Paper Example on Homophobia and Construction of Gender Inequality Through the Media

Introduction

Homophobia and sexism are mostly interconnected through gender discrimination. Homophobia is the condition where an individual or society develops a range of negative feelings and attitudes towards people perceived as lesbians, gays massive homosexuality (Chauhan, 2014). Gender inequality is the situation or idea that male and females are not equal and that either is superior to the other. This essay will focus on the view, reaction or perception of the above through common communication outlets.

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When Tom was born, Sam and Ann; his parents, were happy to have another male in the family. But as the boy grew, they noticed he behaved in a manner of expressing himself more femininely than masculine. He would draw pictures of himself as a girl in heels carrying a handbag. During playtime, he associated mostly with girls in the neighborhood and even run away when other boys called him to play football. To add on this, he started calling himself Tommie. Sam and Ann took so long to understand that their son could have developed a gender identity that the society perceived wrongly as per their expectations. The parents hoped this was just a phase and would eventually pass but in the end, Tom did not cease. They ended up accepting it and letting him be Tommie (a girl). They arrived at this decision after realizing the criticism Tom would endure from members of society and his peers would be less compared to the confusion he would experience internally if he would be forced to live as a boy.

Many children who are transgendered end up hating themselves and go the extent of abusing drugs and committing suicide (Fox, 2017). To avoid this, just as Sam and Ann did, accepting the situation and improving their transgendered son helps a lot. To any stranger, Tommie is likely to appear as other girls around and considered extra feminine because of her love of associating with girls. But to those who knew Tommie as Tom, the possibility of him receiving rejection and ridicule is quite high. This response happens because of adopting the female characters and initially she was male. With Tom's situation, this paper will discuss issues like sexuality and gender identity and variances between gender and sex.

Gender is determined by one's biology hence a person's sex does not always come in line with one's gender (Blau, Gielen, Zimmermann & IZA, 2016). Therefore, gender and sex are not interchangeable. A baby girl born with the female genitalia is recognized as female. As she develops, she may develop a liking for the masculine aspects of her culture. Since sex is referred to as physical distinctions, therefore these characteristics will not vary among all the females in a society. All women, regardless of their culture, in general, will develop breasts, menstruate and develop hips. On the other hand, gender characteristics vary in places like America, and it is considered feminine to wear dresses and skirts hence that character is distinguished to be for ladies (Pascoe, 2012).

In another society like Asia, males dress in skirts and clothing considered as robes and gowns hence this does not make them female. Sexual orientation refers to one's attraction to a particular sex. According to a scientific understanding, individuals do not have to be involved in sexual activities to know their emotional and physical attraction but instead just being celibate helps in recognizing one's sexual orientation. Homosexual men (Gays), homosexual women (lesbians) and, bisexuals always go through different times to discover their sexual orientations and others become afraid of letting it be known to the society until they are ready. Others end up not disclosing completely. However, research has shown that lesbians, gays, bisexual or transgendered people are the ones who receive unfair treatment in the military, in school, and in the workplace from heterosexuals (Blau, Gielen, Zimmermann & IZA, 2016). Much of this discrimination is from homophobia, misinformation, and stereotypes.

Gender discrimination and homophobia affect everyone to some extent. Those who are straight get punished when they stray in gender norms. For example, a lady wearing a trouser instead of a dress or a man expressing his anger through crying (McCormack, 2012). Each of this may be isolated. It is assumed the man is gay or the lady is a lesbian.

In some cases, people whose gender does not reflect their sex end up going for treatment so that their biology can accurately portray their gender identity. Transsexual and transgendered people are mostly persecuted and even executed in some societies (Kantor, 2009). In school, homosexuals may receive a beating, spat upon and even chased away from school just because heterosexuals dominate the school. There is no formula of being a woman or a man. Gender characters are different aspects of human traits, potential and personality. Gender discrimination locks people from being themselves and being fully human. Moreover, in every institution, there are lesbians, gays, bisexuals and they all have a right to be respected and accepted.

The domination of homophobia portrays the need of dialogue. Teachers can invite initiatives in schools validating and recognizing diversity in sexual orientations. People can come up with forums where homosexuals and those with gender identities can freely express themselves (Barr, 2018). This step is to enable to them engage with all members of the community to create a favorable climate of fairness and accommodativeness and build bridges together. This measure will allow them to be heard and respected. Their ideas and experience can be taken for consideration and help those in fear of their sexual orientation.

Questions Regarding Gender Inequality

What is gender inequality and why is it important? Gender inequality is the situation of seeing male and female unequal. Its importance is steering a workplace achieve broadly equal outcomes for both male and female.

How are women disadvantaged? They are not taken seriously in the workplace. They are considered as less intelligent and incapable. They are supposed to be emotional hence not logical

What is the cause of gender inequality? Wrong mentality, education level, tradition and culture, and religion.

References

Barr, D. (2018). Homophobia is alive and kicking. The LGBT 'cure' ban is pure pink-washing. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/04/homophobia-lgbt-cure-conversationBottom of Form

Blau, F. D., Gielen, A. C.,Zimmermann, K. F., & IZA (Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit). (2016). Gender, inequality, and wages.

Chauhan, K. M. (2014). Gender inequality in the public sector in Pakistan: Representation and distribution of resources.

Fox, C. (2017). Stop fixing women: Why building fairer workplaces are everyone's business.

Kantor, M. (2009). Homophobia: The State of Sexual Bigotry Today.

McCormack, M. (2012). The declining significance of homophobia: How teenage boys are redefining masculinity and heterosexuality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pascoe, C. J. (2012). Dude, you're a fag: Masculinity and sexuality in high school. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press.