Q Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is for you to critically think about different terms and concepts from each week and to engage in discussion with your peers on an online platform. Knowledge: This assignment is designed to provide for you a better "real world" understanding of the terms, concepts, and theories you will learn about each week. The discussion boards give you space to connect specific terms, concepts, and theories to your experience of the world and engage with others on an online platform. Task: To successfully complete this assignment, you will: 1. Follow the prompt that will be given by Monday of each new week. 2. Respond to the prompt using specific examples from the text, lecture, films, etc. Your responses need to be thought-out and detailed. An ideal response will be 10-15 sentences long. 3. RESPOND to another classmate's post for that week. Your response should also be well thought-out and detailed, a minimum of four sentences long. Replying with comments like "I agree with u," or "thanks for sharing" will not be accepted. 4. Complete both your original post and reply to student by Thursday at Midnight. Criteria for Success: You will be graded using the following criteria: 1. Posts are on time. 2. Your original post is detailed and is using specific examples from the course content, and is a minimum of 10 sentences in length. 3. You provide a detailed reply to another classmate's post. A quality comment that engages the other person and furthers the discussion is required. Please be respectful toward your fellow classmates, and their experiences of the world. I WILL NOT TOLERATE SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC, TRANSPHOBIC, ETHNOCENTRIC, OR XENOPHOBIC CONTENT. I value everyone’s point of view and their own unique cultural experiences, but I will not tolerate a point of view that existentially threatens the basic human rights of any individual. Background Whether we realize it or not, our gender identities have a profound influence on how we see the world and how the world sees us. Across cultures, how we dress and groom ourselves, the language we use, the toys we play with, and the careers we are steered toward are profoundly influenced by our biology (sex) and the socially constructed expectations of behavior based upon our sex (gender). Before we can understand the influence of gender on our lives, we must first understand the difference between sex, gender, and sexual identity. Often, the terms sex and gender are used interchangeably, but they do encompass two different concepts. Our sex refers to our genetic and biological presentation of being male, female, or intersexed. Our gender identity is a culturally constructed expression of the “…deeply felt sense of being a woman, a man, or a nonbinary identity that is both, fluid, or neither” (Jandt, 2020, p. 2). By extension, our gender expression is how we “…express gender through language use, behavior, hairstyle, makeup, clothing, and other outward signs” (Jandt, 2020, p.2). Finally, sexual identity refers to whom we find ourselves romantically attracted to. In the United States, there has historically been the assumption that if you have male (XY) chromosomes, your gender identity will be that of a man, who expresses their gender within the socially acceptable threshold of masculinity, and experience romantic attraction to someone who is female. If you are female (XX), then you are a woman who is feminine and heterosexual. Figure 1: These are faulty assumptions. Here's the thing that many of you already know: these categories are not necessarily related to one another, nor are any of them binary (meaning there is only two choices). When we look at sex, there are several different genetic combinations that create intersexed individuals—individuals who have the sexual characteristics of both males and females. Gender identity, gender expression, and sexual identity are all on a continuum rather than being discrete categories. Each of us falls on these continuum in our own unique way. For example, I am cisgendered, which means that I am biologically female, and I have a deeply felt connection to being a woman. My expression of gender, however, tends to trend more toward androgyny and masculinity. Finally, my romantic attractions, aka my sexual identity, tend toward other women, but that is not exclusive. In other words, I feel like my gender matches my biology, but I tend to act, present and talk in ways that would historically be seen as masculine, and I am mostly attracted to women, but I am attracted to other expressions of gender as well. These categories can be just as messy and unique as all of the other aspects of our identity. The fluid nature of our gender and sexuality can be seen through the different expressions of gender and sexuality across cultures. Nationally, in the United States, there have been two recognized genders: male and female. In other cultures around the world, three, four, or even five different genders are recognized. Multiple indigenous American groups recognize the concept of two-spirit, which is used to distinguish people who are either gender non-conforming and/or a sexual minority. In India, there is the recognized gender of hijra, which are people who are intersexed and/or transgendered. However many sexes, genders, or sexual identities are recognized by your culture, what you are perceived to be can have a profound