Abstract
This paper is an account of a Canadian student's gendered cultural identity. The student further considers what national identity as a Canadian means, pointing out some fallacies. The student states that narrations have a useful role to play in finding or defining one's own identity - with the caveat that identity is constantly evolving and being dynamically recreated.

From the Paper
"I am writing this narration of my gendered cultural identity within the context of currently being a student in Canada. This in itself would seem to many to constitute a cultural identity. For example, from the point of view of those who see culture as constituting a national essence, it follows that if I am Canadian, then I must be a peace-keeping person. My main focus in this narration is to point out the fallacy of such essential zing, and to focus instead on the specific events and realities that have served to create my own unique gendered, cultural identity. As will emerge from this narration, I believe that such narrations have a useful role to..."

Tags:narration, culture, identity

Abstract
This paper expresses the belief that a gendered, cultural identity narration plays a useful role in finding or defining one's own identity with the caveat that identity is constantly evolving and being dynamically recreated. The author uses the falsity of the assumption that "all Canadians are peaceable" as an example of a ludicrous theory that a particular trait can represent the culture of an entire nation of people. The paper discuses the author's different experiences of being a woman and notes that economic discrimination against women in Canada is far more subtle than in Third World countries because women have the protection of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The paper relates that, growing up in a Third World country as a white, where she was assumed to be 'Westernized', resulted in experiences unlike Black and Chicana feminists. The paper includes quotations.

From the Paper
"As I have had the experience of being both a Third-World feminist and a First-World feminist, am I now a Third-World feminist or a First-World feminist? Narayan states that she chooses to call herself a Third-World feminist because many of her formative experiences took place in this context. This seems to me to be a valid point of view. While I cannot reduce my identity to simply "Third-World feminist," I can certainly see that many of my experiences growing up moulding me into a feminist - and perhaps more of a committed feminist than I might otherwise have been, ..."

Tags:erroneousness, assumptions, discrimination, dissonance, parents

Abstract
This paper explores the formation of an Ottoman Balkan regional cultural identity along the lines of nationalism and modernity during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The paper examines the role of women in cultural representations and policy at the time and compares the representation of the feminine gender with the fractured nature of the Ottoman Empires own identity construction at this time.

From the Paper
"Nationalism or national identity building was one of the important markers of modernization and state-building during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries throughout Europe. The literature on the subject of European nationalism focuses strongly on Western Europe as its subject, citing Britain, Germany, and France as the primary examples of the political and cultural activities that contributed to the formulation of a brand of identity for each particular country. This is especially true of France, as the accounting of French history from the origins of the French..."

Tags:ottoman empire, balkans, nationalism

Abstract
The paper begins by making a distinction between the terms "sex" and "gender" by asserting that the term "gender" has to do with the social and cultural characteristics associated with a particular gender, rather than the biological definition associated with the term "sex". Using this distinction, the paper then goes on to examine how gender roles came about and to what extent they influence our identity.

From the Paper
"Indeed, the question of the way in which gender contributes to the formation of one's identity is one that remains exceptionally difficult to solve from any particular perspective, as indeed, the two are so uniquely intertwined, or so it would seem, that it is exceptionally hard to say how and where the differ without employ a stringent and complex series of definitions surrounding the two words. As we must first realize in consider the sorts of terms that will be employed, gender must not be confused, equated to, conflated with, or be taken as a synonym for sex."

Tags:socialization, arbitrary, concept, yanomamo, aggressiveness, masculine, feminine

Abstract
In this article, the writer maintains that the widely accepted concept of gender is a simple notion to understand. The writer explains that according to this concept a person is either male or female and this is determined at birth. The writer then discusses gender as a changeable identity. The writer discusses that Kate Bornstein and Wendy Carlos are two fairly high-profile male to female transsexuals who have a distinct position on the fluidity of gender.

From the Paper
"Gender as it is defined by culture and portrayed in the media seems to be a fairly simple concept to grasp; one is either a man or a woman. It is simple as that; a person is defined by biology which is identified at birth by genitalia. This determinate establishes a polarity between sexes and does not allow for anything in between. From the moment of birth, the culture of family, community, government, society further conditions the individual on how to dress, behave, speak, and pursue occupations and activities that are determined to be often divided along gender lines. However, in the context where genitalia is the gender determinant and has ..."

