Ahliyah Williams
Dr. Hinks
6/17/19
Help Received: References. Ahliyah Williams
Reflective Essay
Starting off Biology of Gender class, I didn’t think of it is as something that I really wanted to put in more effort than needed. All the way from Artifact 1- 7, my viewpoints on how gender plays a role and is constructed by culture and society. Also, the artifacts have allowed me to open up my mind to all of the many identities there are that people associate themselves with. Instead of viewing the artifacts as just a grade, I viewed them as something that I could learn from and use to teach others. Not only have the artifacts had an impact on my views, but many of them in class assignments have also allowed me to see things in a visual perspective, which ultimately was the best for me to learn from. Ultimately, I have begun to appreciate the fact that I’ve had this class because it allowed me to be a more thoughtful, open-minded, and accepting person. With using five of my favorite most well-developed essays, I am able to show the development in each of my essays and the amount of interest I had in each and every one of the artifacts. As a result, I have gained a broader mindset on the gender that people identify with and the roles of gender in different cultures.
As stated previously, when first beginning Biology of Gender class, I had some interest, but simply wanted the grade. Immediately I gained interest in the class so much that I would go back home and research more about the things that we learned about in class. This to me is one of the most important things. The fact that not only am I learning, but I feel the need to teach myself more in-depth about what we had learned about in class. After class every day I felt so amazing knowing that I just learned so many things about myself and have become more open to others. What made me realize that I learned so much from the class, was when I began to correct or teach others things from what I learned while doing my artifacts. Not only were the artifacts an essay, but it was a huge opportunity to find references and other sources that contained even more detailed and broader information. These acts of writing the essays surely expanded my knowledge to things that I may have never learned in my life due to the lack of teaching about gender issues in society now.
One of my favorite essays that I have done this whole session is Artifact 4: Male/ Female Gender Health Gap. This artifact was given to the class to realize that as everyone knows, there is a gender gap with females especially, but females and males experience a gap with health access and even service. All in all, females are more susceptible to being at a disadvantage with receiving fewer health services than men are. On another note, even though females receive fewer health services than men, men are less likely to go to the doctors to receive help because of toxic masculinity. Also, it made me realize the benefits and disadvantages of living longer as a female. Economics play a huge role in this subject because of the longevity that women are alive has a huge impact on the money. The fact that women live longer, and typically have more health concerns than men means that they will be saving more on insurance. I really felt in touch with this artifact because eventually, I may be that women who will live long and have to save up for my multiple health concerns. With this, I still learned along the way the ways to overcome this situation. This shows that something as simple as writing an essay for a class can teach me things to get me prepared for my life. This artifact was so significant because as a female in America, I experience now and will experience in the future (Artifact 4).
The second thing that was significant to my learning and development in this class was the assignments that we took on about gender roles. Gender issues taking on a large role in society right now. Being able to write about this concern made me think a lot about what is really going on in this world right now. Topics about gender identities include transgenders in sports. This is a huge topic currently because transgenders have recently been able to participate in a sport as the gender that they identify with. When writing this essay, I was able to correlate it with myself. With being a track runner, I have actually witnessed this gender issue. I witnessed a transgender running at a track meet against females. At that time was very easy to distinguish a male from a female. The girl ran against other females, but I’m sure to everyone’s surprise, the transgender runner was not significantly faster than any of the other females running. She actually was slower than a lot of them. With most issues about transgender runners, people automatically assume that it is unfair because of their testosterone, but people do not understand that they take hormones to make them more feminine, lowering testosterone. Bringing life issues into the classroom and vice versa seems to be a critical reason for my success in the classroom. ( Artifact 1)
Lastly, the artifact that changed my perspective overall and gave me a new outlook on gender as culture was Artifact 2: Gender and Culture. I absolutely loved this artifact and felt more intrigued to go outside of class and continue to research more about it. This artifact gave me the most satisfaction because I enjoyed being able to compare how things like society and economics have a role in gender roles. With gender roles being a big thing right now because of the switch in roles between males and females. This artifact allowed me to explore more cultures in a way without judging them or being biased based on my culture. Seeing that my culture is not the only way things should be done allowed me to be a better and more creative writer. In a way, I was able to reflect on my own culture and things I was accustomed to as being female. This was because when researching that in some places women are basically in charge, for example, the Mosuo of China, I have come to see that my culture is not the most beneficial for me. Don’t get me wrong being a woman in America might be the most freedom as a woman I will have compared to other countries where males dominate or females are needed to do so much manual labor. (Artifact 2). In relation to Artifact 2, Artifact 1 has a huge correlation with it. Similarly, Artifact 1 supports Artifact 2 because it also looks at gender in society and different cultures. The one difference between Artifact 1 and 2 is that one is talking about gender identities in different cultures and the second is talking about the role of gender in different cultures. It is interesting to see the broad distinction and similarities between identity and roles within genders. (Artifact1, Artifact 2).
