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Jessica Dominguez Cotzajay

Professor Corri Ditch
English 113A-8AM
09 December 2014
Gender Discrimination
Before a child is born, a parent can find out the sex of the baby through an ultrasound.
Most of the time, parents want to know the sex of the baby to be prepared for its arrival. What
most parents do not realize is that they are socially constructing their child based on their gender.
If the parents are having a baby girl, the immediate though is pink; or if it is a boy, the immediate
thought is blue. As the child becomes older, they already distinguish what gender they belong
to-female or male. Although people dont put much thought into gender, once something seems
to be out of the norm it can make others feel uncomfortable. If a girl does something a boy does
or vice versa with a boy, the can be judged for it. Aaron Devors article, Becoming Members of
Society: The Social Meanings of Gender, and Emily W. Kanes article, No Way My Boys Are
Going To Be Like That: Parents Responses to Childrens Gender Nonconformity, discuss
about gender performance and gender discrimination. In Devors and Kanes article, it
demonstrates societys impact on how men and women are to perform their gender roles, leading
to a fear of gender discrimination if not performed correctly. One of my personal experiences is
connected to gender discrimination.
In Devors article, it discusses about gender identity. In order for a person to be accepted
in society, they need to be able to identify their gender-female or male. What is gender identity?
According to Devor, gender identity is devices guiding people to attend to and learn gender role
behaviors appropriate to their statuses (35). Society has constructed the way gender is supposed

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to be performed. The article also states that society demands different gender performances
from us and rewards, tolerates, or punishes us differently for conformity to, or digression from,
social norms (35). Although one may not recognize gender performance on a daily basis, once
something is out of the norm, it can make other feel unease. Combining gender roles of both
males and females is seen wrong in societys view. Society has implanted this fear that if people
do not act their gender role, they will be shamed for not meeting social standards (gender
discrimination). Gender being socially constructed has made many become aware about their
gender performance in order to avoid gender discrimination. To be able to recognize someones
gender is through their characteristics. Does it represent masculinity or femininity?
Devor divided the roles of gender in two categories-masculinity and femininity.
Masculinity identifies males, and femininity identifies females. He recognized these gender
roles by identifying it through speech, body postures, clothing, etc. Society have socially
constructed the ideal man to be masculine by a thirst for power, which can, but need not, lead to
aggression (39). The word dominance describes how masculinity is ideally presented. Why?
Because men are known to demonstrate power and leadership. For femininity, society has
socially constructed a women to be a quest for harmony and communal well-being, which can,
but need not, result in passivity and dependence (39). The word dependence describes how
femininity is ideally presented. Why? Because, in societys view, women are known for being
weak and depending on other for support. But what happens if a man has feminine attributes, or
if a women has masculine attributes? (This is known as androgyny which means having
attributes from both genders). Society would see androgyny as being out of the norm. The
person could be shamed and judged for not performing their gender roles the appropriate way
(gender discrimination). Devor stated: It seems most likely that gender roles are the result of

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systematic power imbalances based on gender discrimination (43). Devor recognizes how
society wants to define gender identity through the characteristics of masculinity and femininity.
Society has this image of how men and women are to behave and to act. By not conforming to
their gender roles, others can label them differently-even though that isnt who they are.
My experience can relate to Devors article. I wouldnt have recognized my experience
as gender discrimination at first. I remember being in the 5th grade, and out of nowhere my
teacher calls me out for sitting in a certain posture. She said to me, Dont sit like that because
that is how boys sit, and you are not a boy. She pointed it out a couple of times after. I
remember feeling so embarrassed in front of the class, and ashamed for the way I sat. I started to
sit in the proper way a girl should sit, so that my teacher wouldnt point it out again. At the
time, I saw it as an embarrassment, but while reading these articles it made me realize it was
gender discrimination. My experience relates to Devors article in recognizing gender through
certain characteristics, for me it was my sitting posture. Devor identified a womens body
posture as keeping their arms closer to their bodies, their legs closer together, and their torsos
and head less vertical than do masculine-looking individuals (41). She was judging me for
sitting in a boy posture rather than a girl posture. It made me realize how society has any
expectation even if its from the smallest detail one does. Kanes articles continues explaining
gender discrimination through parents.
In Kanes article, it is a compilation of parents comments discussing how they feel about
their sons curiosity in feminine attributes. In the beginning of the article, parents noted the
curiosity as being positive because it impacted a desire to encourage domestic competence,
nurturance, emotional openness, empathy, and nonviolence as attributes they considered
nontraditional but positive for boys (91). The positive aspect from their sons curiosity made

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parents encourage their sons to apply the feminine characteristics since it would be able to help
in the future (example: being a father). Yet, even though it had a positive aspect, parents still
discouraged it at a certain point. Kane stated: Parents are carefully balancing an openness to
some crossing of gender boundaries but only with limits (94). Many parents agreed upon the
limit on how far the curiosity went. Parents started to notice that the feminine attributes applied
affected their sons to become passive than aggressive. These new characteristics started to worry
the parents. Whats wrong with being passive? According to the parents, they much rather see
their sons act like a tough little boy than crying like a girl (95). They scolded their sons for
acting like a girl than being a boy (gender discrimination). Because of the socially constructed
ideas of boys, parents became more aware of guiding their sons to the right gender rolemasculine. In the article, a father commented: If [he] were to be gay, it would not make me
happy at all. I would probably see that as a failure as a dad, as a failure because Im raising
him to be a boy, a man (96). This perspective has brought fear to parents because they dont
want their sons to be questioned about their gender identity. The irony, though, is that parents
did not have much concern about their daughters incorporating with masculine attributes. Could
it be that a girls is just considered a tomboy for having masculine attributes? Parents are
socially constructing their sons to become the ideal man society has claimed to be normal, yet
limiting on having feminine attributes.
Boy or girl? Masculine or feminine? How would one identify their gender? Gender
roles have been socially constructed. Combining gender roles is not the social norm. Gender
discrimination has made people believe that they would be judged, shamed, or ostracized for not
going by societys ideal gender performance. Even though not much thought is put into gender,
something out of the norm can change perspectives. People follow these socially constructed

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standards in order to avoid gender discrimination. Both articles have the connection of gender
discrimination. Devors article recognized gender through masculine and feminine
characteristics. Kanes article discussed parents being worried about their sons gender identity
combining feminine and masculine attributes. Concerns of gender discrimination have led
people to become aware to not combine gender roles; if they do, they can be shamed for it.
Society has implanted the ideal gender roles that people become aware and perform their gender
roles correctly to avoid gender discrimination.

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Works Cited
Devor, Aaron H. ""Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social meanings of Gender"."
Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality by Holly Devor 1989.
Kane, Emily W. ""Now Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That! Parents' Responses to
Children's Gender Nonconformity." Gender & Society April 2006.
O'Hara, Rachel Groner and John F. Composing Genders. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin"s, 2014.