Critical Article Review: Gender Studies, Identity, and Social Norms

This assignment consists of a series of article reviews focusing on various aspects of gender studies. The first article examines the living conditions of transgender inmates in male prisons, highlighting issues of gender authenticity and identity crisis. The second article discusses the oppression faced by dark-skinned people based on age, race, class, and sex, emphasizing the need to address differences and dismantle power imbalances. The third article explores men’s experiences with first-time fatherhood, focusing on the negotiation of gender roles and the challenges of balancing parental care. The fourth article investigates gendered homophobia in the construction industry, analyzing how women in male-dominated fields face discrimination and develop resistance strategies. These reviews collectively provide insights into gender dynamics, social inequalities, and identity formation within diverse contexts. Desklib provides access to this assignment and many other study resources for students.

Running head: GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
Table of Contents
Article 1 (Week 7)...............................................................................................................2
Article 2 (Week 8)...............................................................................................................4
Article 3 (Week 9)...............................................................................................................6
Article 4 (Week 10).............................................................................................................8
Article 5 (Week 11)...........................................................................................................10
Article 6 (Week 12)...........................................................................................................12
Article 7 (Week 13)...........................................................................................................14
References..........................................................................................................................16

2GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
Article 1 (Week 7)
Jenness and Fenstermaker (2014) in the article entitled Agnes goes to prison: gender
authenticity, transgender inmates in prisons for men, and pursuit of “the real deal” attempts a
discussion on the living conditions that are present within the prisons that are located within the
United States. The living conditions within the prisons are constructed keeping in mind the
binarity of the genders which has led to the conditions wherein the trans-genders have no
specific areas where they would be assigned residence during their period of service in the
prisons. The authors state that the trans-genders are generally accommodated within the prisons
that are made for the male members who have been serving the sentences for their misdeeds.
This has raised an issue with the trans-gender inmates who have been serving their tenure at the
given prison (Jenness & Fenstermaker, 2014). The authors had considered the data that was
received from the official entries as well as the data that was collected from the various inmates.
The article had taken into consideration the interviews of almost 315 inmates who have been
serving at 27 prisons located all over California (Jenness & Fenstermaker, 2014). The authors of
the article attempt a discussion on the ways in which the trans-genders accomplish their genders
within the concerned prison that are present within the political territories of the California.
The authors of the study discussed the various factors that are generally observed to be
evident in the psychological operations of the inmates who have been serving their sentences.
The author states that the trans-gender inmates of the prisons have a tendency to seek for the
affection and the attention of the male members of the society. This is due to the identity crisis
that they suffer from all their lives. The author states that the trans-genders are always on the
lookout for getting the attention of the people who have been belonging to the male members of
the society (Jenness & Fenstermaker, 2014). The authors focus on the gender order that aims to

3GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
underpin the prison lives as maintained within the political boundaries of United States. The
article had focused majorly on the sexuality as demonstrated by the trans-gender inmates
residing in the prisons (Jenness & Fenstermaker, 2014). The analysis that was presented within
the article reveals that the various activities that are conducted by the imprisoned trans-genders
are all aimed at pursuing the gender authenticity of their own. The analysis reveals that the trans-
gender inmates within the male prisons tend to be more desirous towards obtaining the title of
the security of being the “best girl” present within the prison boundaries (Jenness &
Fenstermaker, 2014). These activities further reveal their acceptance of the male dominance that
is present within the given area, the acceptance of the ideals of the classed and the raced genders
as well as the inequality that exists within the given prisons. The gendered behavior as is
depicted by the trans-gender inmates of the prison puts forth an understanding on the nature of
the present as well as the co-operative nature of the collusion that exists within the prison. The
authors state that this helps them in the revelation of their ownselves thus they do not need to
hide.

4GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
Article 2 (Week 8)
Lorde (2012) in the article entitled “Age, race, class and sex: women redefining
difference” attempts a discussion on the oppression that is faced by the dark-skinned people who
have been residing in the American society. The given author states that the dark-skinned people
residing within the concerned territorial boundaries of the United States have been facing huge
amount of oppression at the hands of their fair skinned counterparts. The people are generally
according to the author discriminated on the basis of their age, sex and the racial background.
The author further states that the concerned people are also distinguished on the basis of the
application as well as the acceptance of the dominance that is implemented by the people at the
oppressor levels (Lorde. 2012). The author states that the channeling of the energy required for
the recognition and the exploration of the differences into the pretention that those differences
might be barriers of an insurmountable type or the denial of the existence of the issues tend to
lead to the isolation of the concerned person. These situations might also lead to the development
of the connections that are treacherous as well as fraud in nature.
The fraudulent connections on the other hand aims at the barring of the development of
the various tools that are required for the usage of the human difference as the springboard of the
creative changes that need to be present within the lives of the common residents of the area. The
author state that the trappings that are implemented by the people in power tend to find residence
within the given society (Lorde. 2012). The authors state that the people who have been placed
outside the given boundary of the concerned power balance tend to identify the ways in which
they are different from the people who have been residing within the given power boundaries.
The author states that the concept of the universal sisterhood as discussed within the society is a
farcical term that does not hold a proper existence (Lorde. 2012).

5GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
The author states from her own personal account that the fair-skinned ladies residing
within the given society tend to prioritize their oppression over the oppression that is
implemented on their dark-skinned counterparts (Lorde. 2012). The author further highlights that
this discrimination is also faced in the creative genres. The author states that this discrimination
is also faced by the dark-skinned people who have been composing literary pieces. The fair-
skinned people of the society tend to discuss the literature written by the fair-skinned members
with utter ease, however the literature composed by their dark-skinned counterparts
(Lorde. 2012). The author concludes that the change in the attitude is necessary and helps in the
growth of the concerned individual.

6GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
Article 3 (Week 9)
Miller (2011) in the article entitled Falling back into gender? Men’s narratives and
practices around first-time fatherhood discusses the articulations as faced by the people who
have been experiencing fatherhood for the first time. The author further attempts a discussion on
the various factors that are experienced by the male members of the society who have been
experiencing fatherhood for the first time in their lives. This is experienced through the transition
experienced by the concerned person who has become a father for the first time. The article
majorly focusses on the exploration of the antenatal intentions of the male members as well as
the postnatal practices that are demonstrated by the concerned person (Miller, 2011). This study
is observed to have been replicating the earlier research on the motherhood as experienced by the
female members of the society.
The article in discussion attempted to shed major lights on the residents of the United
Kingdom wherein the men are known to have been granted the paternity leaves. The country
allows the men to promote the various activities that involve the depiction of the paternal
involvement in the lives of the children as well as the caring aspect of the masculinity as
demonstrated by the male members of the society. This helped in the opening up of the various
possibilities in the lives of men (Miller, 2011). The research on the given patriarchal practices
state that the initial discussion on the disruption of the gender norms within the given social
patterns might not be able to confirm the “patriarchal habits” that are well-defined within the
practices that are continued for a longer term (Miller, 2011). The findings of the study state that
the doing and the undoing of the gender roles are continued in a simultaneous manner along with
the various amounts of the pressures and the tiring activities that need to be maintained by the
people who have been very new to the activity of parenting (Miller, 2011). The article further

7GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
states that the parental leave grants to the male members of the society presents an issue of that is
of political interest within the country of the United States. The authors of the article attempted
to shed light on the naivety as depicted by the governance on the practicality of the management
and the sustainability of the paternal care as envisaged by the male members of the society,
especially those who belong to the middle class of the society (Miller, 2011). The article
concludes with the discussion that though the new fathers are known to take care of the child in
the initial days after its birth, the role of the father is modified with the passage of time thereby
leading the mother to spend a huge amount of time with the new-born child.

8GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
Article 4 (Week 10)
Denissen and Saguy (2014) in the article entitled Gendered homophobia and the
contradictions of workplace discrimination for women in the building trades attempts a
discussion on the shaping of the various constraints that are encountered by the women serving
in the construction industry as well as the several specified resistances that are developed by the
women. The authors specifically aim at the discussion on the several meanings as are defined by
the culture of a certain society on the sexual orientation that is followed by the residents of the
concerned area. The authors of the study further argue on the fact that the presence of the women
in the job fields that are generally occupied by their male counterparts are known to threaten the
male counterparts (Denissen & Saguy, 2014). The major reason behind the threatening stems
from the inherent notion regarding the masculinity of the job as well as the disruption of the
order of the genders. The disruption of the gender orders within the society generally refers to
the subordination of the women of the area on sexual grounds
The authors state that the male members of the society who have been serving as
tradesmen within the given society attempt a neutralization of the primary threat towards the
masculinity of the given job with the declaration that the women who have been working at the
construction industry are lesbians and thus do not fall into the category of the real women that
they are used to in the given social strata (Denissen & Saguy, 2014). The tradeswomen on the
other hand tend to develop the various strategies that would help them in dealing with the issues
that are posed by their male counterparts (Denissen & Saguy, 2014). These strategies are
generally developed on the basis of the sexual identity, the presentation of the gender, the race as
well as the physical attributes that are shared by the concerned female members who have been
serving at the several organizations under the construction industry.

9GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
The authors conducted 63 interviews that were required for the completion of the study
(Denissen & Saguy, 2014). The interviews revealed the fact that the tradesmen often resort to the
use of homophobia in order to deal with the expression of the solidarity that is depicted by the
women within the given organization. the authors of the article further state that the
homosexuality among the male members of the workforce is also considered to be one of the
major threats to the masculine workforce of the company. The female members of the
constructional workforce are often referred to as being equal in attitude to the male counterparts
which in turn results in the undermining of the female members in a sexual manner (Denissen &
Saguy, 2014). The article concludes with the discussion on the various factors that are related to
disruption of the patriarchy as well as the dominance in the order of the genders that is practiced
within the given social structures.

10GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
Article 5 (Week 11)
Ochoa (2013) in the article entitled Academic profiling: Latinos, Asian Americans, and
the achievement gap attempts a discussion on the various issues that arise from the various
beliefs and differences that are instilled in the minds of the children. the article aims to discuss
the various distinctions that are made on the basis of the race and the cultural background of the
concerned people. The article further aims at the criticism of the various factors that arise out of
the inequality within the various facilities of schooling that are offered to the children. The
article as discussed by the concerned author attempts to shed light on the various issues that are
presented due to the underlying elements that are prevalent within the psyche of the educators as
well as the guardians of the children who have been exposed to the classrooms that are open to
children from various racial backgrounds (Ochoa, 2013).
The teachers who have been have been employed at the various schools are observed to
be undertaking huge issues that are prevalent within the given organization. This leads to the
conditions wherein new strategies need to be planned every year in order to ensure the proper
inclusion of the concerned students within the given classroom. The study in discussion majorly
focusses on the issues that are faced by the students who belong to the Asian American
backgrounds as well as the Latino backgrounds. These students are observed to have been facing
a greater amount of bullying and oppression at the hands of their peers (Ochoa, 2013). The
author of the article states that the school in discussion, the Southern California High School, is
majorly attended by the dark-skinned residents and this plays a huge role in the development of
the psyche of the concerned students.

11GENDER STUDIES - ARTICLE REVIEW
The author further states that the school accepts the power-evasive structure that is
required for the continuation of the Eurocentric curriculum of the course of study that is
practiced within the concerned school, the Southern California High School as well as the
various activities that are followed by the students and the faculty of the school (Ochoa, 2013).
The author states that the power-evasive attitude as is maintained within the school tend to put
forth a revelation with regards to the biases that are deep-rooted in the several larger ideologies
that are maintained by the concerned students as well as the faculty. The author states that the
differences that exist within the racial backgrounds of the students tend to influence the
inequality among the students as well as put forth a discussion on the perception that is formed
by the faculty regarding the various students of the school. The Asian American students are
often referred to as the “model minorities” within the class while, the Latinos are majorly
referred to as the “troublemakers” within the classroom (Ochoa, 2013).