Essay On Gender Identity

“Can you act more like a man?” and “ be a man” are a couple of the many phrases that I have heard while growing up with my parents that were said to me in hopes to knock some sense into me to become more manly. However, I do not know how to be a man because there is more to it than just having a male genitalia; different factors and processes define what it means to be a man. According to Michael Messner, there are two different types of institutions that deal with gender identities and it is where the socialization of an individual occurs and helps create a gender identity for the individual. The first type is a gendered institution which he describes as “an institution constructed by gender relations. As such, its structures and values (rules,

I never really learned what it meant to be “man of the house” because I never really grew up where I had a man in the house. As Judith Lorber explains it, gender is a process of doing and we learn it through different social interactions and seeing it (Lorber 2009:114). I never saw my dad fix appliances around the house or make tough decisions so I never developed those “masculine” characteristics. Instead, I grew up with all women in the house and because women are typically more nurturing and caring, that is the type of person I became as well. Due to my upbringing, I found myself to have a deep care for the elderly, children and homeless people. I have a soft spot in my heart that genuinely cares for others and to nurture them. For that reason, I also became indecisive because I consider everyone’s feelings and it creates a tougher decision for me. Even the simplest decisions like “where to eat” or “where should we go” are all difficult questions that I struggle making a decision for. As a child, I saw my aunt as the male figure of the house because she provided for the family and I naturally picked up the same characteristics as her to mold me into a better