Week 2 Blog
The way we perform in life is the way people start to perceive us. The way we act, talk, and express our individuality becomes who we "are." If we decide to act out of these norms, people start to wonder what is going on in our life for us to be acting in a different (maybe sometimes awkward) manner. From the day we are born, we start to "obtain" certain characteristics that is determined by what sex we are. We are told to act certain ways depending if we are male of female. For instance, girls are told to act more "lady-like" by crossing their legs or ankles instead of sitting more comfortably like a man would. In gender being a performance, we are basically required to "show" how we are male or female by the certain actions that we choose to make. Most of the time, this starts right from birth and our parents can have a big influence on how we "start" gender, if you will. It is all about how we are proving to society that we are male or female.
Gender is something that we grow up learning to "do." Therefore, society comes to the conclusion that it is real, and this is the way we are supposed to be. Gender becomes more of an every day task than it is an option. We are proving to everyone around us if we are male, female or otherwise. Thus, it becomes "real" to us because of the way we perceive one another from "doing" what we do as individuals.
I strongly believe that the way we present ourselves has an influence on how people treat one another. For instance, if I started dressing up in all black, dyed my hair black, wore nothing but black make-up, I know some people around me would classify me as "gothic." Not saying that is a bad thing, it is just not who I am, therefore, it is out of my so-called "norm." If people make drastic changes in what they look like or how they act, there is normally a reaction from their families or friends, whether it be in a positive or negative manner. If we were to change the way we "do" gender, I do not necessarily believe that it would completely change our social conditions. It would all be in a matter of how we changed "doing" gender. Society has too many individualists for everyone to come to a single conclusion. I do believe the knowledge we have about gender is and will be forever changing, just as society always is.