In conclusion, the artifacts and assignments that I took on in the Biology of Gender class have given me a stronger, but more open-minded view on the gender identities that people choose to uphold and gender roles in different cultures. While learning in class, I have never wanted to do more research outside of class more than I have wanted in the Biology of Gender class. With the information gained from artifacts and assignments, I learned to allow myself to be more accepting of things that I am not used to hearing or seeing. All of the assignments given have given me the ability to do that. When coming to the end of the semester, I have been able to pick up many attributes that not only made me a better student and writer but a better citizen and person.
References
Artifact 1: Sex vs Gender
Artifact 2: Gender and Culture
Artifact 4: Male/ Female Gender Health Gap
Some parents throw period parties for their girls that get their first period. I never had one of these, and the truth of the matter is, I didn’t even know people still did this. From a tampon shaped pinata to a vulva cake, some parents go extreme to make sure their child knows the significance of their first period. There are so many reactions to a girls first period, the celebration is one. Another reaction would be mine. I can remember my first period. It was totally unexpected and scary! I woke up to it and started running to my mom’s room and crying. My mother comforted me. This reaction seems to be the most common. It was almost like an instinct or a natural reaction for me. In an article 
Thoughts about the menstrual cycle have changed so much over time. Unfortunately, it is difficult to go back to a certain point of time with the menstrual cycle because there is little documentation. But before the 1900s, women didn’t have much to do about their monthly flow, so they had to bleed through their clothes most of the time. Starting in the 1900s, people had realized that it was very unsanitary to bleed in clothes. Washable pads were the new thing in. It came in the form of a belt and was quite bulky and very inconvenient. Now there are tampons and disposable pads that give women much more freedom to do their daily activities, one of those which is sports. Women in the early to mid-1900s, for the most part, we’re not kicking balls around or running around. Now that women have more rights to participate in activities that require physical activity, pads and tampons are necessary.
In conclusion, the “period-talk” will always be something that is prevalent in someone’s household. Even though periods are a topic that may make people uncomfortable, they are not like the newest pair of shoes, they will never go out of style. The menstrual cycle is something that should be treated with respect, because like Leah Stone, a poet said, “If this monthly flow of ours makes you uncomfortable, maybe I should remind you where the fuck you came from”. 
Everyone has heard of male circumcision. Done at birth and believed to not be painful for the child, and definitely not remembered when an adult, about 80% of males in America are circumcised. This is almost all of the males, an incredible amount. Female circumcision or female genital mutilation (FGM) on the other hand is done on girls as young as infancy and old as fifteen. Imagine being age fifteen and have gone through puberty and being told as such an old age that you have to get your clitoris or labia cut off, nicked, or even sewn together. There are four different types of female circumcision, all of them resulting in utter pain and disgrace for the female. Not only is the female’s parts mutilated, but unlike the benefits of male circumcision, females have horrible disadvantages. 
What are the disadvantages and advantages of female and male circumcision? They both are very different in many ways. Why do males favor circumcision, well in this case the parent favors it. Because the parents decide for the male at birth if they want the child to be circumcised, it’s not really up to the child to decide this. When a female is circumcised many of them are not circumcised during birth, but sometimes as a teenager. What costs do females have to pay when getting circumcised, Are there any benefits of female circumcision? Females that circumcised get complications such as hemorrhage (excessive bleeding), urinary problems, discomfort or even no pleasure during sex, and sometimes death. There are absolutely no benefits to female circumcision. It only causes harm to the female. Even in some cases, the vagina has to be ripped apart for a woman to have children or prevent infections. Imagine having a vagina that is sewn together and eventually, it grows together. Then imagine having a child and having to break open that grown together skin. Something uncircumcised females cannot even think about
When and where is female and male circumcision performed? What countries perform these acts? Does circumcision have anything to do with culture or religion? Female circumcision is known to be practiced in 30 countries. Some of those countries, including Egypt, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Kongo. Male circumcision is practiced in Australia, Canada, Pakistan, and the United States. Obviously, these countries have a huge difference in cultures and religion. In African countries, much of the reason that female circumcision is practiced is for economic reasons. Already in poverty, women in these countries are doing this mutilation on women for money. They are paid a decent amount of money for these tasks, so this is a practice that if taken away can take away money from many people. In countries that practice male circumcision, a lot in Asian countries, there is a high prevalence of male circumcision. In a 2001 study, the author stated that 
The practice of circumcision is still ongoing in many countries, traumatizing millions of women all over the world. It is being slowed down by many people that try to prevent the culture of female genital mutilation from continuing. An advocate of female circumcision, Leyla Hussein is speaking out on the subject of female circumcision. Talking on huge shows such as BBC News Africa. The issue of FGM is not spoken of by many people, I think because male circumcision is so normal and common that many people are not educated enough to see the difference between FGM and male circumcision. 
