Which Gender is Which? Sum Blog 2

                 “I’m definitely a Barbie girl and I live in my Barbie world,” exclaims Bob to his seventh grade teacher, “I’m a girl and I don’t give a dang what you think of me!” In this example, little Bob whose sex is male wants his/her gender to be considered a female.  Bob also considers his/her sexuality to be straight but he has strong romantic interests toward males.  Who is Bob?

                “Gender identity is assumed by many to be “”natural””; that is someone can fell “”like a man,”” or “”like a woman”” (Ore 2014, 160).”  So what do we consider natural in everyday life.  When a person is born we identify them right away with both a sex and gender.  Bob here was born with a sex of male and was given a male gender role.  His parents tried raising him like a male however Bob kept wearing girl’s clothes and doing girl things.  So can Bob generally be considered a girl?  It can go both ways.  Legally Bob has to be considered a male because that is what he biologically is.  When it comes to gender however, that can be adjusted.  If Bob is dressed as a girl and walks around on the street, people passing by him may consider him as a female due to how he is dressed and behaves.  Gender is based on sex but you can hide you sex using cultural objects.  Bob may wear a dress and rings so from a distance, based on those cultural objects you may take Bob as a female.  After a person meets Bob and knows his differences against social norms, they will be able to decide for themselves whether Bob’s gender is a male or a female. 

                The tricky part comes when distinguishing Bob’s sexuality.  Bob considers himself straight even though his sex is male and his gender is generally taken as a female.  Bob however has romantic feelings about males. What is Bob’s sexuality?  I believe after learning about this that sexuality is based on your own personal opinion about yourself.  If social labels need to be addressed to everybody, Bob could consider himself straight because his gender is generally taken as a female.  Bob could also consider himself gay because his sex is male and he has romantic interests lean toward other males.  It’s really up to Bob as to what to consider himself.

                       In this video Riley explains that she is frustrated with the gender roles that stores give to toys.  All the girl’s toys are pink while the boy’s toys are blue.  Here society decides that girls need princess toys while boys need superhero toys.  Riley is upset about her gender role of having to get a princess toy and wants boys and girls to decide for themselves which toy to get.  Society shouldn't decide which toy you receive based on your gender.

Reference:

Ore, Tracey E. 2014. The Social Construction of Difference & Inequality. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill