An Explanation of Gender Types

Paper Summary:

The paper opens with a description of the terms "hegemonic masculinity" and "ideal femininity" and suggests that if a man is not powerful then he is not perceived to be a man, while all women are feminine. The paper continues with comments and descriptions of other sexual deviants and concludes that although people are brought up to behave in their gender roles, it is possible to follow in the direction that one chooses.

Outline:
Hegemonic masculinity
Ideal femininity
Compulsory heterosexuality
Transgender sexuality

From the Paper:

"Ideal Femininity
Sandra Lee Bartley describes "ideal femininity" as being an idealized aesthetic, arrived at by changing the perception of women from 'female' to 'feminine.' The first term, of course, is a term that refers strictly to the construction of the woman's body. The second term, however, refers to making that body soft, delicate, and attractive to the men that want to secure a woman as their mates. Bartley makes it clear that women are prey animals for the male predator in this culture, which makes women the possessions of the men that marry them. In addition to infantilizing women in the name of beauty, however, ideal femininity sets women against women, as each woman competes to be more soft, more delicate, and more attractive than all the other women around her."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Acker, Joan. "Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations." Aronson and Kimmel. 105-117.
• Aronson, Amy and Michael S. Kimmel (eds.). The Gendered Society Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Weitz, Rose (ed.). The Politics of Women's Bodies: Sexuality, Appearance, and Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Lorber, Judith. "Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology." Weitz 12-24.

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