In conclusion, there is a distinct difference between male and female circumcision. FGM is likely to never stop because it is the main source of income for many people in many countries. Male circumcision is thought of as normal, especially in the United States of America. Because of advocates for FGM, it is slowly progressing and making a change. Because the culture is so prevalent, it is very difficult to stop the culture because it is FGM, something that has happened for so long. When things are continued for so long, it is very difficult to stop because of the belief that if it is stopped it will mess up the whole religion of a society.
Young boys who begin to watch porn start as early as 11 years old. Now here’s one significant problem with that. From ages 11-14, which is the average ages that young boys begin to watch porn, their brain and body are going through significant changes. Puberty hits, and socially they begin to want to fit in and have “cliques”. Of course, every parent wants their child to have friends, but when that child is mixing porn with wanting to fit into a crowd, it can be a recipe for disaster. Many kids are influenced in the first place by their peers to watch porn. They may go over a friends house and see a porn magazine or watch porn with their friends. Whatever the reason is, these kids are very easily influenced to watch porn by their friends, which is the first step in this process. Also, the brain changes in many ways during these years. The decision makes or prefrontal cortex and frontal lobes are growing. These enable young people to make ethical decisions and their own judgments. So, when a young child is watching porn, which by the way 88% of porn contains violence against women, the decisions or judgments made by a child can be very well stunted on shaped around what they see in porn. 
, what influence does porn actually have on these young people, and how can that affect them as they grow to become adults? In general, the effects of porn on young people are extensive. Anything from supporting violence to even racism. Starting with violence. As a young child when your watching a porn website that is titled: “Bitch Gets Her Throat Pounded Until She Gags”, they might have no idea what any of that means, but when they click on it and see the violent behavior, they will be shocked, but eventually may become attracted to that behavior and want to actually act it out. Something like this, a child as young as 11 years old may not be able to, but when they do have sex or become adults, they want to do that to other females. Don’t get me wrong there are females out there that may like that, but what one has to understand is that porn is a business. These women are being paid to look like they’re enjoying these acts, even though in reality it is causing no pleasure at all. Racism. Present in Porn, but overlooked because it seems like there are communication and consent for these people to be portrayed with these stereotypes. Porn videos with Hispanic’s role-playing as immigrants. African- American men being seen as dominating an “innocent, vulnerable” white women. Young children are seeing these videos also. Imagine the effect this will have on a developing child. Most racists have always been racist and are because of their parent’s belief. So when you watch a racist porn video at a young age, you know no better than to carry those stereotypes with you along the way into your adulthood. 
Porn also tremendously makes disconnections between people and even making it harder for adults to build relationships. Noah Church, a young man who watched porn in his early years got into a relationship with a woman. When about to have sexual intercourse, he expected his body to react totally different than how it did. If porn affected this mans bodily reactions to seeing a real woman’s body, it just shows how influential it is on changing the way people experience sex. There is not much real in the world anymore. Plastic surgery is even introduced in porn. Women and men change their bodies to look “perfect”. In real life no man now woman looks perfect, therefore porn is a very harmful factor on real men and women having connections between each other even with all their flaws. 
Why do men and women receive different treatments in health? One question that definitely needs to be answered. One may think with the multitude of things that a female has to go through medically, like childbirth and the menstrual cycle, shouldn’t she would receive more medical treatment? Why men and women receive different treatments in health has a lot to do with race differences and how much money one makes. For example, the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment wherein summary, African American men were involved in a study that told them that they were being treated for their disease. In reality, these men were not being treated, but yet being tested to see the effects of the body when not being treated. This shows the vulnerability of African Americans in the health gap. With this, it is relevant that Blacks may not have a strong trust in doctors because of that. Also, poverty has a lot to do with the health gap. If minorities such as Hispanics and blacks are not able to afford healthcare. Medical insurance such as Medicare is offered to people who can not afford health care, but it does not cover many things like, dental care and prescription drugs. 
