Film Review of Middle Sexes

   Transgender/Intersex identity is the main thesis here in the film. Middle gender is ubiquitous but most do not realized it. The existent of middle sex make people feeling that it will ruin their reputation by just being silence for not saying it out loud. According the film, there are many countries around the world who found themselves to be in wrong gender. I think the thesis of the film related to sociology because it is about social problem and how people explore social deviance. I believe society constructs transgender as a deviance social problem that is not the case today. Humans construct things and make it complicated for no reason by just denying others.

The convening argument is that some people are born without gender that they belong to. However, doctors do not their gender at the time of birth. The example is Mark‘s story. Mark had a story on the film that the doctor did not know what his gender was. But Mark realizes his gender at the age of 21.  He was brought up as a girl instead of a boy. So I think Mark‘s story was convincing to me. It is convincing because people in industrialized and non-industrialized nations realized and wanted to pass the message that middle gender is exiting. I think it’s true that human beings can either be a male, female and intersex. The point that the video was telling us is the existence of more than one sexuality identities not only in the United States but in most part of the world.    

Thing did not convinced me was about the eight year old boy Noah who likes to wear a girl cloth on the film. He wanted to be a girl but I did not saw him changing as a girl on the film. On the other hands, young boys do sometimes like women and men clothes at the time they are young, which does not make them as girls. When I was about the age of eight or seven, I sometimes wear my elder sister cloth but both mother and my sister said she said no. I had no idea which cloth is for which gender.  I think wearing female clothes happen in some cultures however, it does not make someone to be a girl. That did not make me a girl or middle sex.  I was not a girl at that time, but it maybe depends on a person. This was all about social construction of gender issue.

 Five Sex article is related to the Middle Sex film. Social construction and how people structured things in the society come to this following story. A twenty three years old man name Suydam, who is from Connecticut, had been denied to vote because he was considered as female. This was a terrible story when I read it. It considered some people less human than other. The articles say more about how Western society and culture has been to only two genders and ignore other.  According to Fausto Sterling in his article, five sexes “Why Male and Female are not enough”, he explained that intersexuality itself is old new thing. Intersex had been there since the beginning of the human history. According to Plato, “there were three sexes and these are male, female and hermaphrodite but the third was lost with time”.  This I think may be true because we have more than just two genders. However, people get confused because they do not look back into the history of humans. Here is the film Intersex and Hermaphrodite; and how many people in the world are born with intersex.

             http://www.videojug.com/interview/intersex-and-hermaphrodite-2#.Tzg4jxiyMLo.blogger

Here is an example that I see via the CNN news in 2008 of how society construct social problem. Caster a long distance runner, who is also from South Africa, was forced to undergo genetic testing by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IIAF) in 2008  simply because her look does not conform to what is popularly understood as “classically” feminine. In 2008, after the Beijing Olympic, people have hotly debated her musculature and facial hair. While in her defense, Caster states that she was born as and lives as a woman.

However, the reality is that there are really five sexes, but we try to force people representing all five into two gender-identities. As Anne fausto-sterling explains in her outstanding article “the Five Sexes,” the five sexes are male; female; true hermaphrodite; and two kinds of pseudo-hermaphrodites. In the article, it is mention that a true hermaphrodite has one male gonad and one female gonad. Finally, there are not only two sexes  but more as I understood via reading and watching video along with lecture in this course.

 Word count 777

Citation:

The five sexes:  Why male and female are Not Enough science April 1993. Anne Fausto-Sterling

            

Why I am a Deviant

Part one

On the weekend after the Marriage and Domestic Partnership Bill 6239 got passed in Washington State, I went to visit my uncle and friends in Federal Way. On my way, I pick up my former classmate and a gay man James at Tacoma. James was going to South Center Mall for shopping. While in Federal Way and the Mall, I introduced James as my best friend to friends. We spend three hours hanging out with him after he had done shopping. We went to some places such as the Youth Center for the event and visiting some of my friends in their apartments. Wherever we go, he looked odd that everyone know who James is. This was because the way James dressed. I saw some people did not even feel comfortable at that time. I felt so deviance because my society and culture do not think that gay is something normal. They structure things like how people structure here in the United States.  Being a friend with James me look deviance to most my South Sudanese friends and uncle simply because way people structure. I saw some of my friends feeling although no one say anything bad about him and me. After spending three hours with, I gave James a ride to Tacoma. When I came back to my uncle apartment, some started to ask me some serious questions such as where we meet, how long had I been friend with him, and is James also majoring in criminal justice in WSU, Vancouver. I told them that James was my classmate at Highline Community College in 2009.  I knew that friends were not going to be happy about me. However, I did that because I am an easy going person who likes to learn more about others cultures though my friends and uncle see me like a deviant.

