As the only girl in a family of two brothers , a father, and a mom without a strong sense of femininity, I have been aware of my "gender" for quite some time. Interestingly enough I now realize I was creating my gender identity in a wolrd where I was the antithesis. It had never occured to me how greatly women have been objectified in EVERY aspect of their lives. There is litterally no continum which girls are widely accepted with regard to gender. You either are a woman or you aren't, you act like a lady or you dont,  and you are pretty or you're not. This may seem dramatic but I will make my case.

 

Women are the lowest on the totompole when it comes to freedom of expression, freedom to push any of the roles society has for us. It occured to me all guys - including those of color- have more freedom to defy gender oriented sexuality (be gay) than any women do. How many lesbians do you hear talked about in the mainstream media? Very Few, yet: Cam and Mitchell from Modern family,gfhrtj

 

If you google search gay men you are shown a variety of images- some celebrity photos, a few raunchy ones, and some homophobic depictions of course. One thing to note, however, is that there is also an array of color. So what? .... This tells me that when it comes to gender inequality, race is no longer a trend but is factored out. When does this happen for women? Certainly not in the gogle search for lesbian women...

The search image results include pornographic 'hot' porn (aka:unrealistic sexualization and expectation of women placed on them by men), a few Ellen and Porscha cover shots, some more sexual action photos- some which include guys, a couple appearences of colored women (none interracial) and lastly of all the depiction of manly women with very negative connotation. What do I think this says? I believe that men control the women sterotype with such power and complete control , that it is much harder to lift any roles that fo against a man's idea of 'feminitiy' . Racism, and some sexuality barriers are lifted from men when considering gays, but the same is not done AT ALL for women. 

 

 

The point is, gender is socially constructed in a similar fashion to race, but it is much more subliminal and so widely accepted that it seems inescapable and even more- intangled with the assumption of sexuality. In the first chapter of "Gender in Communication", author DeFransico points this out in the simplest way. He uses the example of newborn babies and their association with pink or blue based on gender. He goes further to relay the concept that gender is a role placed on us before we even come into the world based on our 'sex' organs. He also states that these roles "place rigid limitations on childrens' potentials (pg 6). And how can anyone deny this? Since day one we are dressed as a boy or girl and then these costumes are represented in toy stores that sell boys and girls completely different lifestyles. We see this everyday, we're just accustomed to it. This gender antithesis places discrimination and forces certain types of behavior on both females and males. It doesn't end in childhood, it is merely placed on us then, only to be continuously enforced through reward and punishment.