The lived body experience of a female plays the central role in Iris Marion Young’s work on strength and the concept of feminine bodily behaviour. In her 1977 essay Throwing Like A Girl, Young looks at the differences between ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ in a physical context and a gendered embodied phenomenological perspective. Phenomenology is the study of consciousness from a first person perspective based on the subjective experience of embodiment (Merleau-Ponty 1945, cited in Young 1990, p. 39). Young (1990, p. 29,31) studied theories of Beauvoir and Merleau-Ponty where the gender is constructed by lived situations such as a woman’s physiology and lived body experience, and further examines the construction of behaviour of a female body. …show more content…
31). Following Young’s theory, society has already decided that women are a ‘weaker sex’ due to the belief that females respond to situations by limiting their physical engagement because they are not capable to concentrate their efforts on physical activities as compared to men (Young 1990, p. 33). Young (1990, p. 33) states that generally cis-women fail to engage with their body’s potential for an efficient performance as they are in a mindset where they do not have trust in their bodies to accomplish the same things as men. Moreover, trans-women are also forced by the pressure of society leading them to feel self-conscious of their movement and stiffen against performance as they are unsure on how to behave and act (Hines 2007, p. 55). This is due to their own experience as it can be confusing for a trans-woman to change from the hard-wired gender behaviours of their birth sex to their gender identity and therefore, most are limited to the comportment of gender stereotypes. This is the result of expression that transgender people choose to act on to better reflect their gender identities (Griffin 2012, p. 7). Similarly, this causes wasted motion and repression of strength by both cis-female and trans-female resulting from hesitancy that comes conforming to gender ideals that women are submissive and soft. Thus, this shows that the female body is culturally and socially denied to have their own identity, subjectivity and
The overriding right to bodily autonomy is considered characteristically male by many feminists. Females in contrasts seem to be assumed to be
It was very interesting to read about the different perspectives and experiences that the transmen went through during their transition. When it comes to critiquing this piece, there needed to be more detail on the perspective of men who went through transitioning into women. Schilt seemed to only cover one side of the argument and if she had put in more time, she could have better supported her claim using a transwomen perspective. Nevertheless, Schilt demonstrated a solid argument that supported gender inequality that goes beyond natural difference schemas and physical traits between men and
Contemporary western women frequently limit their physical movement in everyday life compared to men. For instance, they sit with their legs together, take shorter steps, shield their body with their hands and arms and put less effort into definitive tasks (Young 139:2006). Young argues that women behave in this way because the patriarchal environment in which they live teaches girls that they are “physically handicapped in society” (152:2006). This, again, has striking parallels to Dworkin’s work on foot binding. The female body is constructed in such a way that means it is constantly objectified and “gazed upon” as if it were a “shape of flesh rather than a living manifestation of action and intent” (Young 154:2006). This results firstly in women being viewed as weaker, second-class citizens in comparison to men, resulting in inequalities that can be seen in many areas of life. However, most significantly it means that women constantly fail to achieve their full potential. They learn to “actively hamper their own movements” (Young 153:2006), a hugely significant and damaging inequality that results from a rigid and out-dated social
Particular behaviour and traits are attached with a specified gender. Due to this, the social learning and classification founded on gender are swiftly imbibed into by an individual. Children become aware of the distinction between male and female and definite social responsibility that each gender has to perform in society (Blakemore & hill 2008 , and Goffman 1977 ). Women are often viewed as tender and subtle and men are regarded as more competent to bear pain and rough and tough. Therefore, women are considered as weaker sex. In relationship, the women are the end and men are supposed to be follower or chaser. Women are physically weak and smaller compared to men and physical strength is vested with male realm (Goffman 1977
Seidman, Steven, Nancy Fischer , and Chet Meeks. "Transgendering." New Sexuality Studies. North Carolina: Routledge, 2011. . Print.
The article “What Makes a Woman” focuses on how transgender should not define a woman because they have not lived their whole lives as a women, have not gone through the struggles, complications and life experiences that women go through. The author also brings in the idea of women and men having different brains to support her argument. The author, Elinor Burkett, effectively uses the three appeals of logos, ethos and pathos to get across her message. The first appeal is ethos that mentions other people’s opinions. The second is pathos by showing Burkett’s emotions. And finally, the third appeal is logos, which includes data statistics.
