ee eee eee - \ Daniel Ziv ; a? Professor Ditch . fw * English 115 \ ¥ Breaking Down Gender Boundaries 4 October 2017 Regardless of assigned gender, everyone performs in a masculine or a feminine manner } | in certain situations. In my case, when playing sports and being coached I show more feminine L i aulitis, but while leading in school projects or small groups I assert masculinity. While playing 4 ~ soccer at Cal State Northridge for example, I always abide by my coaches commands and follow j | their every order. This is due to the respect I have for my coaches as well as my trust in their \ } ability to make me a better player. However in small crowds with kids in my age group, I have to \ x4 dominate the conversation to ensure the project, assignment, ot activity is done to the best of our (fT | wn, abilities, Therefore, I believe that age has a lot to do with gender performance in certain spaces. \* f oe Y Despite perceived social norms, the age of people around you and an awareness for others q a Ser? _ reduces gender BoURdaFIES In varied spaces Why dota rn “2 VA a In a situation where adults dominate the space, feminine qualities are more likely to pele | Hy" pe soccer practice. When being coached or taught, I always give in to the demand no matter the hibited out of respect for one’s peers. In my experience, I assert the feminine qualities while at physical sacrifice that has to be made. Trusting that a coach knows best leads to submissiveness, / and therefore gender roles flipped. However on the other hand, some players, suchas the team | 2 captains, argue with the coaches and defend their personal beliefs. This exhibits their inclined pasculifity,| pod how they are not respectful or intimidated by our coaches. However taking onthe feminine role is essential to success, in sports and in life, as adults know what is necessary to e achieve full potential, since they have experience. Therefore, it should be seen as socially x acceptable for a man to take on the feminine role when in a space of learning, as this is the way | society advances, and matures, Without the adults in our lives to teach, discipline, and most. importantly guide us into the future, an immature, incapable wave of adults will uprise in the ; future generations. Aaron Devor contrasts this in his article “Becoming Members of Society,” when he argues how “the social hegemony of this ideology ensures that we are all raised to practice gender roles,” but I don’t believe that this captures the full story (43). Our current social situation is that women are under male hegemony. This creates a problem however, because it suppresses» females to a lower social status, and therefore it’s much more difficult for them to achieve dominant roles in the system, So in order to slowly diminish this wall that women are faced with, h people must begin to understand how social conformity really works. This being that women are brought up in the shadows of men. But, once it’s realized by a majority of the population, that " depending on the space, gender roles are interchangeable, women will be able to overcome the supremacy of men, by determining the appropriate times to undertake the masculine role. Then, v \ they will ultimately witness a shift in power and will no longer be face to face with an WK, . u able social barricade. 1 ‘tis fair to say that boys are raised to become men as are gitls to become women. + gender assignment changes throughout each and every day, with every interaction, and therefore I think that it’s less important to focus on socially constructed gender, but rather to eR of | exaipinhow this assignment affects acting By doing £0, itis possible to erase this conformiand just accept that everyone will act both in a masculine way and feminine way depending on the circumstance. There is biological evidence that gender roles are a result of “power imbalances based on gender discrimination,” as well, (Devor 43). Again though, if it’s taken into realization that power itself is shifted between genders, then there’s no more reason to discriminate based on gender because it’s situational. And yes, although males are portrayed as the more powerful gender overall, they too, show feminine traits at times. So in comparison, my coaches exhibit masculine traits at practice with their flailing arms, loud voices, and overall dominating presence, but on other occasions, such as at home with family, or in front of the de Su of the school, they are the submissive ones. Conformity is just a title, and the gender boundaries can be broken at an instant, For me, it’s personality and age of those around me, but there are XN countless reasons for each person that can only be discovered through individual analyzation of interactions On the contrary, when surrounded by those in the same age group, an individual, specifically males, act in a dominant manner, and control the space. Men often feel a desire to get things done correctly from their viewpoint, and will do whatever they can to make that happen. For example in my humanities class, we were assigned a group project where we had to analyze the literal meaning of a poem. I had one male and one female in my group, and the other male and I immediately took over the conversation, We both argued our points with strong voices and of opinions, until one finally gave into the other. The female, on the other hand, gave little to no . LF { input and did not question our ideas. She almost sulked in her desk as we discussed the poem. a | “li ties into Judith Lorber's article, “Night to his Day,” where she explains how :“the continuing purpose of gender as a modern social institution is to construct women as a group tobe the subordinates of men as a group,” which ties into my humanities group project, (Lpfber 30). The female almost had no choice but to abide by our decisions, because society conformed her to do so, similar to how men are normally perceived as the dominant gender. So ; whether it be consciously or not, when in a space with people of similar ages, the males tend to dominate. This could be to impress the girls, looking at it from a biological needs standpoint, or to just show off and fit their socially constructed roles that they believe they must follow. Regardless, it can be seen that as the age gap increases, the more easily the boundaries of gender qi roles will be broken. This is very important as it applies to everyday life. Women can make a change if they understand that it’s natural for them to take on the masculine role at times. Politically, there has been a major shift, and women are expressing their opinions, becoming | heavily involved, and creating stronger voices for themselves. And, almost instantly, there is a U serious decomposition of these socially constructed boundaries. Men now look up to women, no matter the age, race, or religion of the female. So, it can be seen that, as people become more actively aware that gender is just a label, a balance of power occurs, as females begin taking dominant, public roles in society. Gender differences are socially constructed, and both men and woman can perform the other's role as soon as they learn to dismiss social norms. But if less focus is put on assigned gender and more on how the space affects performance of each person, there will be less © contesVersy on the topic of g€nder. By analyzing each individual performance in each space, behavjor can be adjusted and predicted beforehand, and these social constructions wil slowly "gi Ino fade/O¥brall being aWvare ofthe people in a certain space, and taking into account how “each individual behaves around certain age groups, allows for a deeper understanding of why gender is solely a social title, which will help reduce the boundaries that are abided by in today’s world,Works Cited Devor, Aaron. “Becoming Members of Society.” Composing Gender, p. 43 Lorber, Judith. “Night to His Day.." 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