Gender
Every one of us is born with anatomical, and biological distinctions, known as our sex (Chapter 6, p. 150). Now sex and gender vary, Sex includes differences in reproductive organs, hormones, and sex chromosomes" (Chapter 6, p. 150). You are assigned your physical sex at birth, Gender however is an identity. As you grow up you might find yourself distinguishing yourself from the assigned sex towards another gender, this is where gender identity comes in. Gender identity is something you define for yourself even if it differs from your assigned physical sex, what gender you identify as is determined by you. Because gender is your own personal choice, not something you are assigned.
Personally, I grew up in a very lax household. I was never really required by anyone to do or be any I didn't want to be. Of course, for some who don't share this experience, it can sound like heaven, but just like anything it comes with its own sets of ups and down. One down is that I really have no structure in my household, the only way I can describe it is if your family is just your roommates. We all have our own schedules, our own lives, and our own goals but we live together under one roof. Now a major upside I've got to experience because of my household is, my parents, they let me solely choose whoever I want to be.
What I mean by that is they didn't really force any traditions, beliefs, etc. on me or my sister, you could define it as a "permissive authoritative" household (Zeltser Francyne, 2021). Due to the way I was raised, I never experienced any pressure related to my choice of gender identity or anything that defines me as a person. With this complete freedom, I was able to just be myself and figure out who I am. With this lack of pressure, I've defined my gender identity simply as just a male. I personally don't plunge into the many other genders I could identify myself as and prefer the simple aspect of just being male.
I am really grateful for the perks I was given by my parents' parenting style and how it has allowed me to really explore my self-concept, self-identity, gender identity, and even improved my interpersonal communication. I feel I am genuinely more excepting of others due to my parents, as I might not understand someone's basis for their respective gender identity but I will still respect their choice because I was raised in a way that supported mine.
Now just because I was blessed personally with very lax parents. That doesn't constitute that I'm ignorant of the fact that many people grow up in households unaccepting of gender identity and believe the assigned sex at birth is someone's gender. It saddens me that many of us come from a household that won't accept this concept of identity and are stuck worrying if they can ever show their true selves. Although I didn't experience these struggles I still can empathize with how cruel and diminishing it can be to not be accepted for who you define yourself as.
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