English 103

Gender and Identity

According to bestfunfacts.com, the average woman spends two years of her lifetime

looking at herself in the mirror, while the average man only spends six months. So the gender

expectation for this is that girls have to spend more time in front of the mirror and guys do, but is

fitting into these gender expectations a necessary part of life? The answer to that is no.  Choosing

whether or not to follow gender expectations is your choice and it influences your identity. An

identity is who or what something is and what makes them be that. The way gender is connected

to identity is that your gender usually influences what you do and how you act, which in the end

is your identity. Romeo and Juliet both went against gender expectations throughout the play.

Romeo at one point backed down from a fight with Tybalt, which was pretty on unmanly. Juliet

on the other hand refused to marry Paris, the gentleman who her father arranged her to marry.

That was pretty non-ladylike, and it defied gender expectations because she rebelled against her

father which is not expected by females. While there are many connections between gender and

identity choosing whether or not to fit into gender expectations will define your identity.

  By defying gender expectations Romeo and Juliet created stronger identities. Throughout act

three scene one, Romeo backs down from a duel with Tybalt, which is pretty unmanly

considering Verona is founded on violence, toughness and conquest. Everything done is an

expression of comparing one another but yet Romeo does not draw. He backed down from a

fight and that is definitely defying gender expectations. Romeos identity certainly strengthened

after this. On the other hand during act three scene five, Juliet went against gender expectations

by refusing Paris's  hand in marriage, even though her own father and mother arranged the

marriage. In their times when your parents arranged a marriage for you you were expected to

comply that was a gender expectation for females. By not fitting into this gender expectation

Juliet's identity strengthened.

  Military woman have been defying gender expectations for years and it has served to strengthen

and shape their identities. The article "Females Have Mixed Reactions To Lifting Combat

Restrictions" is about different thoughts for letting woman fight in combat. "Rhone and

Duckworth said woman had been serving in combat zones unofficially for years. you can't

believe that these women were in combat areas and never fired a gun and tried to protect

themselves" . Women have been in combat situations, whether it’s allowed or not. Defying

gender expectations and it shapes and strengthens their identities. Another person knowledgeable

about this topic said "it's about time women serve in combat." He realizes some women don't like

the idea because they believe women will be subject to abuse, but "that's happening today. I

think we need to accept these things will happen in combat and not Every woman is going to say

'this is for me' not everyone in America serves.”  Some women are not willing to do this but the

ones who are, are shaped in their identity by defying gender expectations.

The connections between gender and identity are virtually endless but choosing whether

or not to comply with gender expectations is what shapes and builds your identity. Gender

expectations vary anywhere from males having to be tough to females having to take be cleaners,

but gender expectations don't define you. Choosing whether or not to follow gender expectations

is what does define you. The connections between gender and identity are important to the world

because no matter who you are this impacts you because everyone faces gender expectations,

everyday of their lives and whether or not you fall into these gender expectations defines your

identity.