Verified Document

Gender Identity And Identity Chapter

Race/Ethnicity or Sex/Gender as Socially Constructed Categories Sociological ethnicity and race theories have been dictated by the social construct metaphor, which indicates that these theories are ideological groups that serve to conceal the actual social structural principles. The above notion is a problematical one as it ignores the context wherein ethnicity and race function as bases of social significance as well as working material exclusion principles (Smaje, 1997). While gender and sex are words that are frequently employed interchangeably, their meanings are, in fact, different. Sex represents a categorization on the basis of biological dissimilarities -- for instance, dissimilarities between females and males grounded in their physiology or anatomy. On the other hand, gender represents a categorization on the basis of the societal creation and preservation of cultural differences between females and males. That is, gender denotes a social concept pertaining to culture-bound conduct, rules, and roles for, and relations among and between, men and women, girls and boys (LM & DG, 2006).

Graphic showing diversity in people -- by color, race, ethnicity and gender

(Source: Pixabay.com; free image, no attribution needed)

Gender Identities

According to researchers, ethnic, racial, gender, class and sexual identities are personalized, flexible, and complex social constructions reflecting a person's socio-historical group and present context. But hardly any empirical studies encapsulate the abstract, richly textured ideas of identity formation, retention and transformation. There are now advanced techniques to evaluate...

Analyses in the future ought to take into account other groups besides kids or college-goers, delve into other identity functions besides adaptation, wellbeing or self-confidence, and apply longitudinal practices capable of evaluating the multiple social identities of individuals. The definition provided by Richard Ashmore (R., 1990) for the term gender identity is: Gender identity denotes the structured collection of personal gendered identities ensuing when a person integrates biological sex-related information and gender's social construction into an inclusive self-concept. This facet encompasses social and personal traits, talents, hobbies, social relationships, material/physical/biological characteristics, and stylistic and symbolic behaviors. The gender identity of a person differs from gender attitudes and sex stereotypes held by the person. The model proposed by Ashmore is especially helpful in defining every potential element of the gender psychology of people. Furthermore, relationships between various elements may be assessed through presently existent measures of conduct, principles, and qualities (Frable, 1997).
Social constructionists are of the view that gender identity emerges from organized, social constraints. Personal conflict is considered fairly absent in gender identity attainment by scholars belonging to every sub-discipline of psychology (for instance, clinical, social-personality, developmental, etc.). But some people rebuff gender's current social classification system, electing to modify their relation to it, thereby essentially redefining their respective gender identities. There are two models which can help explain the above revision, one of which deals with feminist identity formation, with the other describing a switch from external to internal gender standards (Frable, 1997).

Racial and Ethnic Identities

Ethnicity represents a multifaceted social construct impacting personal identities and social relations in groups. Ethnic grouping schemes, ethnic…

Sources used in this document:
Bibliography

Ford, C. L., & Harawa, N. T. (2010). A new conceptualization of ethnicity for social epidemiologic and health equity research. Social Science & Medicine, 1-8.

Frable, D. E. (1997). Gender, racial, ethnic, sexual, and class identities. Annual Review of Psychology.

LM, H., & DG, B. (2006). Sex/Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Health. In Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment: Moving Beyond the Nature/Nurture Debate. Washington DC: Institute of Medicine (U.S.) Committee on Assessing Interactions Among Social, Behavioral, and Genetic Factors in Health.

R., A. (1990). Sex, gender and the individual. In Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research, 486-526.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Gender Identity the Factors That Mediate and
Words: 1113 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Gender Identity The factors that mediate and account for gender identity and sex differentiation include those attributed to nature, such as hormones and genes, and those attributed to nurture, such as environment. Research has demonstrated that hormones and genetics play an integral role in gender identity and associated behaviors (Wilson, 1999; Hines, 2006; Hines (2008). What are these hormones and how exactly have they been determined to influence gender identity? The

Gender Identity Explain Interaction Hormones Behavior Interactions...
Words: 2293 Length: 7 Document Type: Essay

GENDER IDENTITY Explain interaction hormones behavior interactions affect determination gender identity. Address paper: Include roles biological factors - nature- environmental influences-nutrue- sexual differentiation gender identity. The interaction between hormones and behavior Essentially, the difference in the brain of males and females is mostly realized in the concepts of sex and gender aspects. Most of these realizations have been made in the recent years as researchers have focused on the structure and functionalism

Gender Identity Defined the Purpose
Words: 3232 Length: 9 Document Type: Thesis

Even strong women are feminized in the media and in advertising. Burton Nelson notes, "In a Sears commercial, Olympic basketball players apply lipstick, paint their toenails, rock babies, lounge in bed, and pose and dance in their underwear" (Nelson Burton 442). These are all very feminine characteristics, and women feel they must be feminine not only to fit in society but also to catch a man, and that is

Gender Identities and Gender Roles One Has
Words: 660 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Gender Identities and Gender Roles One has very little choice as to what sex one is born with, but identifying with a certain gender is a different story. Although an individual can be born with a given sex, that does not guarantee the development of a specific type of gender (Lahey, 2005). Gender identity can have both biological and social influential factors, and it is this that in the end, define

Gender Identity Disorder and Gender
Words: 1852 Length: 6 Document Type: Research Paper

Firstly, males tend to base their self-worth on what they have accomplished as individuals. This is an "independent self-concept." Females on the other hand, tend to judge themselves more in terms of an "interconnected self-concept," meaning that they assess themselves in terms of how they interact with other people. Research has also demonstrated however that in countries like the United States, which are considered to be relatively individualistic, the

Gender Identity Disorder the Objective
Words: 1507 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

Bibliography Mouffak, Faycal; Gallarda, Thierry; Baup, Nicolas; Olie, Jean-Pierre; and Krebs, Marie-Odile (2007) Gender Identity Disorders and Bipolar Disorder Associated With the Ring Y Chromosome. American Journal Psychiatry 164:1122-1123 July 2007. Online available at http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/7/1122#R1647CHDJECID Childhood Gender-Identity Disorder Diagnosis Under Attack (2007) National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. NARTH. Leadership U. Online available at http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/narth/childhood.html Osborne, Duncan (2003) Voices - Identity Crisis. OUT magazine. Los Angeles, April 2003. Liberation Publications, Inc.

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now