Gender Identity

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines gender identity as “an individual’s self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological sex” (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). This definition really made me think about my own gender identity. How would I identify myself? Feminine? Masculine?    
   
The longer that I think about this topic, the more uncertain I am. I don’t dress up very often, but I have fun doing it. I wouldn’t really consider myself to be overly masculine or overly feminine. I like babies, tall heels, and fun makeup. I also like football, driving a stick shift, and playing outside. I think my gender identity would fall somewhere between masculine and feminine, but leaning toward the more feminine side. But how do others see me? I think that everyone has a right to express who they truly are. If guys want to wear dresses, they can wear dresses. If girls want to be MMA fighters, they can do that, too. I think that gender identity is found somewhere between upraising and personality. I believe that family and friends have a huge influence on gender identity and how someone sees himself, but at the end of the day, much of a person’s personality is just engrained. 

In our gender identity, most females are taught to act feminine and most males are taught to act masculine. When a person of one sex chooses to act like the other sex, sometimes people do not understand because of our culture. This causes tension and bullying and sometimes even oppression. Males definitely get picked on more for acting feminine than females do for acting masculine. Even today males dominate society, and when a male is not like the rest, he gets severely picked on. I personally don’t care. Everyone has a right to express themselves however they feel necessary as long as they aren’t physically threatening someone else.





References

Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (n.d.). gender identity (sexual behaviour). Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/228219/gender-identity