User:Z0egrand/sandbox

New Edits (After Deletions)

Confusion Between Gender Expression and Sexuality

While gender expression doesn’t necessarily connect to sexuality, individuals often are misinterpreted as more masculine if lesbian and more feminine if gay, regardless of the individual’s gender expression. These beliefs can lead to people misinterpreting an individual’s gender expression based on their sexuality. Studies on adolescents conducted by Stacey Horn, showed that gay and lesbian individuals who didn’t express themselves as their assigned gender were seen as less acceptable. Individuals who expressed themselves with their assigned gender typically faced less social harassment and discrimination. On the other hand, straight males whose gender expression was more feminine than masculine were the most discriminated against.

The most common examples of this issue are in sports. Amélie Mauresmo, a female tennis player, presented the same gender expression as her fellow female athletes. Since she was openly gay, Mauresmo was seen as more masculine than other players, without changing her gender expression. Dr. Tredway states that had Mauresmo’s sexuality been a secret, her visible gender expression wouldn’t have differentiated her from other athletes. She would have been considered just as feminine.

Judith Butler’s Heterosexuality Matrix

The Heterosexuality Matrix focuses on gender, sex, and sexuality and was created by gender theorist, Judith Butler. The original theory explains that people often assume someone’s sexuality based off of their visible gender and sex. Over time, this theory has diminished in accuracy as more people are open with their sexualities. According to Lisa Disch, now people tend to assume someone’s gender expression based off their sex and sexuality. Gender expression is therefore often assumed, and this theory can help explain why.

References

• Disch, Lisa. “Judith Butler and the Politics of the Performative.” Political Theory, vol. 27, no. 4, 1999, pp. 545–559., doi:10.1177/0090591799027004006.
• Horn, Stacey S. “Adolescents’ Acceptance of Same-Sex Peers Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence, vol. 36, no. 3, 2007, pp. 373–373., doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9176-4.
• Tredway, Kristi. “Judith Butler Redux – the Heterosexual Matrix and the Out Lesbian Athlete: Amélie Mauresmo, Gender Performance, and Women’s Professional Tennis.” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, vol. 41, no. 2, 2013, pp. 163–176., doi:10.1080/00948705.2013.785420.

My Personal Edits - (Gender Expression Article)

History

Most of the history surrounding gender expression has been tied to the traditional ideals of feminine and masculine. Androgyny was something that wasn’t accepted in many Western countries, but there have been some cultures that have shown understandings of multiple genders and expressions.

For example, Native American and Polynesian societies had names for more than just male and female genders. Many Native American tribes recognized five genders; female, two spirit female, male, two spirit male, and transgender. Polynesian had a third gender called, “Fa’afafines”. Many anthropologists say that while sexuality made not have been as understood, gender identity and expression was. Feminine and masculine didn’t always apply to someone’s sex at birth.

In European cultures, straying outside of the gender expressions of masculine or feminine were stigmatized. Androgyny was seen as monstrous. People who strayed from traditional gender expressions were seen as deviant and often were highly sexualized. While it wasn’t accepted, it seems that people were aware of androgyny. Traces of it can be seen in art and culture, especially in ancient Greek and Roman societies. An example is Michelangelo’s Bacchus which depicts Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. The figure seems to be visibly drunk and his body is both masculine and feminine, and it was originally banned by the Cardinal.

Being aware didn’t mean that gender expression wasn’t criminalized. Crossdressing was banned in various countries. Even though historically, hermaphrodites were the closest understood example of varying gender identity and expression, they didn’t have the same rights. It was illegal in 1845 for hermaphrodites to marry in South Carolina and this law remained for a while. Intersex individuals also couldn’t own land unless they presented themselves as more masculine. Often times, the government of judicial system choose whether intersex individuals would express themselves as male or female. Expressing yourself as both or somewhere in between was not allowed or really understood.

Thomas/Thomasine Hall

One famous examples of an intersex man in American history is Thomas or Thomasine Hall. They were the first person to be declared neither male nor female by the court of Virginia in 1629. There is documentation that they also went back and forth between male and female throughout their lifetime. Thomas/Thomasine was raised female but expressed a male identity in order to serve in the military. Once they wanted to return to Plymouth, they changed their identity to female, but then went back to expressing themselves as more masculine to journey to Chesapeake in order to work as an indentured servant.

It was the earliest and largest case of a person not being defined as male or female. It also started to show society that gender expressions could vary. A person could go back and forth between male and female or identify as somewhere in between. Still, Thomas/Thomasine was not accepted, and people did not understand his identity. If he wasn't intersex, he would have faced more consequences.

Gender Roles and Expression

Gender roles still affect society in large ways. Whether it is what shoes and clothes men and women should wear, if men should cry, and what jobs women should seek out. Many culture’s definition of masculine, feminine, and gender as still very black and white. Historically gender roles were even more intense. Women were supposed to be at home and raise children while men were supposed to provide for the family and show little emotion. Feminine men were seen as weak and strong women were ostracized. Many women were burned at the stake and accused of being witches during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. These women were seen as masculine and strong and were punished because of it.  

