By: LEENA KHAN
Staff Writer
Based on the Documentary: Gender Revolution
Leading Questions:
- What messages do you think the media says about gender?
- Why do you think rigid or strict gender roles – feminine/masculine – exist?
- What did you learn from the documentary? How did it make you feel?
- What does gender revolution mean?
- Do sexist stereotypes exist and reinforce our views of gender and sex in our society today? Explain why?
- How is gender important in society?
- How can we promote gender equality in our society?
I think that we are now getting to a place where the media is more accepting of gender and how people identify themselves as. Before, it was more of a way to dig at those people who resigned with different genders and was a way to bully people. Now, there are advertisements with clothing brands that represent transgender people, etc. I think that there are strict gender roles because for so long there were only “two” genders considered and how you were born is what you will be your entire life. It is an easy way to think for some to only consider two genders but now there are so many different ways to identify and that overwhelms people. This documentary made me realize the anxiety and mental health struggles people go through when accepting their own identity as well as wondering how society will react to them. It was very eye-opening and made me feel sad because people should be accepted and celebrated for who they are. Changes in the gender system are referred to as “revolutionary.” Going from two genders to a variety. Sexist stereotypes do exist because growing up you learn that girls like pink and are to play with dolls and boys like blue and play with trucks. If girls take a liking to sports and the outdoors they are deemed as “tomboys.” Growing up with these old ideals reinforces our ideas of gender and makes it hard and uncomfortable for some to be accepting of various genders. Gender is important to our society because it is a way for us to express ourselves besides clothing and it also affects progress toward equality and freedom from discrimination. We can promote gender equality by accepting ourselves. It starts with us and if we start befriending people who identify differently than us it can help us expand our horizons and therefore be more inclusive.