalia. I talk about the gender identity in artifact 1 and I explain the significance of it in this paragraph. “Sex is determined by your biological anatomy, your genitalia. A male has a penis and a female has a vagina. That on the other hand does not mean that someone who identifies to be a man does in fact have a penis. Gender is what we see ourselves as. Just because someone has the genitals that scientifically say that they are a specific sex means that they identify themselves as the gender that corresponds with their sex. Gender is what people see themselves as. Someone may be a male, sexually, but they say that their gender is a female. Gender identity is not the same as gender expression. Gender identity is what people individually see themselves as. So if I being a male thought felt that deep down I was really a girl, then I would identify as being a woman. Gender expression is a little different, on the other hand. Gender expression is how you represent yourself and how others perceive your gender. Gender is more than just anatomy. Many people around the world have been suffering for years believing that they are different and have never been comfortable in their bodies. We are moving forward in the steps to make everyone feel comfortable with their true identities” (Artifact 1). There needs to be more understanding on the subject of gender. People need to know about it so that others don’t get hurt.
There is gender inequality all over the world, woman are treated differently than men and vice versa. The global gender gap is the scale of how well a country has done in making men and woman as equal as possible. For example pay grade, social statuses and leadership positions all influence the global gender gap. In Artifact 3 I discuss the global gender gap and explain the United States position compared with other countries. “Global gender gap is the difference between men and woman in the workforce and all other parts of life. Some ways of determining the gender gap are levels of income. So if a man makes more money than a woman in the same position then there is a larger gender gap and your ranking will go down. The US is currently ranked 28 out of 179 countries. We still have a lot of improving to do if we want to be in the top ten. Iceland is ranked number one. They have had a woman as the head of state for 20 of the last 50 years. US is low on the rankings of political equality because woman do not make up that much of the political power in the US. According to fortune.com, woman made up 32% of politics in 2014 while Sweden which is ranked number 4 had a total of 57% female political members” (Artifact 3). The US should not be this low on the global gender gap list. We need to make progressive steps in the right direction to close this gap altogether, not just nationally, but worldwide.
Most people are under the impression that there are strictly two genders and that is it, well, most people are ill-informed. People are born every day who do not see themselves as male or female, this is referred to as the third gender. In artifact 4 I discuss the third gender and its importance of acceptance in society. “By defining gender as binary, you are saying that there are only two different genders, male and female. While that is normally what society thinks as the only genders, this is not necessarily accurate. We cannot label gender as binary when there are so many people out there who do not see it that way. By saying that gender is binary we as a society only see male and female. The reality is that there are many other genders than just male or female. If we go outside the realm of binary gender then you are risking going against the social norm and not fitting in.Third gender is defined as recognizing more than just male and female genders. Australia, Germany, India, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand all recognize third genders. They have the option to choose indeterminate gender on birth certificates. The Kathoey are what the third sex is called in Thailand. They are born males who identify as female. The Thai are extremely tolerant towards the kathoeys. They recognize them as a separate gender and some even see them as woman or a different category to woman. The kathoeys all recognize that they may have male genitals but none of them see themselves as men” (Artifact 4). By recognizing that gender is not binary we are making the proper steps toward a more informed and tolerant culture.
After taking Biology of Gender I am much more informed and knowledgeable on the subject of gender. I feel that more people need to be educated on this matter seeing how it is so important to millions of people around the world. Gender is not a representation of genitals and no one should go through life pretending to be something that they are not. Be who you want to be and do what makes you happy. Life’s too short to be hiding who you really are just to please society.
Reference:
Artifact 1 Sex and Gender
Artifact 3- Global Gender Gap
Artifact 4- Third Gender