What is Gender?
It is different from sex.
Sex: assigned at birth
Gender roles
Intersectionality: different roads of one's identity that often intersect
Culture, Religion/Spirituality, Race
Gender expression
Sterotypes
"Be yourself"
How do we define gender? Does this definition impact societal norms?
That means something different for everyone: painting nails, wearing heels, doing makeup, wearing clothes designated for a certain gender, etc.
Why does western society struggle so much with the idea of gender?
How have stories like the Adam and Eve story impacted the way in which we treat the idea of gender?
Boxes
Ex. Two spirited individuals in the Navajo Culture
why do we force ourselves to be put into boxes for the comfort of others?
The box just keeps getting larger, but it never just disappears.
Are we just afraid of what happens when the box disappears completely?
Empowering, a choice to be who you are!
Women: cook, clean, mothers, wives, secretaries, receptionists, maids, skirts, breasts, etc
Men: breadwinner, boss, husband, the Man, CEO, etc.
How do we define gender equality?
This has ties to the social justice issues we face today: racism/discrimination, sexism (wonder why we don't call it genderism..), ableism, economic injustice, patriarchy, etc
You never know/understand someone's reasons for the way they express or identify themselves, so just respect them. (Could be a family reason, as seen in Bangladesh and other places)
Viewpoint on this contributes to Societal Expectations: how men and women are supposed to act/behave
Mianstream media: impacts the way we define gender and the creation of new stereotypes