Gender

In class today we discussed gender. We started the class in groups where we had to think of an individual who we would define as the ideal of femininity and a male who we would define as the ideal of masculinity.

Examples and traits:

Femininity: Kate Middleton; classy, stylish, attractive

Masculinity: Gerard Butler; tough, successful, rugged, unafraid

I believe that gender is a learned behaviour from those around us- family, school, community, role models. I do not think as babies we know that as a girl in order to be considered "feminine" you should have nice looking hair (how do you style your hair and why do you style it that way? Learn through observation), what is considered nice makeup, and what is "stylish"? These are learned through observation. Sex is the biological component, whether you are male or female. Gender is the sociocultural dimension. I believe that children learn (and as stated in class, are policed) gender young from toys, family, community, television, school. Males and females are policed into specific gender roles which are expectations for thinking, acting and feeling-- such as even what toys they can play with! Therefore, I believe gender is a learned behavior.
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