Gender Is A Complex And Controversial Phenomenon - 1415 Words

Gender remains a very complex and controversial phenomenon. Within most societies, gender is defined along binary lines- through a two-part system. Some individuals do not find it difficult being socialized and identifying with a societies’ definition of â€Å"femaleness† and â€Å"maleness†. Others, however, have a more difficult time. The term â€Å"transgender† refers to particular individuals whose gender identification does not align with what society would rather regard them as, and are based on the conventional norms and standards of what it means to be â€Å"female/woman† or â€Å"male/man†. There is a distinctive experience for individuals casted as â€Å"trans†. As a group within the United States, transgender people face discrimination, violence, high rates†¦show more content†¦For members who do not fit within such norms they are casted as â€Å"other†, and the â€Å"other† is ostracized and are vict ims of prolonged violence and cruel treatment. Norms set within U.S. culture is not limited to gender identity however, the cultural framework of what is consider â€Å"normal† is furthered and complicated with the culture’s understanding of gender. What defines an individual as â€Å"female† or â€Å"woman†? What defines an individual as â€Å"male† or â€Å"man†? Cultural relativists and adherents to social constructionism could argue that gender is socially constructed and subjective (due to its fluidity and diverse definitions across cultures and history). Critics of this perspective may argue that gender and sex are inherently biological and objective with the notions that â€Å"you are either born a woman† or â€Å"you are either born a man.† As the standard of Western U.S. culture, the assumed objectivity of a binary system on gender is pervasive. It is the standard that, much like race, has created conditions that treat those who do not adhere to the standard cruelly. These individual- in reference to gender and alternative to â€Å"cisgender†, which are people that assume the gender assigned to them at birth- are known as â€Å"transgender† people. Spade defines the term transgender as anyone who lives their life identifying as and expressing a different gender than the one assigned to them at birth (Benjamin, 2015). The socially constructed roles, behaviors,