Gender Based Analysis of an Individual



Gender Based Analysis of an Individual

The Subject's Gender

What is the Subject's Gender Identity?

The concept of gender identity is an individual's subjective experience concerning their own gender. It is an individual's private sense of being a woman or a man. As such it primarily consists of being exclusive members in a category of female or males (Carlson & Heth, 2010). All the societies spread across the globe, have a predetermined set of characteristics assigned to each of the gender categories. These characteristics essentially formulate an individual's social identity. This identity is a relative connection point between an individual and the members of a social group. Furthermore, most of the societies bifurcates certain roles and gender attributes to females and males. However, it is not to be assumed that all the individuals completely identify with gender identities, at least all aspects of it, dispensed in social norms, after their biological sex considerations. Furthermore, in majority of the western societies, a concept of gender binary is existent. This concept is a social dichotomy. As such it conforms to, as well as enforces, the ideals of femininity and masculinity, across all sexual and gender differentiations. This includes biological sex, gender expression and gender identity.

The subject of our focus, for this research is my older cousin. She is educated, career oriented, recently divorced and without children. She exhibit an array of personality traits. Most of which are feminine in inclination. Though, it has to be stated that she attain a very androgyns personality. As such she also depicts certain personality traits that are exclusively confined as masculinity indicators in the society. These traits include being career oriented, self dependent, unreliant on others especially males, not eager for companionship both sexual and emotional. Considers health and physique as primary attributes of a successful human being. Has a healthy, anxiety free childhood, growing up in a family with four boys and one little girl. Participated in physical sports, played and wrestled with her brothers and cousins like myself. Parents played a good role in children's development. All of the siblings maintain a positive self-perception with an attitude to excel further in life.

Has the individual adopted typical or atypical gender-related characteristics?

Gender identity, as a concept, has been discussed considerably. Scholars like Bem (1974) juxtapose assertions that suggest two dimensions of an independent nature, for the particular concept. As such it negates the concept viewed under a one-dimensional focus. This focus iterates that masculinity and femininity are the opposites in the spectrum. Bem nonetheless contested this assertion. She argued that the aforementioned dimensions of masculinity and femininity are uncorrelated. Bem suggested a model in which an individual could distinguish themselves within four categories, with relation to their gender identity. As such they can describe themselves with masculine or feminine attributes, or a combination of both. Fig. 1 illustrates this purposed model adequately. It can be observed, from fig. 1, that individuals with androgynous personality adopt both the feminine and masculine attributes, to define ...