What’s the problem with men receiving more health care than men? Well, women typically live longer than men. What does that tell you? This gender health gap may very well be an industry or a business. If women are significantly treated less than men, but they are still living longer, women will be paying more and more for healthcare that they still are not receiving. This will happen especially as women are getting older, obviously, they need more healthcare. In an article by Kaiser Health News, it is said that women will save more money for insurance, so much more than its $35,000 more in order to cover their hefty medical bills. The gender health gap is not just a coincidence, it is a money making business. Gender masculinity is also an issue for men. Even though women receive less health care, men receive minimal health care simply because they feel too manly to get their body checked up. Because of toxic masculinity, some men may feel like even if experiencing pain, they will just “take it like a man” and suck it up. Well taking it like a man and not helping an issue leads a small problem into much larger problems. 
Cultural differences are a huge factor in the gender health gap. In Iraq, women do everything through their husband. Women are not allowed to make their own decisions regarding sex and even the choices that they may wish to do with their bodies. Being a woman in Iraq is hard because when a baby girl is born, she is seen as unimportant or irrelevant in contrast to a boy that could turn into a hardworking man. Women wouldn’t even be able to learn about their bodies if they wanted to. This is all because of strict traditions in the culture of Iraq. In contrast places such as America, in general, women have much more rights over their bodies than other places. Even though we may feel less fortunate the women of America have more freedom and rights than most other countries such as Iraq or Africa. Also, Americans have so much access to education to learn about their bodies. In most schools, it is mandatory to learn about your body. 
To truly understand the global gender gap a person should know how it is measured and how gender equality is scored. Education, economics, health, and politics are all factors that are considered when choosing these countries to be ranked from highest to lowest on the list. Being that Iceland ranks #11 in economic participation vs Yemen that ranks #147 show just one reason into why one would be at the top of the list and another at the bottom. The Global Gender Gap is not biased towards a certain gender either, taking into consideration both advantages for male and females. There are no taking sides as one may think. There may be cases where men are at a disadvantage of women also in the global gender gap index. 
To identify why these countries have such huge differences in the gender gap, one has to think about the history of these places. Starting with the top 3 in the list. All of the countries, Sweden, Iceland, and Norway collectively have a similar history. Going as far back as the early 11th centuries in Iceland women were left at home alone by their traveling Viking husbands. This gave the women independence and left the women to take over what would traditionally be a man’s job, such as farming and building. One of the most significant things is that Iceland was the very first country to gain inheritance rights to both men and women in 1850. Next, Norway is ranked second in the list. Norway has a long history of gender equality and women’s rights movements. In 1839, The Crafts Act and 1842, the Trade Act gave single women in Norway ability to trade and care for themselves. Lastly, Finland ranks only #3, but pacts a #1 punch with its government being named a “feminist government”. The government is highly involved in women’s rights and even uses a sensitized “F” word for feminism. All of these countries rank #1 for a reason. When going into the lowest ranking countries, there is no need to individualize them because they all practice similar traditions and beliefs. The reason being most significantly is culture and social beliefs. Culturally all three of these countries believe in power is held in a man’s hands and everything or all the power that a women needs, should be asked for an only given through the man’s permission. Much like slaves, women in these countries are seen as impure, not knowledgeable, and not worthy to feel empowered in any way at all. That’s a huge difference in these various countries based on their rankings.
Now to why the US is at such a low rating in this index. Once again we can take a look into the US deep history of gender inequality. Almost too much to explain, going over the basics will can give one a vague picture of the extent of inequality. For so many years, women took care of the household and the children and men worked and provided. Even with the right to vote, although gained the right to vote in 1920, it took 14 years for them to get the rights of their own citizenship from their father or husband! Women in modern days are still being significantly paid less than women now. Women are paid 85% of what men are paid for doing the same exact job. This number is actually an improvement from the last years. 
Economy, in terms of production, is shared equally within the Ju/’Hoansi men and women of Botswana and Namibia tribes. When the Ju/’Hoansi people were still hunter-gatherers, which they no longer are because food and water are very limited in the 20th century, there was not just men hunting and putting their life at risk, women gathered vegetables that men survived on. They weren’t required to ask for permission from the men to go out or for making food. The Ju/’Hoansi “valued the sexes nearly equally”, says the Department of Anthropology. Another aspect of the Ju/ ‘Hoansi tribe is their strong belief in equality between girls and boys with sex. Everyone has been through or heard at some point in their life from a girl, “How can HE just get off the hook like that?” The boy or brother in the family usually gets off the hook for doing the same exact thing as a girl, usually practiced in America. So when it comes to the topic of sex in America vs in the Ju/’Hoansi tribe, there is a clear distinction. When a boy loses his virginity in America, he gets a high five, but a girl probably gets a high possibility of being shunned by her family. In the Ju/’Hoansi tribe females and males are so equal that they do not hold significant value to the concept of virginity. Boys and girls in the tribe lose their virginity as young as fifteen years old. 
