What is identity?
Gender identity is a complex concept. It includes the self-perception of a person as male, female or other gender (non-binary person). It is believed that going beyond the gender assigned at birth helps to break down the stereotypes of one or the other gender. Currently, two groups are distinguished: cisgender persons (sex at birth corresponds to identity) and transgender persons (does not correspond). The concept of transgender comprises a combination of different variations in feminine and masculine characteristics in a persona (Menkin et al., 2021). The cisgender group is usually narrower.
How do you define identity?
The concept of gender identity was first proposed by Robert Stoller (Gamble, T. & Gamble, M., 2020). Gender identity is a consequence of a binary gender system: male and female. The concept of non-binary – the self-perception of a person as someone abstract who cannot be classified as either male or female – is now emerging in many countries. There is no right way to behave when it comes to defining gender identity. There are different patterns that people rely on to understand themselves. For example, tactics for behaving and dealing with this question might be this.
The impact of stereotypes on societyedits
Stereotypes have always influenced people’s lives. Boys traditionally play with cars, girls with dolls. For some people the pressure is too much (especially in countries where patriarchy still works). Unfortunately, this has led to things like dysphoria, psychological barriers, self-loathing, withdrawal and even depression. Stereotypes have developed based on the roles assigned to men and women in ancient times. The last 50 years have seen changes in gender roles due to developments in psychology and psychiatry, as well as in human neurophysiology. The human being strives to learn and to break down the established bigender frameworks.
How do you change stereotypes?
So how do you understand what society prescribes in traditional behaviour and what the person herself or himself really likes? Finding the right position is always difficult and time-consuming, but it is necessary in this matter. There are many possibilities open to the individual to realise himself. Restricting oneself to the bigender system constrains and does not allow one to develop fully (Martinez et al., 2019). Self-education and self-knowledge are the keys to socialising and breaking down gender boundaries. Gender constraints create harmful conditions in which the growth of a unified society is impossible. Moving away from gender frameworks is within everyone’s power, so everyone should struggle against them.
References
Gamble, T. & Gamble, M. (2020). The Gender Communication Connection. Routhlege.
Martinez, M. A. & Osornio, A. & Halim, M. & Zosuls, K. (2019). Gender: Awareness, Identity, and Stereotyping. Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. (1-12). Elsevier.
Menkin, D. & Wesp, L. & Baker, K. & Mukerjee, R. & Singer, R. (2021). Clinician’s Guide to LGBTQIA+ Care. Springer Publishing.