Definition Essay: What Defines Me?

627 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Traditional role of women in a society

“What defines me?” is a question I've asked myself. As Oscar Wilde says, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” So who am I?” The truth is: I don't really know. Should I already know all about myself and what defines me, being that I am a new person who is trying to figure out what defines me through experiences and more to come? Growing up in a strict and reserved environment, I didn’t get the chance to be who I am, but the idea of the type of person I should be was brainwashed into me since I was a child. I was taught to be a woman who washes your husband's feet in order to follow gender roles. I was told as a woman, you must act modestly and learn to please everyone or you will be judged by others. The way your life should be arranged

Show More
Related

  • Femininity and Gender Roles in Films The Graduate and The Last Picture Show

    2103 Words  | 5 Pages

    Women in today’s society seem to be having a very difficult time expressing themselves without dealing with lots of criticism. Common values are standing in the way of women’s drive toward molding themselves into whatever they desire. Our culture has made standards about how should women look, act, and conduct themselves that greatly limits what they can do, and still gain respect. Martin S. Fiebert and Mark W. Meyer state that, “[there are] more negative [gender] stereotypes for men than for women.” This idea doesn’t seem to have a great amount of validity in our present society. Society set certain standards that men are supposed to live up to such as strength and confidence, which are more behavioral characteristics. Women seem to be more trapped than men by societies standards because they are supposed to live up to standards dealing with beauty and size, which are more physical characteristics These specific guidelines have been set by society that are sometimes unattainable for a majority of women. The women that follow the specific criteria are greatly respected, and the ones that try and be innovative usually are criticized if not disliked.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Gender Discrimination In How To Kill A Mockingbird

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    From gender delegations, gender discrimination, and gender shaming the world is messed up place. From Scout, to the Flappers, to Leelah Alcorn nobody seemed to show any remorse towards the discrimination of any of them. Whether its society, the friends, or even the parents everyone seems to follows society’s gender guidelines and they beat up on who doesn’t no matter who they are, even if it drives them to the point of suicide. When society admits a gender rule everyone is pushed to follow this guideline and if they don’t well, from what it seems like they should just kill themselves unless they change. Similar to Scout, she was perfectly fine dressing like a boy, acting like a boy, and playing with boys until her Aunt installed these insecurities in her head to make her change her views and essentially herself. Society seems to always get it’s

    Read More

  • The Joy Luck Club

    2235 Words  | 5 Pages

    “ Even though I taught my daughter the opposite, she still came out the same way! Maybe it is because she was born to me and she was born a girl. And I was born to my mother and I was born a girl. All of us are like stairs, one step after another, going up and down, but all going the same way.” (Tan 92)

    Read More

  • What Defines Me Definition Essay

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    Each individual in this world has a distinctive identity. Even twins and triplets, who appear to be similar in their physical traits, have separate individual identities. After taking the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, I was able to affirm some of my specific personality traits that define me. I am active and curious and I never tire of adventure. I enjoy every bit of my life. Until now, I have discovered just a portion of my specific identity, but I will reveal the mystery of my identity in this exciting and adventurous journey of my life.

    Read More

  • Masculine and Feminine Norms and Gender Identity

    1481 Words  | 3 Pages

    Norms in society do not just come about randomly in one’s life, they start once a child is born. To emphasize, directly from infancy, children are being guided to norms due to their parents’ preferences and choices they create for them, whether it is playing with legos, or a doll house; gender classification begins in the womb. A prime example comes from a female author, Ev’Yan, of the book “Sex, love,Liberation,” who strongly expresses her feelings for feminism and the constant pressure to conform to gender. She stated that “From a very young age, I was taught consistently & subliminally about what it means to be a girl, to the point where it became second nature. The Disney films, fairy tales, & depictions of women in the media gave me a good definition of what femininity was. It also showed me what femininity wasn’t (Ev’Yan).She felt that society puts so much pressure on ourselves to be as close to our gender identities as possible, with no confusion; to prevent confusion, her mother always forced her to wear dresses. In her book, she expressed her opinion that her parents already knew her gender before she was born, allowing them t...

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Society

    379 Words  | 1 Pages

    Members of this society must learn what the appropriate way for them to behave is and what to expect of themselves and others. Growing up, gender roles were set on me as I played with fire trucks and cars, and my sisters played with Barbie's. The types of movies we watched were different and the types of books we read were also different. It would be thought of as bizarre for me, a male, to cry during Titanic, or to read Cinderella.