Tags:gender, social, cultural

Abstract
This paper compares two articles that take philosophical approaches to identity, gender, and culture. One article discusses a viable theory of how social systems work to promote institutionalized discrimination, and the second argues that the typical criteria used in making racial identification are inadequate.

From the Paper
"Two articles addressing philosophical issues associated with identity and gender are examined in this report. Ann Ferguson argues in "Can I Choose Who I Am" that a viable theory of how social systems work to promote institutionalized discrimination must recognize the ability of all parties to bring about change and must address institutional forces causing or supporting discriminatory treatment based on elements of identity. Charles Mills in "But What Are You Really" argues that the typical criteria used in making racial identification..."

Tags:philosophy, gender, culture, identity, racial, discrmination

Abstract
This paper examines how formation and sustainment of identity in society is dependant on the theory of the sociologist. It shows how there is a general agreement that it develops from an individual's childhood and also depends on how influential parents and peers are especially throughout adolescence. It discusses how the development of gender can be seen as starting out as biological with parents treating the child as the sex their hormones and chromosomes have determined and how the environment and culture could change this. It looks at how this can lead to the emergence of transsexuals in society who think their "true" gender is not their biological one.

From the Paper
"Other factors such as nationality also lead to an individual's identity. Jean Phinney (1989) carried out a study on ethnic minority groups in the United States. She found that ethnic identity develops during adolescence starting with a lack of concern of their nationality followed by curiosity in their group's history and customs which leads to a sense of belonging to their group and a development of distinct ethnic self-concept. Phinney found that this differed on the individual and it is also possible that others in society influence this. For example if the mainstream group in which the minority lives amongst in society celebrates certain customs the minority group may also take part in these possibly due to degrees of commerciality in contemporary society."

Tags:chodrow, hormones, commerciality, cultural, chromosomes, environment

Abstract
This paper examines the development of homosexual identity from a discursive perspective. It pays particular attention to the contemporary effects that queer theory has on the destabilization of homosexual and gender identity. In order to accomplish this, the paper first discusses the origin of the idea of the homosexual as a separate species, distinct from heterosexual individuals. The paper finally suggests some possibilities about the future of sexual identity.

From the Paper
"The origins of homosexual identity lie in modern socio-cultural and historical construction. Foucault and other theorists have shown identity, even homosexual identity, to be the result of social and cultural forces, not biological or natural ones. As a result, the origins of any identity can be traced to an historical origin point. For homosexual identity, modern attitudes about the speciation of homosexual developed in earnest in the late 19th century in the West and have come to dominate the subsequent century with regard to sexual identity construction. The relatively recent creation of queer theory has revealed the constructed nature of sexual and gender identities. Queer theory provides theorists, and even laypeople, with the understanding that identity is not the immutable natural item we generally assume it to be. Instead, the destabilizing effects of queer theory unmask gender identity for what it is, a social construction still undergoing social change."

Tags:sexualitysocio-cultural, deviance

Abstract
This paper asserts that society has a great effect on shaping the identities of its citizens. The paper explains that because gender identity is an evolving concept, which changes from generation to generation, literature is central to our understanding of masculinity and femininity, whether we live in the time at which the works are being written or whether we are trying to learn more about a culture that existed over 200 years ago.

From the Paper
"Gender identity is an evolving concept, which changes from generation to generation. The many forms of identity that we take for granted today did not exist for previous generations. Rather, the concepts of identity and individuality are products of the time in which we live due to the evolution of standards and mores over time. Typically, these evolving identities, standards, and mores are reflected in the poetry, fiction, and other literature of the time. Therefore, literature is central to our understanding of masculinity and femininity. While literature reflects the thinking of a particular time, not every..."

Tags:wollstonecraft, gender identity, fantomina

Abstract
This paper discusses the cultural significance of clothing and the ways that it can indicate class, race, gender, sexuality, desires and concerns, as well as group identity.

From the Paper
"Clothing reflects much more than a person's sense of style; it is an expression of who we are. Coco Chanel is quoted as saying; "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only, fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." It is possible to look at an article of clothing and identify the culture, the time, the region, and other detailed characteristics about the person who wore..."

Tags:clothing, cultural significance, class, race, gender, sexuality, desires, concerns, collars