Sex & Gender Identity

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Recommended: Defining gender identity and the roles of nature and nurture in gender identity

While our natural sex is selected for us soon after our conception, however, our gender identity is not. Our psychological characteristics, the role we decided to take in society, and even our behaviors shape our gender identity. Whether your true gender identity is learned from those closest to you as a child, or if you decide to change you physical sex to match your gender identity at a point in your life, the expectations of society still play a huge role in shaping how parts of your life are lived. From the moment sperm and egg meet, many processes begin to happen. Each of these processes are the start of forming all of the parts that make up a human being. Most people wonder if their new baby will have the eyes of the mother or the father, be tall like Grandpa or short like Aunt Kim. Be an excellent athlete like Uncle Tom or have the ability to be a rocket scientist like Grandma Sue. New parents also spend a lot of time thinking about if they will be having a boy or a girl. Twenty-two pairs of autosomes is how many it takes to form a whole homo sapien. In addition, one pair of sex chromosomes is needed. These will either be in the form of two X chromosomes to form a female or an X and a Y chromosome to form a male. This pair of sex chromosomes is responsible for much more than just the external sex organs. They control hormones, the full internal reproductive structures, and the sex discernment within the brain. Occasionally, an “error” so to speak occurs during the meeting of the autosomes and chromosomes. When this happens, many deformities can occur within the developing fetus, one such outcome is ambiguous biological sex, or, intersexed. This essentially means a person that has either external sex organs of both a m... ... middle of paper ... ...ust from males. I feel that this is a result of the gender stereotype that men are leaders and woman are not. I am currently working towards a business degree which I plan to use to transfer to law school. I would love to be a judge one day. My own Grandfather told me the judges stand (or any other official position) is no place for a woman. My Mother and Grandmother where pretty upset with me for going to college because they feel that it takes away from my family. I think the biggest shock to the people in my life is that I work outside of the home while my husband works from home. I do not enjoy being in the home all day long, however, my husband doesn’t mind it. He decided to work in a home office so he can be with our children. I am grateful for him for doing this. I’m glad to have someone that understands my needs and doesn’t force me to follow cultural norms.

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