It is a hard task to define the gender identity concept without initially defining gender itself. Generally, gender is the state of being male or female. A more precise examination of gender shows it denotes a multitude of experiences and conditions. It has three main components, the social or cultural component, the internal or gender identity component, and the physical component. Gender identity concept is applied in the socialization and culture of humans. Though there exist similarities in female and male roles among various cultures, in general terms, variances exist. In most cultures, men are viewed as high achieving, active, and strong on the other hand, women are perceived as weak, deferent, and nurturing. More so, depending on the culture, less or more flexibility is permitted on what is considered normative behavior.
Particularly conservative countries with low socioeconomic development levels have been identified to have more rigid and differentiated gender roles. Throughout a person’s lifespan, gender socialization transpires in fluctuating contexts such as in school, among parents, or in the media. These contexts can be overt or covert. Gender socialization sends explicit and implicit messages on how people should appropriately feel, act and think as female or male.
Typically, in western cultures, gender socialization starts at birth. Based on a newborn’s phenotypes, a doctor assigns sex, and this becomes the start of gender socialization. Gender socialization continues and is evident even in how parents address and handle their infants. For example, when it comes to toys, boys tend to be bought gun toys, and when it comes to clothes, girls tend to be clothed in pink outfits. Research has not established a relationship between gender expression and gender-reinforcing parenting. However, it is known that children are fond of pleasing their parents. Therefore, there is a tremendous cost among transgender people who tend to either express or suppress gender identity as children will conform to this.
Nevertheless, studies have not shown that gender-strict environments encourage the development of transgender traits. There is a variety of contexts in which gender socialization happens. For instance, boys are discouraged from cooking or playing with dolls in school. At the same time, girls are discouraged from sports such as football. Adult and children’s television shows, books, and movies also depict gender stereotyping.
Gender identity is also associated with discrimination, stigma, and other psychosocial stressors. Society places immense negative pressure on gender non-conforming persons to express themselves according to their appropriate gender. Consequently, the demands have the effect of causing abuse, discrimination, and stigma among transgender people and other individuals that are non-conforming. These acts are typically driven by hostile feelings, attitudes, and transphobia towards transgender people due to their internal gender identities. Just as it’s the case with other forms of oppression, such as racism, it is possible to internalize transphobia, which implies that the persons who are gender non-conforming can embrace the transphobic messages they are exposed to. This can occur either deliberately or involuntarily and can cause deep shame or self-hatred for having a gender presentation or identity inconsistent with the sex they have been assigned. Eventually, internalizing the messages of inferiority results in depression.