The current society seems to be gender based, that is, someone is expected to be either a male or a female and in possession of all the characteristics that are associated with the respective genders.
There seems to be no provision for those who may be a bit different either due to medical reasons or natural reasons like being born with sexual defects. Those who are found out to be different are taken as being abnormal and all efforts are made towards trying to make them be what they should be and not trying to help them accept themselves just as they are.
When someone is found to be having Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser Syndrome doctors would rather diagnose that person with congenital absence of vagina than accept the person to be having the syndrome and all efforts are channeled towards fixing the persons genitals just because the person is expected to either be an absolute male or female (Morris 74).
People are therefore left dealing with the shame and trauma of not being who they are supposed to be.
The prescription of someone found with the MRKH syndrome would be corrective surgery where one is advised to undergo virginal reconstruction so as to have a sex life that is normal with the partner.
This is surprising as one is able to adjust and live normally with someone who has a different birth defect yet one born with genital defects is expect to undergo a lot in trying to fix the issue (Morris 75). People who are found to be having differences in their gender or sexual orientation receive much sympathy as well as pity from those who come to know about it.
If the person is a lady, she may have to undergo various humiliating experiences under medical practitioners most of whom could be male, trying to analyze the persons gender and asking humiliating questions and discussing issues that infringe into the persons privacy. Other people seem more concerned with the person’s state than while she is left with no decision of her own (Morris 75).
In case it is determined that the person cannot have children, she is forced to adopt children so as to fulfill the roles that are ascribed to her gender, all because we live in a society that has strong gender stereotypes. The surgery is basically aimed at making sure that the person is able to have a normal sex life.
It is a common for medical practitioners to ignore all the problems that are associated with the MKRH syndrome, like the hearing problems and mainly deal with the person’s need for genital normalcy. People seem to pay little attention to the variations in gender and they tend to fix rigid standards concerning what gender ought to be about and people who do not meet these standards tend to be treated with little respect as people have no provision for diversity (Morris 75).
The real solution for people diagnosed with the MKRH syndrome would be sexual as well as emotional counseling rather than trying to correct the person’s genitals as this could only be secondary. It is in fact surprising that one’s private organs have to be discussed. The surgery itself is humiliating and the process is quite emotional.
It is surprising that doctors can even prescribe oral sex to those women who cannot have normal sexual lives. The remedies to sexual problems seem all biased. Medical advancement has made it easier for men as they can use Viagra although women have to face the knife. Society is yet to embrace the fact that being different is not being abnormal and that going out of the way to harm someone by trying to turn that person into what she should be does more harm than good.
The just like culture is a human creation. There are many stereotypes about how men and women are supposed to go about their activities. Right from birth a Childs sex is established. The parents then decide to dress the children in accordance with their gender affiliations so as to avoid being nagged about the sex of the child.
From childhood the gender differences are established by use of different gender markers. At puberty the issue of sex comes into t6he limelight again although this time round shaped by gender biases and there is a deliberate effort to separate the members of different sexes separate (Morris 75).
There are different expectations ascribed to different genders right from the jobs done, the dances among others. The differences that are marked in the earlier stages of life result into the notions of masculinity and femininity which are both gender based.
There is a significant change in the gender perspectives today as people of different genders can now ware unisex clothing. Both boys and girls can get the same education and they can do the same jobs at the workplace. This is not just absolute yet as there are groups that still put so much emphasis on maintaining gender differences.
Society has particularly categorized people into different genders so as to ensure organization and order in the allocation of resources, duties and responsibilities. It is all done for the sake of convenience (Morris 75). The issue of gender is not believed to innately emerge from ones sex but it is just an institutional demarcation. The gender issue is by no means equal to physiological and biological differences.
Transsexuals are never categorized as the third gender and this is enough proof that gender is a human creation. They are not put into their own institution as that of men and women yet they are not completely ascribed to any of these genders. It is true that one is born while sexed but not necessarily gendered (Morris 75) and the issue of masculinity and femininity is all a human creation.
After children are born, they are exposed to the gender characteristics of how a girl or a boy should act, talk or behave. Different culture may have different expectations of how members of different sexes need to carry out their activities and all this is aimed at bringing out gender differences clearly. Different norms are set and members of the different sexes are expected to live to the standards ascribed to those norms.
The daily practices that are gender based in society are the ones that lead to a gendered society where the expectations ascribed to the two genders differ. These differences are magnified by religion, the law and culture. It is a common practice that when men and women are given the same task to handle, different expectation is ascribed to the different sexes that are based on gender biases (Morris 77).
As much as the social gap which exists between the members of different sexes is narrowing, there is still a long way to go. There are still so many gender based stereotypes that are hindrances to this progress. For instance, there is a notion that women are supposed to be less informed as compared to women.
The law and different authorities have played a significant role in enhancing the gender differences. For instance, it is very easy for a student or pupils to be punished on the basis that that person does not meet the gender expectations that are ascribed to him or her. Society tends to put men at the top when it comes to gender prioritization even if they were of the same class. In a society that is gender stratified, the activities that men do are perceived as being more important than those carried out by women.
There are those who practice hunting and gathering for instance. Most men go to the field to hunt while women are left behind to perform other tasks like harvesting and other household chores on the basis that they belong to the inferior gender (Morris 77). Men are usually held in higher esteem as compared to the women and hence enjoy more privileges than women. In fact in most of these societies, women take the position of servant hood.
In a gender society where men are more valued as compared to women there is significant gender based discrimination. Men get well paying jobs, boys are preferred to girls and they are given priority. Women are left to do minor chores like domestic cores. This goes a long way in fueling gender discrimination which in the actual sense needs to be done away with. A society that is gender structured with special attention being given to the men only result in a society with women who are less empowered and discriminated against.
In most societies that are gender structured, gender is perceived to be the best way of bringing order to chaos. Most children that are borne with sexual defects usually have to undergo surgical alteration so as to meet the set standards of what a person belonging to a certain sex or gender should appear (Morris 78).
Any interference towards gender or sex is usually taken to be a threat to the set norms or the social order of that society. Standards are set on the expectations of how a male or female should be like and any deviation from this is usually treated as an abnormality and people can go to all length to ensure that these standards are met even if it were through surgery.
There has been an increase in the number of children that are borne with anonymous sexual orientations some of which are hard to categorize either as male or female. Some of them have different chromosome arrangement which is neither XX nor XY. The challenge is usually posed during puberty when the person exhibits secondary sex characteristics.
They may for instance show a combination of the characteristics that are associated with both the male and females. All these could be attributed to the fact that they are genetically inherited, different hormonal activities during the pregnancy or they could be brought about by the medication that the mother undergoes while pregnant.
Most of the surgery and hormone treatment that is performed on such children is actually not necessary although it is done so as to fulfill the set social standard of one being a man or woman. Those who do not meet the set standards are usually isolated and discriminated against. Those who are having different sexual orientations like intersexuality usually feel shy to come out and speak about due to the fear of discrimination (Morris 83).
Given the fact the gender is a human creation, such discriminations that are based on gender must be done away with whether at the workplace or in other social settings if at all a society needs to develop. Deliberate efforts must be made by changing societal laws that are discriminatory from encouraging gender biasness and discrimination based on gender.
Works Cited
Morris, Esther. An Additional Monologue. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy, (2006):73-88.