influence on how you are treated, and how you are expected to act. How do we enforce and regulate gender norms? We do it in the same way we enforce and regulate cultural norms—through the encouragement and discouragement of our behaviors starting from even before birth. The cultural practice of gender reveal parties shows how we begin to regulate the expectations of gender, and how gender is linked to sex. As soon as many parents are told what genitalia their fetus has, gender expectations are already starting to be applied to their child. Babies that are expected to be boys are revealed with the color blue, girls with the color pink. As soon as babies are born, their perceived gender is already being enforced, through toys (boys get toys that build or blow things up, girls get toys that teach them how to nurture and keep house), clothing (dresses for girls, suits for boys), and even language use (boys are exposed to more action verbs, whereas girls are exposed to more diminutive language- kitty instead of cat, dolly instead of doll, etc.). This reinforcement of gender roles continues throughout life, where we are encouraged toward certain careers and discouraged from others. So much of our life is influenced by our perceived gender identity and how we express said gender. Here’s the good news: the amount of change and acceptance I have seen as an adult as we expand and broaden the categories of sex, gender, and sexuality has been phenomenal. The recognition of the fluidity of these categories have allowed people to be more comfortable in their own skin and exist in the world that reflects who they are, rather than people being forced to live in identities that do not fit them. To see and hear people create language and identities that fit them, like transgender, nonbinary, genderfluid, pansexual, queer, and genderqueer, has been a fantastic way for people to more accurately describe this very important part of our identities. The one thing that is still a work in progress is how people treat one another based upon their perceived gender. Around the world, there are measurable gender inequalities in the categories of health, economics, education, and political participation, to name a few. The United Nations Gender Equality Index (GEI) found that there was gender inequality in all 130+ countries measured, and the inequalities trended in the same direction. Specifically, in all countries measured, men were treated qualitatively better that women were. Even as there are measurable instances of discrimination against women for merely being women, there is also a tremendous amount of pressure for men to conform to their expected gender identities. Each of us has experienced the expectations placed upon us because of our gender. We have been encouraged toward or discouraged from hobbies, clothing, haircuts, relationships, careers because of our genders. It can be especially frustrating because even if you have the most understanding family, friends, and community, there can often be pressure from the nebulous “culture-at-large” to fall into the acceptable categories of gender identity and expression. Thankfully, as cultures evolve and expand, our expressions of gender and culture expand as well. Prompt This week you are going to look at your own personal expressions of gender. As was mentioned in the background section, our gender identities and expression fall on a spectrum, which means that we might do things that are considered masculine or feminine, no matter what our gender expression is. For this week’s prompt, please consider your own gender expression. Talk about one thing you/like do that would be stereotypically considered masculine. Then, talk about something that you do/like that would stereotypically considered feminine. Finally, talk about why you think each of these things you do and/or like is gendered the way it is and why you think it is. Do some research and try find to out why these things are gendered the way they are. For example, I LOVE working on my house. My wife and I have repainted the entire interior, switched out all the locks and door handles, updated the electrical outlets and switches, installed new light fixtures, completely remodeled the shed from subfloor and bare drywall, and installed a catio outside connected to the house so the cats can come and go outside safely at their leisure. Home improvement and construction has been seen as a masculine activity, with the world of building and construction being dominated by men. On the other hand, I also love to have manicures and pedicures and to have my nails painted fun colors (although social distancing has put a real damper on my mani/pedi game). Having my toe and fingernails decorated is primarily seen as a feminine practice. It is a pretty common practice to see me with a tool belt on wiring a dimmer switch to some can lights with sparkly fingernails…listening to a diva belt out a ballad. For the discussion post, please post the following: 1. Talk about something you like/do that is considered stereotypically masculine. 2. Talk about something you like/do that is considered stereotypically feminine. 3. Talk about why you think (with some research) these acts/likes are gendered the way they are. 4. Both your initial post and your reply are due Thursday by midnight. REMINDER: This could wind up being a highly personal experience for you. Please share only what you feel comfortable sharing.