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Richard Hauer
Beadle1
English 115
December 1st, 2015
Gender: Social Construct Causing Discrimination
Gender is one of the most intricate, controversial topics in this day in age. Gender has so
many misconceptions. Some of these misconceptions are, the lack of knowledge in the difference
between gender and sex, gender being a social construct and gender used as a discriminatory tool
rather than a way to bring people together. A large amount of problems that revolve around the
topic often stem from ignorance and lack of evidence when it comes to forming an opinion about
it. Societies' view whether (no matter what media its discussed in) is if you dont conform to
male or female you are looked down upon. The media will portray these people as weird,
outcasts or those who have no real place in society because they are no conforming to a
prescribed gender or its expectations. Societies opinions often weigh down on those who either
feel that they themselves dont fit in this gender or those people that stand up for them. This
discrimination then trickles down to parents and from parents, leaves the teenagers who are
struggling to find themselves even more in limbo then before. Parents views can differ from
societies depending on how they were raised but for the most part they will be that of
disapproval and sometimes disgust. Parents always want the best for their kids but dont always
know what that means. They believe that making their kids fit a prescribed ideology and
expectations will help them grow but in finding oneself it only makes it harder. Media (in all of
its forms) spread mixed messages towards those groups that do not fit the prescribed gender

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roles or choose that they do not fit in a gender. This often allows others to make judgements on
these people before they have any actual evidence to back their claim up. Taking a look at the
society, parents and teenagers views on gender, we can understand what gender really is and how
it affects us.
Society has often been a deciding factor in how people view things, majority always
wins, those who are different are publicly shamed and if a tragedy strikes, we act like we were
trying to help the whole time. Societies views tend to be towards the conservative side, on just
about every topic. If we dont conform to the roles we are prescribed, then we are outcasted and
publicly shamed. Gender is the one of the worst things society has an opinion about. On various
sites by authors of little to no credibility, we see hate being spread and opinions being tossed
around which stem from ignorance and teachings that have been taught in a generation where
certain things no longer make sense or work. In the article Are we Facing a Genderless Future
by Barbara Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert, the author states, After so much publicity, it was
perhaps inevitable that the New South Wales government would backtrackwhich it did a few
days later, saying the registry didnt have the legal authority to issue a certificate with anything
but male or female (Kantrowitz-Wingert). This is an example of how a country has turned
success for civil rights into failure after listening to what society felt about the way someone felt.
May-Welby (the person who this news story stems from) has been stripped of their basic human
rights to feel because society believes that they should have to choose between male and female.
What this does to a community of people who also feel this way is that it makes them feel
unwanted and that their struggle unnecessary. Society is saying to this community that if they do
not feel that they fit, then they should conform and keep their mouths shut. This is completely

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incorrect people need to feel love and acceptance no matter what gender they classify themselves
as. This community as well as society need to change these gender expectations. The reason a
country would rescind such a beautiful advancement civil rights is because of the hate stirred up
by ignorance and misconception within society. Gender is a social construct, meaning that at
some point, people were discussing biology alongside many other topics and came up with male
and female. They decided that genetalia was going to choose the future of people. Its been used
as a tool of oppression for numerous years, even now when we have the knowledge that we do
alongside decades of the fight for equality, it should be evident that that needs to change becuase
our sex does not describe who we are, gender shouldnt either. People struggle on a daily basis
with their identity. If we as a society dont allow them to show this then we are using gender as a
tool of discrimination and are stripping people are of their basic human rights.
Parents views of gender differ from societies only slightly. Parents views on gender may
also range a lot more because depending on how they were raised they will have different
opinions. One things that all parents have in common though is that they believe their kids
should act to and upon their prescribed roles within society and if they decide not to conform,
then even their parents will look down upon them. Being a parent they dont realize certain
pressures they put on their kids by telling them what to wear, how to act based on their gender,
the extracurriculars they put them in and what they let there kids see. Parents dont take a step
back and look that gender was constructed long ago when men wanted to have full control over
everything and now that we are being progressive we still lack when it comes to gender. In the
article No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That: Parents Responses to Childrens Gender
Nonconformity by Emily Kane she says, parents begin gendering their children from their very

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first awareness of those children, whether in pregnancy or while awaiting adoption/ Children
themselves become active participants in this gendering process by the time they are conscious
of the social relevance of gender, typically before the age of two (Kane). This is a fact that a
parents influence on their children (positive or negative) starts extremely early and if their view
on gender ends up in discrimination, it affects the children for the rest of their life. Children are
still subject to gender roles that force boys to be masculine so they can get paid more and force
girls to be oppressed so that they arent seen as equal. The fact that these are still around is
depressing, because both sides cause controversy. If a parent teaches gender roles and that boys
and girls have to act a certain way, then they are taking steps in the wrong direction. Society and
the media are unable to take the first steps in getting rid of gender norms and allowing people to
live freely and identify however they feel necessary. It seems parents are as well, they are the
ones that influence the future so they should be the ones making it a better place when it
becomes ours.
As a young adult, it is an adventure and a pre-requisite to adulthood to find yourself and
then make a name for youself. Gender is a major factor in this because when we are growing up,
we dont truly understand what it means to have a gender, we simply live for being happy. As we
grow up we then realize that maybe we dont fit our gender. There is nothing with this, in fact all
the better because its a way of expressing yourself and when you find your identity you need to
express. As a teenager we arent hurting anyone by not conforming to the gender roles that we
prescribed to us, in all reality we are doing society a favor by blessing it with diversity and
allowing us to form communities. Teenager, have very little to look to on their own when it
comes deciding things like this, all the can look to is society and their parents because their peers

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are also going through similar things. Discussing it with peers often leads to a negative output
because depending on how they were raised, they may also have a prejudice or distaste for not
conforming to a particular gender. Social media such as Instagram, Twitter and tumblr are huge
deciders in how these teenagers are going to act. People shouldnt have to worry about what
society constructed genders to be. They should be able to live their life free of labels and love
and feel and act however they would like so long as that its legal or at least morally right and
that is makes them happy. It is hard to form or find your true identity when society telling you
how to act in whatever gender you may be in. This fact has also raised the suicide rate because
kids are unable to express how they feel ad if they do they are ridiculed ergo making them not
want to live and them killing themselves. Its a terrible fact and it breaks my heart.
All in all, we are able to see that even down as far as being a teenager, gender is used
almost solely as discrimination and is obviously misunderstood. In my own life, gender roles had
never played a huge part, the way I was raised was more about being self sufficient and doing
what made you happy, so I never personally had go through that struggle but I know how tough
it can be and how not many parents are as accepting and loving as mine. If you felt as if you did
not fit your gender, it would be extremely hard to explain to your parents how you felt. Gender is
not to be used as a tool of oppression but instead a tool of expression. If that isnt possible then
we should get rid of gender entirely. Gender roles are unnecessary and if we chose not to
perform them then we are taking a step towards a better more loving an accepting future. Are
we Facing a Genderless Future by Barbara Kantrowitz & Pat Wingert along with the essay No
Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That: Parents Responses to Childrens Gender
Nonconformity by Emily Kane are clear examples of clearing the air when it comes to

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controversy and how their should be no gender, just equality amongst humans and then this
world will be a better place. Through society, parents, and teens, we have clearly seen what
gender has done to our society and how its views have turned into discrimination.

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Works Cited
Kantroitz, Barbara, Groner, Rachel, and John F. O'Hara. Composing Gender: A Bedford Spotlight
Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print.
Wingert, Pat, Kane, Emily, Groner, Rachael, and John F. O'Hara. Composing Gender. N.p.: n.p.,
n.d. Print.