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HelenAlvarez
ProfessorBeadle
September17,2015
English115
ProgressionEssay
Intheworldwelivein,peopledon'tfitinoratleastfeelorthinktheydon't.Almost
everyonefollowswhatsocietytellsustodo.Maleswearblue,femaleswearpink.Sincebirth
humansareseparatedandputintothecategorytheyfallunder.Someofusgrewuplikingitand
othersdidnot.However,ratherthanasocietylabelingindividualsormakingthemfallundera
sectionbelievedtheybelongto,peopleshouldnotletthemselvesbeinfluencedbysociety,but
shouldbeabletofeelcomfortablewithwhatgenderorsextheyidentifythemselveswith.
Genderandsextwodifferentthingsyetsimilar.Sexreferstothebiologicaldifferences
ordifferentsexorgansonehas,whilegender,ontheotherhand,refersmoretothemasculine
andfemininebehaviorsorcharacteristicseachgrouptendstodo.Societyhasgivenusthese
differentlabelsandthisiswhereeverythinggoeswrong.Peoplethinkthattheyhavetofitunder
thesespecificlabelsthatsocietyhasmadethembelievetodosowheninrealitylabelsshouldnot
exist."AreWeFacingaGenderlessFuture?"anarticlebyBarbaraKantrowitzandPatWingert
givesusanexamplewhereMayWelby,aregisteredmaleatbirthbegantakinghormonesatage
23andhadsexsurgerybutidentifiesasgenderless.Essentially,Maywelbydoesnotfeel
comfortablewitheithergenderbutyetsocietybelievesotherwise.Therewasalsoanexample
whereinIndia,agroupofpeoplecalledhijra,weremalesthatdressedaswomen,butdidnot
considerthemselvestofalloneithergender.Although,fewpeopleunderstandandstarttoaccept

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peoplewiththegendertheyfeelcomfortablewith,othersthinkthatnotfallingunderaspecific
genderisagenderidentitydisorder.Peoplewhofallunderthisdisorderarepeoplewhodonot
identifythemselveswiththegenderassignedtothembybiology.Thereiseventreatment
towardsthisdisorder,suchas,hormonesortalktherapy.
Inhighschool,Ihadaclassmatethatwasamalebutidentifiedhimselfasafemale.
Throughoutfreshmanandsophomoreyear,thestudentwouldnotwanttodressforphysical
educationintheboyslockerroomashewassupposedto.Althoughsocietyputsmalesand
femalesinseparateroomsbecauseitistherightthingtodo,thestudentthoughtotherwise.When
thestudentrequestedtochangeinthefemalelockerroom,alotofgirlsfeltuncomfortable
becauseevenifthestudentidentifiedhimselfasafemale,hewasstillamale.Thisiswhereour
femaleormalecharacteristicscomeout.Girlscanfeelreallyinsecureabouthavingamaleinthe
lockerroom,andmalescanfeeluncomfortableknowingthatthestudentidentifieshimselfas
female.Astimepassedbypeoplestartedgettingusedtohimidentifyinghimselfasafemale
whichmadeiteasierforthestudenttofeelcomfortablewithhimselfandalsothepeoplethat
surroundedhim.
Societyhasplacedusintotwodifferentcategories.Femalescook,maleswork.Weall
growupknowingwhatmalesandfemalesaresupposedtodo.However,isitwrongifmales
cookandfemaleswork?Somepeoplemaythinkitiswhileotherswouldn'tfindanythingwrong
withit.Peopleshouldhavethementalitynottopleasesociety,butourownselves.Attheendof
theday,eachindividualhascontrolovertheirownlifeandwhatevergendertheyidentify
themselveswithbecauseitswhattheyfeelcomfortablewith.Thereisnowaythatsixbillion

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peoplecanbecategorizedintotwogroups,iswhatKantrowitz&Wingertleaveuswith.We
shouldallstartthinkingthesameandacceptoneanotherforwhoweare.

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WorksCited
Kantrowitz,BarbaraandPatWingert,AreWeFacingaGenderlessFuture?Composing
Gender.RachaelGronerandJohnF.OHara.Eds.Boston:Bedford,2014.Print.6871