Gender Identity and Its Effect on Social Mobility Essay Example

Gender dictates each and every part of our daily lives. As most Americans grow up, an increased focus on gender roles in education and social situations creates hostility and varying power dynamics simply because of biological differences. Despite the assertion that social disparities between genders have decreased or ceased, the negative treatment of certain gender identities continues; however, rather than unmitigated violence, ridicule, mocking, and law-making have become the main weapons used against them. Consequently, people who are part of these communities have a lower social standing and therefore, increased difficulty in shifting their social statuses. 

The ridicule of marginalized gender identities creates a dichotomy between pure and natural against alien and unconventional. For instance, the social media influencer Arielle Scarcella, a woman who was once the voice of progressive left politics. Scarcella began adopting beliefs that made her image closer to that of conservatives. Claiming trans men were “lost lesbians” brainwashed by leftists and communists, she portrayed men who have transitioned as a phenomenon to stare at, rather than real people. Scarcella’s assertions highlight the larger issue of viewing differences meant to be celebrated as “other” and entertainment for traditional or “natural” people. As such views attract more and more attention, those most susceptible to this indoctrination into far-right ideology, often young teenagers, begin to see themselves as separate from what they perceive as bizarre and unnatural. These divisions created during adolescence translate into what that person does later in life, and thus an unaccepting society thrives and continues to put people in lower rungs of the societal ladder. As a result of the rise of such beliefs, the “us versus them” mindset has spread farther than just social media, and into legislation.

Legislation and law-making has been used against those who are part of marginalized genders, rather than giving them the laws necessary to grow and develop socially. A clear example of the use of legal strategy to prevent true justice is the trans panic defense, a method in which a person convicted of a violent crime against a transgender individual claims insanity because of their prior belief that the individual was born the gender they present as. A broader issue is demonstrated here: those in a higher social standing, in this case cisgender people, essentially have a “free pass” in court to commit any crime against people with lower stauses--trans people. The legal safety net provided by this defense enables the more preferable members of society power over those who are already seen as lowly and uncommon.

Some people argue that the inequality seen between gender and/or gender identities has ended in the 21st century, and that equality relating to gender has already been achieved. While in the last thirty or so years there has been an increased awareness of the imbalances between men and women, this recent attention focuses only on those who society automatically accepts as normal. For example, before the very recent push for intersectionality in feminism, the movement was dominated by white, cisgender women who knew nothing of the experiences women of color or trans women. Because of the ignorance often shown by those meant to be seen as trailblazers of feminism, other women’s needs were put on the back burner in order to achieve the goals wanted by the majority. Issues such as the disparity between genders are not solved all at once, and must be addressed by each group that has a say in the problem. Putting a focus on more visible areas of a movement only leads to certain people gaining rights or power rather than those who need them most.

Finally, the constant mocking of certain genders creates environments for hostility. Incels (involuntarily celibate) are an online community of men who blame women for their lack of female romantic partners. The sub-culture is a breeding ground for anti-feminist and misogynistic men, and allows them to freely insult women while simultaneously complaining that women do not pay attention to them. Men who fall into this ideology often do not grow out of it and in some cases, become extremists who commit violent crimes toward women. The pipeline from simply talking about dating problems to extremism and violence caused by a hatred of women has unfortunately become a common progression recently. Hostility in closed environments, in this case specific websites, allows viewers to adopt the beliefs they see under the guise of having a niche and exclusive community to express themselves in. The echo chamber created by communities demonstrates the result when hate towards groups of people is allowed to thrive without taking in new points of view. 

While the experiences that come with societal pressures of different genders are not always universal, being aware of the burdens of others is the first step towards change. As the world shifts its view towards a more progrssive and accepting ideology, addressing how various marginalized groups deal with social mobility begins the discussions that alter perspectives.