In this paper, I reflect on the male and female gender roles. It seems that nowadays the apparent differences between men and women are becoming blurred. However, they still play an essential role in children’s upbringing. I have read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and gained valuable insights about the role of gender stereotypes in hermaphrodite’s youth. Moreover, it helped me make inferences about gender roles’ impact on my self-identity.
Since childhood, people experience pressure to conform to gender roles. Adults teach boys to hide their emotions, play with cars, and love sports. In contrast, they demand that girls be emotional, compassionate, sensitive, weak, and pretty. I remember the stories I consumed as a kid all indirectly reinforced the roles our parents taught us to play. Stronger characters were usually boys, and even when the stories were made for females, the heroine was a damsel in distress. Society subtly enforces gender roles through culture, which became apparent only when I recognized that gender role is a social construct.
Hermaphrodites face a unique challenge when they reach adolescence. As I learned from Middlesex, there are several ways to determine sex. When it is necessary to identify an adult’s sex, a doctor may consider anatomic and genetic sex and a patient’s self-identity. Hermaphrodite could be raised according to the assigned gender, but start showing the opposite sex’s biological features during puberty. Teenage years are confusing for everyone’s self-identity, and this scenario must be incredibly hard on a person.
I can see how gender roles are useful but limiting. On the one hand, they simplify the assessment of a new environment and people. Like other stereotypes, identifying a new acquaintance’s gender will help know how to communicate with them and what to expect from them based on this gender’s social role. On the other hand, many gender roles’ features are outdated. Apart from that, the non-binary people’s gender roles are not clearly defined. Finally, anyone who does not fully comply with the established functions could suffer from peer pressure. I think our society is making rapid technological advances, while the long-standing culture of gender roles is changing much slower.
Sexually Explicit Materials
In this journal, I share my insights into explicit materials. Sexually explicit materials surround us not only on adult websites but in advertisements on TV, in the streets, and on the subway. Most contemporary films, books, series, and entertainment, to an extent, contain sexual content. Sex seems fundamental to our culture, but the business lens it goes through before it reaches consumers creates a distorted perception.
Probably, the most common form of sexually explicit content is video. Numerous people access porn websites to arouse themselves, climax, etc. I do not usually go to such resources because I find most porn videos unrealistic and unappealing. The actors are often idealized and do not represent real-life bodies. In comparison, the scripts sell fantasies, which may create unrealistic expectations in people. It is my impression that after consuming glamorized sexually explicit content, people might be unsatisfied with real-life partners and sex.
Moreover, upon attempting to browse adult websites, I found that a large portion of their content was violent. It made me think about whether their consumers could become sex offenders. I believe that repeatedly seeing certain behaviors causes their internal normalization. According to this principle, many countries ban or limit alcohol advertisements to regulate drinking culture. Of course, some people like kinks and fetishes when consensual, but sexually explicit content rarely encourages consent. I am worried that the overwhelming amount of violent pornography teaches viewers that women enjoy rape and other forms of sexual harassment.
I do not see any harm in fantasies when they exist in one’s mind. However, when a massive entertainment industry encourages unattainable dreams, it can be frustrating. I think people should be careful when consuming sexually explicit materials since it is easy to forget that they are not real. It is vital to remember that most sexually explicit content is based solely on business considerations.
Reference
Eugenides, J. (2003). Middlesex. Picador USA.