The Ju’ Hoansi tribe has changed significantly over time. Not saying that any of these changes were bad, but actually may be the best in order to adjust to the modern, current world. What’s changed you may ask? Well, colonialism and urbanization have been two major reasons for their change. Their “simple and careless” lifestyles in the 1960s compared to their hard, poverty flourished lives now in the 21st century tells a long story of their transformed lives. The relevance of outsider threats has tarnished the close-knit community into a vulnerable tribe. One of those things including HIV/AIDS. As I stated in the previous paragraph of how free the Ju/’Hoansi people were with sex, that quickly stopped with the spread of HIV/ AIDS. Free- sexuality was something that gave the tribe expression and differentiation. Another influence on their change was the introduction of government in 1963. Before political power exchanges were based on relationships between people. With government, not until the 90s, was schools, hospitals, and other government official buildings put into place. This changing the tribe into the more westernized tribe it is today. 
When comparing the Ju/‘Hoansi tribe to America, there is a clear distinction between the different customs, tradition, and social norms. All of those which changed both places forever. One of the most significant changes was of men and women. In American gender roles of men and women were mostly changed due to industrialization. In the Ju/ ‘Hoansi tribe, gender roles were changed by many factors, military power. In 1979 a South African army set up a military base spreading through northern Namibia, where the Ju/ ‘Hoansi people were located. This is where gender roles began to take place. Unlike what it used to be, willing and able MEN only joined forces together to hunt. The evolution of gender roles in America was quite the opposite. Unlike the declining inequality of men and women of the Ju/ ‘Hoansi tribe, in America, equality became stronger within men and women. There were three significant stages of this transformation. The first stage started as far back as the Victorian era. This was arguably the most strict when it came to gender roles. Financially women made little to none because their only job was to be a housewife or work in health care, which sometimes could be free labor. The next era was the industrial stage. The roles of men and women in America took a complete 360. Women were now the laborers that were working in factories and mines in the majority over men. This was because women were on average smaller and it was found easier for them to maneuver around the factories. This actually took a lot of business from men, but still, women were being paid significantly less than men that did the same job. Whilst men were laboring in factories, men were being their own bosses working as a blacksmith, farmers, etc. Lastly, in the modern era, you see female doctors, entrepreneurs, and even astronauts. Something that a century ago, wouldn’t even be thought of. The improvement of gender equality has improved significantly, but nevertheless, women are still being paid less than men, something that with the trend that has been going on so long, may never stop.![The photo shows Mosuo women dressing in their festive finery. [Photo: Courtesy of Choo Waihong]](http://img0.zhytuku.china.com/images/zhycms_chinaplus/20171019/661d0ef7-f48c-4d84-b59d-d7e22d3912a8.gif?x-oss-process=image/resize,w_650)
Patrilineal society being those which kinships or descent is traced through the male line. An example of this society is within Sub-Saharan African families. Those of which belief in polygamy, when a man is allowed to have multiple wives at the same time. In patrilineal societies, marriages are taken seriously and the bond between the husband and wife is to be taken seriously. In a patrilineal, since men own kinship, they have much more power over the women in societies. Women do cooking and cleaning for the men since they are seen as superior. It would be hard for even a divorced woman in these societies to start her life again. Now looking at the true matrilineal culture, the Mosuo of China, “where women rule”. Matrilineal societies, where kinship is based on female lines. Chinese women most likely feel most free here. Unlike Sub- Saharan African patrilineal societies, women may have relationships with multiple men at a time, just like men, even when married sometimes. Women still have to carry much responsibility, but most of the responsibility is for themselves, or other women, not a man. There is strong belief upon the Mosuo culture that women should be on top and ahead to keep things running smoothly. Although there are some similarities with these two kinships like women are still working hard, there is a big difference in the purpose they are working hard.
Finally, the Ju/ ‘Hoansi originally tribe lived in an egalitarian hunter-gatherer culture for many years until the effects of economic, political, and social change in society. Due to those factors, it was very necessary to change their lifestyles to adapt to modern centuries. Being that traditional cultures have different beliefs in tradition, gender roles and society gives anthropologists a new way of approaching every culture. Patrilineal and matrilineal cultures are two societies which live up to different gender beliefs. Both of these are still practiced today. America has the most distinction between all of the cultures being one of the countries that practice various cultures and beliefs instead of just one universal culture. When considering the lifestyles of these societies it is most important to also consider that those people lives are dependent on continuing to live the way they have for so long before. 
