A Semester With Anastasia

          After reading Judith Butler's article, Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory , I began thinking deeper into the idea of the social construction behind gender. Butler questions whether society has created the role of gender versus it being related to our natural bodies. Throughout this reading, I thought, to what extent is gender constructed?      While taking this class, I have learned more about gender and how it is different from sex, and how the two came to play such an immense role in our every day lives. As I learn more and more about gender, I believe less and less about its necessity in our lives. Society has molded us to believe there are two genders, falling back on science to back up this idea. Meanwhile, according to The New York Times, “.. biologically speaking, there are many gradations running from female to male; along that spectrum lie at least five sexes -- perhaps ...

          In Paula Stone’s Ted Talk "I've lived as a man and a woman. Here's what I learned", she speaks of her differentiating experiences living as a female and male in present-day society. When listening to the privilege she received when she identified as a male versus the lack of when identifying as a woman, I was not surprised. Just look at the gender gap pay in the United States. A woman will earn 82 cents for every $1 a man makes for doing that same job. While America preaches racial and gender equality, we must face reality to progress as a society. All people are not treated equally, and it is each individual’s responsibility to comprehend this and try to do the most we can to better the country we live in.       When I read that 100% of Siena transgender students expressed that they had personally experienced bias/harassment/discrimination at our college, I was saddened but not shocked. To become a more inclusive whole, we mus...