Gendered Self Essay

Gender self is defined as the concept or a belief about oneself that entails the aspects of life, for example, gender identity, sexual identity, and race. According to Baron, Schmader, Cvencek, and Meltzoff (2014), gender self is a stereotype that shapes attitudes on how people understand gender equality. Therefore, people tend to associate gender self with gender roles in society. For instance, people tend to associate activities like wrestling with masculinity and modeling with femininity. This essay aims to describe the impact of gendered self on everyday life, its conformity or deviation from societal expectations, and its influence on decision making.

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Men have a unique dressing code and code of conduct in public. Their behavior is differentiated them from women. Dressing in a suit is classic and admirable to everyone. People perceive it as a show of confidence. People get skeptical when a man wears in a tight outfit since it is perceived as woman's attire. In most reserved societies, people get uncomfortable associating with such men and may intimidate him for the wrong dressing code. Most men have impressed fashion and designer outfits. It is common to find men with plaited hair and facial makeups, which sound gross among conservative men in society. I have to prove to the community that I am a man of being presentable and being able to make tough decisions. All this trickle down to societal norms that dictate the extent to which men and women can act and dress.

The shaping of "gendered self" begins during childhood. Children are influenced to associate themselves with careers based on gender. For instance, boys are encouraged to take engineering and medical courses while girls are motivated to take up social sciences jobs. The few who manage to find themselves in careers that do not conform to these stereotypes are either seen as a unique or confused set of people. Gender affects behavior and life choices later in life. Parents prepare children to take up masculine and feminine roles. Boys play with toys cars and may accompany their fathers to the garden or garage. Girls play with baby dolls and would be seen helping their mothers with house chores. I love cooking. However, as a man, I was discouraged from being a chef because the career was associated with femininity. The society tends to influence the decisions people make. The idea of becoming a chef was unwelcomed among my peers and parents. They expected me to associate myself with science and mathematics. The example of becoming a chef best describes how gender has influenced my decisions in life. Ditching my passion of being a chef to picking a science.

There were some real-life examples when the gender societal expectation affected my interactions with people. On a certain social gathering when it had come to the climax, men and women started separating so that they will sit to have fun in different places. Men traditionally sat together to drink some alcohol whereas women who are mostly seen as non-drinkers sat at a separate place to talk about lady staff. I wasn't an alcoholic, but the only choice I had left was to sit where men sat so that I would protect my image. I had to interact with fellow men even when I was not an alcoholic only due to gender expectations. I sat there and joined the men in their talks and eventually I had to make another decision in life as I was forced to sip some alcohol so that my "status" would remain high and also to avoid intimidation from fellow men.

Gender is somehow comparable with other social factors such as race, sexuality, and class in a way that it is somehow discriminatory. Take an example of race; there are more than four races in the entire world each of which is defined by a certain similarity. This includes such aspects as skin color. It happens that in some countries people of a certain race are not slowed to do certain jobs freely or even own property freely. Also, you may find that one person in the presence of many people of a different race will feel odd one out. About gender, ladies in some regions are not allowed to do specific jobs which are believed to be masculine. This is more of equal to racial discrimination. In other places, you find the society does not allow a man to do any single house activity which I s left for the woman. This feels like an overload to the woman.

Gender and sexuality come hand in hand. According to the normality in the society, some definite aspects of sexuality must be followed. This also includes religious teachings and beliefs. It is expected that a man should be sexually attracted to a woman and similarly, a woman should be attracted to a man. Any case that does not conform with these expectations is rejected in the society. If in any case, a man finds other men more attractive then he has a sexual disorder. Likewise, a woman who is sexually attracted to fellow women is considered abnormal. When it comes to marriage a man is expected to marry a woman. The rule is simple, people of the same gender can't marry each other, this is the societal expectation. Hence people who have a sexuality issue face rebellion in society when they don't do what is expected.

The class is a status based on either a financial ability or social status. Traditionally it is known that a woman should be of a lower class than a man. Therefore, a man will find it difficult to marry a woman of a higher class than him to avoid social problems. Also, women of a higher class are considered to be principled and straight forward. Most people fear such ladies and they are considered to be ant social which might not be the case.

Life may seem to be so difficult when it comes to sticking to societal gender expectations and sometimes seem to be easy. As a man, I might easily secure a job in such places that don't employ women. This is, however, a disadvantage to the woman. In other places, however, I may be locked out since some jobs are also considered to be feminine. In fact, some vacancies come with a lady or manly titles to clearly show which gender is being targeted. In most countries, for example, people tend to elect male leaders of state in the belief that they can not be ruled by a lady. Most sports were initially regarded as masculine until recently; this was too the advantage of men while locking out women.

References

Baron, A. S., Schmader, T., Cvencek, D., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2014). The gendered self-concept: How implicit gender stereotypes and attitudes shape self-definition. East Sussex, England: Psychology Press.