    Read More

  • Reflective Essay About Gender

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    Due to the fast-paced society that we live in, often times we tend to forget just how gendered our daily routines and activities are; we tend to accept our social norms and expectations as fact without digging a bit deeper and asking ourselves: why do we do what we do when we do what we do? Had I not asked myself that very question, I would still probably be under the impression that I have complete control over the choices I make. This is not to say that personal autonomy doesn’t exist because it most certainly does. However, after applying that question to my daily morning routine, I am shocked as to how much I’ve allowed gender shape my life.

    Read More

  • New Expectations In Society

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    Living in his society for eighteen years, I noticed that gender norms have impacted people in many ways. This society expects a lot from us and sometimes the pressure leads people to drastic events at some period of their life. Not only does the society already put a lot on a person's shoulder, but one's culture can be very strict with you. The older generation had to put up with these expectations, but it seems like the current generations are reaching their breaking point and it is time to teach young people how to be accepting and let people be themselves so that in the long run, we wouldn’t have so many social issues. In a speech by Audre Lorde, “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”, the author encourages

    Read More

  • Who Am I Am Essay Examples

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    Who am I? Where do I come from? These are repetitive questions that we ask ourselves or others in the process of finding our individuality. As a human being we all show signs of separation in our inner circle, and as time goes by we generate a self-concept about us and others. My cultural background explains a lot of who I am as person. My beliefs and morals are constructed by cultural values and will eventually remain my entire life. No one is free from cultural influence. Our background and upbringing plays a vital role when it comes to the realization of discovering our identity. My identity wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for my cultural and the values I have acquire along the way.

    Read More

  • Narrative Essay On Gender Stereotypes

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    In elementary school one of the most common phrase used was, “You can’t do that you're a girl.” Society puts gender stereotypes and expectations on children at a very young age. I never really understood these stereotypes and expectations until later in my life. I couldn’t figure out why it was that boys were not allowed to like the color pink, and if the girls wanted to play “boy” sports it was seen as unusual. My family consists of my parents, my sister and I; so I never had sibling of the opposite gender in my life. I didn’t have someone to compare gender differences with. I was given toys no matter what gender they were geared towards. I remember receiving hot wheels cars and baby dolls the same year for Christmas and never thought anything thing of it. I think that these experiences has really shaped who I am today.

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotypes Essay

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    When people are born they are taught at an early age to be either feminine or masculine. Society has instilled in an individual’s brain that they have to live by these certain gender stereotypes. Society has made stereotypes that resulted in the world thinking women come second to men in every aspect of life. Women have been taught to be feeble to men and depend on them for social and economic happiness; meanwhile men have been taught to be “macho” and to take care of their households (Well, Kolk & Arrindell, 2005). For the individuals who dare to be different and choose to form their own identity, whether that is a man or woman are out casted and secluded from their community (Beller, Brattebø, Lavik, Reigstad & Bender, 2015). These particular stereotypes that society has mounted onto people have been a massive burden for men and especially women because they are the ones who have been negatively taught to be the inferior individual, unlike the men who are stereotyped as the superior

    Read More

  • The Self-Concept And Role Of Yoga In Understanding The Self

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    Who we are? This is the basic question to find out. What we think about ourselves, how we look at ourselves and our relationship to the world? all these things help us to examine ourselves that who we are and what we want to be?

    Read More

  • What Are My Personal Characteristics Essay

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    Characteristics a feature or quality belonging to a person, place or thing and serving to identify it. There are many personal characteristics that can define a person as an individual; some characteristics determined if a person is nice, disrespectful, intelligent, or not intelligent but it determines how a person interprets you. I believe that every individual has integrity as one of their characteristics, but my top three characteristics are Integrity, Compassion, and hard-working and for the person who carried me throughout my whole life “my brother” his characteristics would be his responsibility.

    Read More

  • Essay About Myself

    448 Words  | 1 Pages

    Hi, my name is Rob Geis and I am currently in grade 12. I have been at County High School for a year now; I joined at the start of 11th grade, and have thoroughly enjoyed myself here. The school is great, the people are fantastic and the atmosphere is one that makes you actually want to go to school. Before I joined ASB I was studying at the Singapore American School for two years and prior to that I was at the International School of Kuala Lumpur for two years. I was born and raised here in Bombay city and grew up here.

    Read More

  • Defining Myself

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the end, no matter what may be said about me, I know that I am some what of an abstract project. I continue to grow everyday and discover new factors that define me. I know what I stand for. I love myself, and the people around me. They don't create me, or make me who I am, but they do help be define myself

    Read More

More about Definition Essay: What Defines Me?

Open Document