Identity

 Gender Role Behaviours and Attitudes

I am a: person, woman, sister, student, lover… 

People can be classified into genders by the feminine or masculine characteristics. Masculine characteristics are used to identify a person as a man and feminine characteristics to identify a woman. People use these characteristics according to gender or sex they identify as, but they are also judged in regard to the characteristics they examine.

In our society, most tasks are labeled for a specific gender that should be successful in it. It is believed that the opposite gender will perform poorly and if they do prosper, they are prone to mocking and ridicule. Men are described through dominance and aggression, passivity and submission can be used to paint a picture of a woman. Even if it isn’t a case, the dominant partner is more prone to show male characteristics, while the submission one acts in a feminine way, regardless of the gender.

Women in our society are from a young age pointed into the direction of marriage and motherhood. It is believed that the social position of a woman is in her DNA, depending on a man to make her a mother. Goals of femininity are maternity and heterosexuality. That femininity is framed by maternal instincts towards both the child and the partner. For a woman to become a mother, it requires heterosexual orientation. To attract a man, a woman is supposed to behave, dress and speak in a manner that men would find attractive. The energy they must radiate is weakness, dependency, inefficiency, emotional and sexual availability.. Body posture of those with feminine features is that of minimal space usage: arms close to the body, legs closed together, always turned towards a masculine-looking individual. The overall appearance of a woman is seen as welcoming, non-threatening. Women are subordinate speakers, characterised by polite expressions and questions. Another aspect of appearance is a style of clothing, with women expected to wear a dress, with great exposure and emphasis on sexual characteristics.

On the other hand, men are characterised by aggression and dominance, strive for high status in the social group and must constantly avoid anything associated with femininity. By avoiding their feminine side,  men cannot be vulnerable, they must be emotionally unavailable and insensitive, because “boys don’t cry.” As far as body language goes, men are unapprochable, use their body in a way to occupy maximum space - legs far apart, arms away from the body. Male communication rests upon authority, loudness, assertiveness and seriousness. Male fashion is typically emphasizing the upper body, encouraging freedom of movement and presenting the illusion of power.

In the end, society leads us to believe that people act according to socially directed hormonal instructions that differentiate male and female characteristics. While women are focused on children and household, men are the dominant, unemotional, there to protect and provide for the family. Society guides us from the young age into the direction of taking one of these gender roles, but it is nothing more than a systematic power play that emphasises discrimination and harmful gender stereotypes.

I am a person, a  white woman, LGBTQ+ Taurus.