To what extent are our sexualities fixed at birth Essay

To what extent are our sexualities fixed at birth - Essay Example Significantly, scholars have debated on whether one's sexuality is fixed at birth or not, and one dominant argument is that being a man or a woman is not a fixed state, as it is a becoming or a condition actively under construction. According to major French feminists like Simone de Beauvoir, one is not born, but becomes, a woman. "So we cannot think of womanhood or manhood as fixed by nature. But neither should we think of them as simply imposed from outside, by social norms or pressure from authorities. People construct themselves as masculine or feminine. We claim a place in the gender order - or respond to the place we have been given - by the way we conduct ourselves in everyday life." (Connell, 4) Therefore, one's sexuality is not completely fixed either by birth or by upbringing, and it is fundamental to realize to what extent are our sexualities fixed at birth. This paper makes a reflective analysis of the question to what extent our sexualities are fixed at birth. Gender is not fixed by nature alone, i.e. one does not completely assume one's manhood or womanhood by birth. It is also determined by what is imposed on an individual from outside, including the social norms and pressure from authorities. Understanding gender is essential to realize to what extent our sexualities are fixed at birth and it is common that people claim a specific place in the gender order which they enjoy in their daily life. Significantly, most of the people willingly accept this gender order and enjoy the gender polarity. It is also important to realize that sexual pleasure is frequently organized around gender polarity in Western culture. However, there are also several cases of gender ambiguities and there are masculine women as well as feminine men. According to psychological researches, the great majority of people combine masculine as well as feminine characteristics, rather than being all one or all the other. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the sexuali ty of human beings - as it is created at birth and as it is formulated all through the stages of development in human beings - is essential and a clear understanding of the term gender is also crucial. "In its most common usage, the term 'gender' means the cultural difference of women from men, based on the biological division between male and female. Dichotomy and difference are the substance of the idea Gender is, above all, a matter of the social relations within which individuals and groups act. Gender relations do include difference and dichotomy, but also include many other patterns Gender is the structure of social relations that centres on the reproductive arena, and the set of practices (governed by this structure) that bring reproductive directions between bodies into social process." (Connell, 8-10) Therefore, it is important to recognise that one's sexuality or gender refers to the structure of social relations based on the reproductive arena and it is a set of practices which determine the reproductive distinctions between men and women. A reflective analysis of the definition of gender confirms that there may be striking difference in the gender patterns from one cultural context to another. It is also essential to