Historically homosexual men were seen as more feminine, and people explained this shift from how men were supposed to behave by saying that gay men has different brains. Sexuality and gender expression were seen as the same thing. If you didn’t behave as extremely masculine you were assumed to be gay. In the 1970s homosexuality laws made it illegal for doctors to say that patients who displayed gender variance suffered from mental illness. This US law started to get rid of the connection between sexuality and gender expression, but the stigma is still a common misconception today.

Confusion Between Gender Expression and Sexuality

While gender expression doesn’t connect to sexuality, homosexual individuals often are misinterpreted as more masculine if lesbian and more feminine if gay. These stigmas can lead to people mis-interpreting an individual’s gender expression based on their sexuality. Studies on adolescents showed that gay individuals who didn’t express the gender that they were assigned were seen as less acceptable. Individuals who express themselves with their assigned gender typically face less social harassment and discrimination.

The most common examples are in sports. Amélie Mauresmo, a female tennis player, exhibited the same gender expression as her fellow female athletes, but because she was openly gay, Mauresmo was seen as more masculine than other players. Had her sexuality been a secret, her visible gender expression wouldn’t have differentiated her from other athletes.

Judith Butler’s Heterosexuality Matrix

The Heterosexuality Matrix focuses on gender, sex, and sexuality, and was created by Judith Butler. The original theory explains that people often assume someone’s sexuality based off of their visible gender and sex. In its simplest terms people assume the third category based off the other two. Overtime, this theory has diminished in accuracy as more people are open with their sexualities. Now people tend to assume someone’s gender expression based off their sex and sexuality, as gay people are often seen as behaving more like the opposite sex. Gender expression is often assumed, and this theory can help explain why.

Article Evaluation (Gender Expression):

Content: While everything in the article was relevant to the topic, there wasn't enough information to get a deep understanding of gender expression. The evaluating gender expression sub-header contains only one sentence. That isn't enough information at all. The way that they describe gender expression is still very cis and heteronormative and doesn't seem to explain and history or social responses to the term. It is a dictionary definition and not an encyclopedia entry right now.

Tone: The article doesn't have to much apparent bias, but it is clear that the author didn't has the deepest understanding of the topic. It claims that gender expression often relates to sex, which isn't true and makes gender expression and identity harder to express. It focused on stereotypes and how lesbians are often butch. Sexuality doesn't have anything to do with expression, which the article states but it doesn't seem to believe this statement. There isn't enough representation of the wide spectrum of gender and identity and doesn't talk about transpeople at all. It seems very white, cis, and heteronormative.

Sources: One of the sources is from a book that only has a preview version online and two are from PDFs of documents. This isn't enough sources and one of them isn't free for the public to access online. Also one of the sources is from a magazine in the bibliography section which means that it isn't the most scholarly or unbiased data. The hyperlinks within the text all seem to work though. It needs more sources as has most of the information coming from one source, which isn't ideal. No bias is noted.

Talk Page: There are three entries on the talk page and all of them are lengthy. One section mentions that the Yogyakarta Principles should be shortened, which it seems like it has been recently. The other talks about clearing up and separating gender identity and expression. I personally don't think that this idea has been flushed out well enough in the current version of the article. The last version talks about how the article needs more clarity, which I agree with. The article is rated a stub, which means it needs more editing, citations, and information. We haven't covered the topic of gender expression a lot yet in class so I don't have a lot to compare the talk page with, besides my own knowledge.

References

• Brayboy, Duane. “Two Spirits, One Heart, Five Genders.” IndianCountryToday.com, Indian Country Today, 7 Sept. 2017, newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/archive/two-spirits-one-heart-five-genders-9UH_xnbfVEWQHWkjNn0rQQ/.
• Colburn, Josephine. “Gender and the Salem Witchcraft Trials.” Western Oregon University, 2012.
• Disch, Lisa. “Judith Butler and the Politics of the Performative.” Political Theory, vol. 27, no. 4, 1999, pp. 545–559., doi:10.1177/0090591799027004006.
• Drescher, Jack. “Queer Diagnoses: Parallels and Contrasts in the History of Homosexuality, Gender Variance, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.” Archives of Sexual Behavior, vol. 39, no. 2, 2009, pp. 427–460., doi:10.1007/s10508-009-9531-5.
• Herdt, Gilbert H. Third Sex, Third Gender: beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History. Zone Books, 2003.
• Horn, Stacey S. “Adolescents’ Acceptance of Same-Sex Peers Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence, vol. 36, no. 3, 2007, pp. 373–373., doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9176-4.
• Rose, Katrina c. “A History Of Gender Variance in Pre-20th Century Anglo-American Law.” Texas Journal of Women and the Law, vol. 14, 2004.
• Tredway, Kristi. “Judith Butler Redux – the Heterosexual Matrix and the Out Lesbian Athlete: Amélie Mauresmo, Gender Performance, and Women’s Professional Tennis.” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, vol. 41, no. 2, 2013, pp. 163–176., doi:10.1080/00948705.2013.785420.

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