Blog #10 Gender and sex


I went ahead and read the very clear and well written reading 'Understanding Social Orientation' by Alfred C. Kinsey. I like this one in particular because it is short and to the point. Gender is socially constructed while sex is biological distinction. It usually is very clear is your a male or female but some are rarely intersexual. Gender isn't always clear cut and neither is sexuality.

I know that in my own experience and what I have been brought up to believe is that gender lines were drawn out for me. My dad is Jamaican and very homophobic as are many older Jamaican men born in the 1950's. I remember being fifteen or sixteen and not dating an boys because we had a very strict policy of no boyfriends until I was out the house. One day my father asked me is I was gay! And I told him "no and what if I was?". I walked away, disgusted by his question.

In the reading it states that one is either heterosexual or homosexual from birth. I've never felt a sexual connection to women. I've always know that I'm attracted to men, not that I've never thought about being with a female but I think I have been socially constructed from birth to think that being with a man is natural.

The socialization of genders are started at a very young age. Even if your homosexual and grow up in a home with traditional values it may be hard to be yourself. Fathers tend to interact with the boys, while the mothers interact with the girls. Each parent forming an affirmation of what society is to each gender. Naturally the chile will catch on and react appropriately.

Like it says in the reading, "Only the human mind invents categories and tries to force facts into separated pigeon-holes." I think what that means to me is that humans suppress many natural feelings because of what society teaches them.