Mental health professional have tried to correct their ‘‘gender identity disorder’’ with brutal aversion therapies. Tran’s youth who came out often faced crises throughout their family and social systems. Once out, developing a sense of realness about their new gender became extremely important. An urgent need develops ‘‘to match one’s exterior with one’s interior’’ In ad...
In their publication, “Doing Gender, ” Candance West and Don H. Zimmerman put forward their theory of gender as an accomplishment; through, the daily social interactions of a man or woman which categorize them as either masculine or feminine. From a sociological perspective the hetero-normative categories of just sex as biological and gender as socially constructed, are blurred as a middle ground is embedded into these fundamental roots of nature or nurture.To further their ideology West and Zimmerman also draw upon an ethnomethodological case study of a transsexual person to show the embodiment of sex category and gender as learned behaviours which are socially constructed.Therefore, the focus of this essay will analyze three ideas: sex, sex
Samuels, E. 2002. Critical Divides: Judith Butler's Body Theory and the Question of Disability in NWSA Journal, Vol. 14, No. 3, Feminist Disability Studies, 2002, pp. 58-76. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Gender role conflicts constantly place a role in our everyday life. For many years we have been living in a society where depending on our sexuality, we are judged and expected to behave and act certain way to fulfill the society’s gender stereotypes. The day we are born we are labeled as either a girl or boy and society identifies kids by what color they wear, pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Frequently, we heard the nurses in the Maternity facility saying things like, “Oh is a strong boy or is beautiful fragile princess.” Yet, not only in hospitals we heard this types of comments but we also see it on the media…
Although contemporary society is not as patriarchal as it was in the past, that male dominance still exists today. Young’s description of a self-imposed “I cannot” can be supported with common real life examples today. The “I cannot” comes from a woman’s insecurities, fear of getting hurt, and underestimating their bodily capacities. In a sexist society, these factors of the self-imposed “I cannot” would lead to
She shares the reader a story of a transgender women named Chloie Johnson -who was denied admission to a female CrossFit fitness competition due to her sexual orientation. The letter that CrossFit sent Chloie Johnson stated that she was not allowed to compete due to the fact that she was “… born, genetically - as a matter of fact - with an X and a Y chromosome and all of the anatomy of a male of the human race. Today, notwithstanding any hormone therapy or surgeries, Chloie still has an X and Y chromosome.” Due to the fact that Chloie Johnson had been born as a male, she was denied the opportunity to compete in the CrossFit strength competition. By sharing this story, Castillo gives the readers a chance to pity Chloie Johnson and to feel anger towards the close-mindedness and discrimination of the CrossFit company due to Chloie Johnson’s biological sex.
By taking on the body of an obviously transgendered male and performing this body in the small town of Orangeville, Ontario during the profoundly eventful holiday month of December, the comparing experience of varying embodiments between myself as a young, white female versus myself as an obviously transgendered male lead to a variety of emotional and social repercussions which will be theorized and analyzed throughout this research paper.
In Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power by Sandra Bartky, the writer examines the disciplinary practices which produces a body that gesture and appearance is feminine. Bartky challenges the social construction of femininity by revealing how feminine serves the interest of domination. She talks about apparatus of discipline, the disciplinarians that discipline. According to her, it is a system of micro power that is essentially non-egalitarian and asymmetrical. Taking into consideration one of the concepts of her analysis, feminine bodily discipline is something imposed on subjects and at the same time something that can be sought voluntarily. I will base my analysis on these dual characters and I will demonstrate that the production of femininity is more like something imposed
Gender Theory in Everyday Life”, the various definitions of “trans” depict that it is not possible to place one’s gender into only two categories. In the definitions of “trans”, transformation or transitioning is a common theme. Transforming into their true self or transitioning from one gender to the other. In the third definition, transgendered individuals are seen as transcending gender, thus making gender non-existent; not only to them, but when they view other individuals (Kessler and McKenna 1-2). The individuals in “When Girls Will Be Boys”, had to create a safe space, and find allies that would provide them with resources to help them in their progression as a trans individual. Trans people truly want to be integrated into society, but they are cognisant of the social standards in place that make them othered (Quart 49-50). In the instance of the varied definition of trans and the experiences of people in “When Girls Will Be Boys”, they are all going against the social norms and actively fighting to create a seat at the table. They refuse to to fit in the status quo of accepting that there are only two genders, and one must stay in either category. Instead, they challenge that thinking by being themself, thus having a hand in creating the new norm. These individuals are not passively combating the misconceptions, miseducation, and misinformation. They are actively creating a space for others and themself to grow in self and in