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Assignment on Sexual Self

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Added on  2020-10-07

Assignment on Sexual Self

   Added on 2020-10-07

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Q3)Foucault believed that “we have no true sexual selves, repressed by morality and institutions.” Sex, gender and sexuality are manipulated to create normative identities – oneis often forced to conform to these identities, leaving one with “no true sexual selves”. This essay will seek to explain how our “sexual selves” are developed through the process of socialization, and governed by existing social institutions. Furthermore, this essay will also show how this understanding can be applied to ethnicity.“Sexual self” is part of one’s identity, and how one perceives him/herself in terms of sex, gender and sexuality. This begins with one’s sex – a biological concept. It is determined based on the primary sex characteristics or the anatomical traits essential to reproduction (Ferrante, 2015). One is categorized into male or female based on the genitalia one is born with. However, it should be noted that one’s anatomy may not match his or her sex chromosomes. Yet, newborns are still categorized into male or female because of the apparent need to fulfil this dichotomous concept of sex that is created by society and the state. An example is intersexed newborns, who have a mixture of male and female anatomy. A newborn who has male genitalia but female internal reproductive organs, will be categorized as a male, because intersexed individuals are not legally recognised in most states. Something seemingly as simple as sex, may actually be highly complicated. Yet, governments across the world still insist on only legally recognising two sexes – male and female. Evidently, one does not have a say in one’s own sex, as it is determined at birth by a superficial assessment of genitalia. The fact that the state determines what sexes are recognised exemplifies why one has “no true sexual self”, as they are simply chucked into the socially recognised definitions of male and female sexes. Beyond being born with a given sex, individuals are also socialized to conform to gender expectations. Gender is a social distinction based on culturally conceived and learned ideals about males and females (Ferrante, 2015). These gender ideals exaggerate the characteristics that make someone a “perfect” male or female. For example, males are expected to be masculine while females are expected to be feminine. These encompass traits which are believed to be characteristic of the respective sexes (Ferrante, 2015). Boys
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grow up playing sports and with action figures, while girls learn dance or music and play with dolls. However, it is important to understand that these gender ideals are socially created and reinforced by agents of socialization that include the people and objects around us. From birth, babies are raised by their parents based on the sex given to them and children learn to behave in gendered ways. Most of the time, these children are brought up in ways deemed appropriate by their parents. As a result, this produces individuals who are socialized into gender norms and ideals that they believe to be appropriate. Additionally, these individuals also perpetuate gender expectations as it was the way that they were raised and the only socially accepted behaviour they know of. This creates a constant reproduction of the cycle of socialization which is why gender stereotypes and norms even exist in the first place. Due to the influence of socialization on every individual regardless of sex, gender becomes a social construct that one has no control over. As a result, an individual’s gender is determined based on their biological sex, and it is reinforced through the process of socialization. Thus, one has no choice but to conform to gender norms to avoid being socially excluded. Therefore, people have “no true sexual selves” as their genderis pre-determined by their sex.“Sexual self” also includes an individual’s sexuality. Sexuality encompasses all the ways people express themselves as sexual beings (Ferrante, 2015). In examining sexuality, one must look at sexual behaviour and identity. Sexual behaviour refers to an individual’s sexual activity and practices, while sexual identity is the sexual orientation one identifies with. Sexologist Alfred Kinsey distinguished sexual behaviour from sexual identity, which suggests that sexual behaviour might not match sexual identity. However, many still feel the need to conform to sexual scripts which were assigned to them. These include responses and behaviours that people learn to guide them in sexual activities (Ferrante, 2015). Generally, sexual scripts that support heterosexuality and binary ideals are dominant in every society. As a result, individuals are unable to freely express themselves sexually and are constrained by social norms and gender expectations.In his 1970 book Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places, Humphreys studied male homosexual encounters in public toilets. He argues that the majority of the men who engaged in these acts put on a “breastplate of righteousness” in order to conceal their
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deviant behaviour. They were outwardly heterosexual and would “present themselves as respectable members of society”, typically through a heterosexual marriage or right-wing social and political views (Ashford, 2016). They did not perceive themselves as homosexual, but were merely seeking sexual gratification. However, they had to upkeep their heterosexual appearance to the outside world, for fear that being seen as a homosexual would be damaging to their family lives. Additionally, homosexual acts were illegal at that time. This shows that individuals are still restricted by socially accepted norms, so much so that they have to conceal their deviant behaviour. Social norms and gender expectations still govern one’s behaviour and actions, limiting their sexual expression and by extension, their sexuality. This exemplifies why people have “no true sexual selves”, and that our sexual selves are repressed by the institutions that govern us. The same institutions that repress one’s “true sexual self” can also be applied in the context of ethnicity and race. Ethnicity is a set of common traits or characteristics that an ethnic group believe they share with each other (Ferrante, 2015), while race is a set of groupings ofpeople believed to share common descent, based on perceived innate physical similarities (Morning, 2005). Race can be considered a subset of ethnicity as it is part of an individual’s identity, but ethnicity may encompass other components (such as religion and language) that is differentiated from race. Individuals are categorised into races and ethnicities from birth and are gradually socialized into ethnic and racial norms, which eventually limits their racial and ethnic expression, similar to how social institutions restricts one’s sexual expression.In Singapore, there are four racial categories – Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Others. The statedecides each individual’s race based on paternal lines of descent (Kathiravelu, 2017), and individuals cannot self-identify with a particular race. This is especially problematic for individuals with mixed parentage, as they may prefer to identify with their maternal parent instead. The introduction of the “double-barrelled” race option has alleviated this problem, as it gives legal recognition to individuals of mixed parentage by allowing them to put both their parent’s races on their identification card. However, individuals still have to conform tostate-assigned racial categories. Using the same “double-barrelled” race option as an example, how is an individual, who has parents that are also mixed races, categorised? There is no “quad-barrelled” race option to accommodate such an individual. This highlights
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