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Bryan Gonzalez
Professor Beadle
English115
4 October 2016
Gender in Society Today
When you think of sex, do you automatically assume or think gender right afterwards?
Authors Judith Lorber, Aaron Devor, Barbara Kantrowitz, and Pat Wingert all do not seem to do
so. Though each of these authors has a distinct style of writing and topic on which they are
writing about, a majority, if not all of them share the common ideas that sex is not equivalent to
gender and that society tends to be the main constructor of gender through gender stereotyping
and social interaction; the authors are likely writing about these ideas because they are everpresent and growing concepts in our society to which they want to alter the way in which people
look at it and to which I have personally been a first-hand witness of and can attest to.
The articles share the common idea that gender is not equivalent to sex as well as that
society is typically the main constructor of gender through the use of interaction, feedback and
reaction and gender biasing/stereotyping. Gender not equaling sex is a topic that can be
examined in each of the essays but quite particularly in Lorbers work. Lorber states from the
beginning of her article how Talking about gender for most people is the equivalent of fish
talking about water...Gender is so pervasive that in our society we assume it is bred into our
genes (Lorber 19). Even though a person may be born into a certain sex, they do not necessarily
need to or do assume the gender associated with that sex (as well as the roles of the gender) and
according to Lorber it is indeed a mistake to assume it is based on our sex. Society being the
main constructor of gender can also be seen in all of the articles but is prevalent in Devors
article Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender. Devor states that The
task of learning to be properly gendered members of society only begins with the establishment

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of gender identity and As we move through our lives, society demands different gender
performances from us and rewards, tolerates, or punishes us differently for conformity to, or
digression from, social norms (Devor 35). Learning our gender, according to Devor happens
primarily as people are children, growing up learning what gender they are supposed to assume,
all through feedback and interactions with different parts of society, from friends to parents to
teachers. Gender biasing or stereotyping is another way in which society constructs gender and is
present in Lorbers work as well. In her article Lorber recalls her moment on the subway; The
child ... was wearing a dark blue T-shirt and dark print pants. ... the father put a Yankee baseball
cap on the childs head. Ah, a boy, I thought. Then I noticed the gleam of tiny earrings ... and ...
the little flowered sneakers and lace-trimmed socks. Not a boy after all. Gender done
(Lorber20). Even author Judith Lorber, who attempts to change the way in which we exhibit
gender falls victim to the norm/pattern that is gender biasing. In seeing the way in which the
baby was being dressed she assumed the childs gender and in any given case wouldve been
prepared to treat the child according to the gender she saw her as.
The authors are writing about these ideas because they are ever-present, relevant, and
growing concepts in our society to which they look to change peoples perception of. Now more
than ever, there is attention being called to and headlines being made about changes and shifts in
both not only gender but even sex. This spring, an Australian named Norrie May-Welby made
headlines around the world as the worlds first legally genderless person when the New South
Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages sent the Sydney resident a certificate containing
neither M for male or F for female (Kantrowitz and Wingert 68). Just as popularly, in American
pop-culture the public just recently witnessed how a man named Bruce Jenner made headlines.
Jenner, who was born a man, had a sex change and is currently identifying as a woman, even

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assuming the new name Caitlyn Jenner. Gender neutral and gender variant people as well as
those who get sex changes or simply assume the role of the other gender are now making
headlines, something that was never seen before and as evidenced by Kantrowitz and Wingerts
essay, was something that was previously regarded as a diagnosable disease/disorder. The actions
of Norrie May-Welby and Bruce Jenner are demonstrating to people that their actions are
completely voluntary and willful as well as growing and definitely available choice. Kantrowitz
and Wingert in presenting the Norrie May-Welby case explore the alternate options to something
formally thought as existing in only a binary matter, and again with May-Welby as their example
Kantrowitz and Wingert shatter or in the least challenge the belief that gender exists in only one
of two distinct ways.
These increasingly relevant and slowly becoming mainstream ideas of gender not
equaling sex as well as society being the main constructor of gender are ideas that I have
personally witnessed in my lifetime and can agree with the authors on. My parents teach and
enforce different roles, values and rules of etiquette on me and my brother versus what they teach
and enforce onto my sisters. Some of the things they teach me and my brother are how we have
to be manly and men of the house and really push us to get and have jobs as well as help with
the heavy chores around the house such as doing the yardwork, cleaning out the patio, moving
the furniture and such and in terms of behavior, they do not really tell us to behave in such a
specific way other than to be respectful to them and especially women. My sisters on the other
hand are told, mostly by my mother but every now and then by my father as well, to be
feminine and lady-like and instead of pushing them to get jobs, push them to help around the
house with feminine chores such as cleaning, cooking, washing the dishes and doing the
laundry. Gender bias and role imposing definitely exists and in my experience as well as duly

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noted by many of the authors of the articles, comes a good deal from parents which as evidenced
is not lacking in my household. In terms of gender not equaling or deriving from sex I have
experienced that too as sometimes my mother assumes the fatherly role in our family, by
working her own job in order to provide extra income for the family as well as in my sister who
is a girl but definitely exhibits masculine traits and actions here and there. The concept of gender
not being equal to sex is present in my household and even if it may not be dominant or largely
significant, there are still traces of it.
All of these articles share the central ideas that gender is not equal to sex and that society
constructs gender the most through the tools of reaction and gender biasing. The authors are
writing about this idea because it is a topic that is on the rise in our society to which they look to
change the way people look at it and of this, I experienced first-hand in my household. With this
topic in mind, which in the past has been quite hidden but is now very public and open, one
might want to consider why gender variance is a growing topic and even pay closer attention
to witness just how society constructs gender.

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Works Cited
Devor, Aaron. Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender. Composing
Gender, edited by Rachael Groner and John F. OHara, Bedford/St. Martins, 2014, pp
35.
Kantrowitz, Barbara and Wingert, Pat. Are We Facing a Genderless Future? Composing
Gender, edited by Rachael Groner and John F. OHara, Bedford/St. Martins, 2014, pp
68.
Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing Gender,
edited by Rachael Groner and John F. OHara, Bedford/St. Martins, 2014, pp 19-20.