Gender Expression Essay

(Reading, 2014) Defines gender identity as “a personal conception of oneself as male or female (or rarely, both or neither)”. Gender expression, which is defined as the ways in which we each manifest masculinity or feminity or the outward manifestations of personality that reflect the gender identity. Sex is either of the two categories (male and female) into which humans and most other living things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions. In this essay, gender identity, gender expression and biological sex will be critically evaluated and examples will be given in order to distinguish between gender identity and gender expression.

Gender is a socially constructed way of seeing a person as either male or female. (Reading,201)

It is usually an extension of our “gender identity,” our innate sense of being male or female. Each of us expresses a particular gender every day – by the way we style our hair, select our clothing, or even the way we stand. Our appearance, speech, behaviour, movement, and other factors signal that we feel – and wish to be understood – as masculine or feminine, or as a man or a woman.

The Gill Foundation writes that in most individuals, gender identity and gender expression are in accord but for some of us, our gender expression may not match our biological sex. That is, while other people see us as being male or female, we may or may not fit their expectations of masculinity or femininity because of the way we look, act, or dress. Gender expression can be affected by things such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.

Sometimes these expressions go along with socially sanctioned ideas of what is appropriate. For example, we live in a society that deems dresses appropriate for women, but not for men. But sometimes they don’t. You may identify as a woman and dress in a traditionally feminine way. You may identify as a woman and dress in a traditionally masculine