Moreno

Luis Moreno
Professor Beadle
English 115
Social Gendering
People say the brain always attempts to categorize everything. One major example of this
statement is gendering. Gendering has been around for a very long time, occasionally women
had to wear garments that covered them and that was the, correct way to dress; to now modern
time, where one is majorly influenced by society on how they should dress according to their
gender and what people with a higher social status are wearing. It can be said gender in society is
something that creates a sense of order and gives those who need it a guideline kind of feel. In
two articles about gender the authors Barbara Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert from the first article
titled Are We Facing a Genderless Future? they both attempt to give logical reasoning to show
how society is starting to become a little more excepting of people who decide to not categorize
themselves to one certain gender. In the second article by author Emily Kane titled No Way My
Boys Are Going to Be Like That: Parents Response to Childrens Gender Nonconformity she
gives examples in her article of parents teaching in this case young boys being taught domestic
home lessons. The two stories share in common the social structure society has placed, in the
first story is showing the diminishing judgment of peoples genders. In the second story they
relate because even though society is becoming more accepting, the standards of parents
gendering and wanting their kids to still conform is still present. Both of these articles share
some ideas that relate to my personal life, in the first article by Kantrowitz and Wingert they
mention how society unwillingly judges and tries to characterize others. In the second article
These articles help the reader see societies standards from a different point of view. (Removed
extra space between paragraph.)

Moreno

In many of readings about sex and gender it was noticeable there as a reoccurring idea. In
two of the articles the main idea talked about by the authors of each independent article was
social progression and change. In the article Are we Facing a Genderless Future? by two
authors is written about how society is changing with the gender issue they are writing this to
inform using logos to show how societies standards are evolving. Today we see society accepting
more than how it was 50 years ago, although society is not one hundred percent accepting of
everyone there has been major progress. One example given in the article is about the education
system and how it is adjusting to the social gender changes occurring. They have started to
implement services that cater to everyone, like mentioned in the article certain schools have
created unisex bathrooms. Another thing schools have done is create gender neutral dorms. There
currently are many schools taking such steps toward gender nonconformity could cause others to
follow and do the same. The two authors possibly decided to write about this because it shows
the reader the progression society is making and what are some events occurring because of this.
In the second article No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That: Parents Responses to
Childrens Gender Nonconformity, author Kane also sticks to the change and progression
theme. Kane giving examples like how mothers were teaching their young boys how to cook and
about emotions. Author Kane reasoning for addressing could be to show some the ignorance still
in society and mainly parents. Teaching such things would have never been allowed in the 20th
century but with the progression society is making, a person with diverse skills has more of an
advantage in the workforce. (Removed extra space between paragraph.)
It can be said that the authors are writing about progression because it shows how more
excepting as a society we have become. In the first article by authors Barabra Kantrowitz and Pat
Winger it can clearly be seen just by the title Are we Facing a Genderless Future this piece of

Moreno

writing is about progression. The title gives the reader the main idea and the reader can infer how
living in an actual genderless future is something that if it were actually to occur would be major
movement for this social issue. The articles contents reinforce even more the progression idea
with examples. In much of the second article the author Kane speaks about parents insecurity
with there childs nonconformity with there gender meanwhile at the same time placing
extraordinary examples of progression with children and gender. Like mentioned before the
example of the mother who taught her son to cook is something that would hardly never have
been heard of few years before. Lastly an example is the parents who proudly proclaimed how
they bought their young boy a kitchen set with a baby doll to pretend feed. In the past such
examples would have been frowned upon by the parents close peers, at that point in time society
had constructed social gender identity very differently and when it was broken the person was
made as the outcast for not conforming. During that time men were the bread winners and the
womens had all the domestic duties. All the authors of the articles were extraordinary in giving
examples of society how it is now and how far we had come. (Removed extra space between
paragraph.)
Both of these articles by the authors share common ideas that relate to me during my
childhood and now in my present day. In Are we Facing a Genderless Future? by Barbara
Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert they mention how society tends to unwillingly judge and categorize
others. This in a way is something that relates to me as I have caught myself trying to fit people
into a certain category. This seems to be something humans tend to do just as we try and find
sense in everything we come across. As I have grown older I have come to notice that sometimes
categorizing people like this can lead to prejudgment, this prejudgment can interfere and not let
us actually get to know that person for how they really are. It can also cause to speak of people in

Moreno

a bad way to other just based on first impressions. This prejudgment is seen in TV shows and
movies, this has an effect on the younger generations making them think its okay to do. In the
second article by Emily Kane she writes about how children who really dont understand
societies gender standards tend to have kids finding some interest in something that according to
society does not pertain to there gender. I relate to this as my mother would tell me how I found
joy in watching shows like Dora The Explorer and such shows that at a young age I wouldnt
be able to distinguish it from what gender it applied to. Being a boy obviously society might of
thought Dora wasnt something that was meant to pertain to me but watching a show like Dora
that maybe wasnt considered masculine. In many ways the show had many effects on me that
werent necessarily the same as others who didnt get to watch the show possibly because of
controlling parents. Watching Dora would always make me want to go on adventures. This
exploring curiosity caused by watching Dora lead to me in the backyard trying to get a hold of a
squirrel that ended up biting me. Keeping a child from exploring and letting them choose their
own path can possibly make a artificial person. If it werent for progression of social issues
and open minded parents, I wouldnt have experienced many of my most fond early childhood
memories. (Removed extra space between paragraph.)
Overall both of the articles share common ideas that give the reader in depth knowledge
of the issue from the authors themselves and examples of parents own personal experience.The
authorsgiveaverygooddescriptiveexamplesofhowasawholesocietywehavemade
progress.Progressionbeingthemainideaofbotharticlesitcanbesaidtheauthorsofboth
articleswroteaboutthistoshedmorelightonthesocialissue.