Personally I was considered being totally a deviant because all of my friends and uncle sometimes making fun at me for supporting same sex agendas. I try to explain the reason some people change their gender but they still don’t get it. On the day that they see me with Mr. James they freak out about what I am doing with a gay man. I learned on that day being a deviant in the society is totally misunderstood and considered as a devil. I think the labeling theory explain that stigmatizing people in the society result into a negative attitudes toward those who are being labeled.

As Becker stated “the assumption that those who broken the rules are considered as a homogenous group because they committed the same deviance act (Reading in Deviant Behavior p. 39).”  I was also considered as a deviant by my friends because I hang out with James. I think we cannot label deviant people as an outsiders just because they not following the rule of a society. But it happened to me and James while we were in Federal Way. In my research, I ignored the fact about the deviance because it is just created by people. I think the way friends had constructed social deviance last time will be different than next time when James and I visit them simply because social construction is varying by time. Finally, I enjoyed my sociology class and the research I have done and be continues doing.

Part two

I will be a deviant person because I want to married two wives in the United States. First, Americans do not marry more than one wife because of the reasons such as economic reason, Gender equality, religion belief, and merging political ideology with religious and population increases. First of all Americans may think that it is very difficult to support two families, which I do not believe is true for me.  But I think I can afford two families even though American views it as impossible. But in term of Religious, some American believes that bible stated that one man marriage one woman. I am a Christian but I do not believe that more than one wife is a sin. I believe it is good for me to have more than one wife as long as one can afford them and not simply a crime.  However, I will not be allow being a polygyny since the society had already structure the way they want marriage to be.  This may result into a class struggle and conflict can rise.

When it comes to gender equality, women may want to a debate why men marry more than one husband while everyone is equal. This debate might bring a conflict between two gender if it happens that men are allows being polygyny. Government may talked about increasing population in the country if there more polygamy in the country. But I do not think that I will stop having many children because the population increases.  I will be considered a deviant person in America if I came with the idea of polygyny which does not exist.

Powerful interest would construct polygyny as a crime. They will also consider it as a deviant and illegal to married more than one wife.  I will consider that as a deviant if I am not being allowed to marriage two wives and have lot of children. On the other hand, I may have different views of the matter. I might not accept the rule by which I being judge and will not regard those who judge me as legitimate to do so. However, the case is going to be a conflict because the construction of an ideology of Americans will fit me into a crime. They will do that because this how social reality of crime is constructed in their society. As a result, I will be in a big trouble or may be put in a prison because of violating their rules. Believing in the ideology of one wife could bring a hug tension between and the interest of the dominant groups will intervene because they may thing that I will not able to support two families alone. As a result, they will try to protect government resources. This may come with what we had learned about in conflict theory, control and learning or differential association theory.  

Conflict theory will play some role here in this situation. They theory is going to come with the explanation that will fit me into a capitalist society definition of a criminal according to Richard Quinney. As Richard Quinney stated “definitions of crime are composed of behavior that conflict with the interest of the dominant class (Reading in Deviant Behavior. p 45)” I think this will come to the idea of Marx’s conflict theory and explanation. According to the class lecture, Karl Marx is the inventor of conflict theory and he believed here two categories of people such as elite and working class. In the system, elite are the one who set the laws and rules for the general population. Therefore, they will not allow the marriage of more than one wife to happen. Most laws and rules of the land usually benefit those that have already been in power unless the elite support the idea of polygyny. As discussed in the class, the definitions of crime are applied by the classes who have power to shape the application of the organization. As a result, I will be considered as a deviant and at the sometime a criminal. I am going to be labeled as a deviant but in fact not broken a rule.  Americans will share me as an outsider who broke upon the agree rule.  As a result, the interest or elite group may come with deportation laws that may be either deported me to South Sudan or spent long time in prison.  

Control theory will also play some role in my case because it assumes that delinquent acts result when someone link to the society is weak and doesn’t want to follow the rule and law. This theory assumes the existence of a common value within the society who is being violated must not be allowed. All of these theories may come up via the powerful elite. My deviant will not be the act I commit but how Americans are going to label my act as a deviant. I think it’s also clear when Howard Becker talk about who is labeled as a deviant in a society. Finally, I will be in a big trouble whether I believe it or not.  

Work cited:

  Becker, Howard (1963) Outsiders defining Deviance.  Boundaries readings in Deviance, crime And Criminal justice, P 1-18.

Calhoun, C. Thomas, Conyers, Addrain & Thio, Alex. 2010. Reading in Deviant Behavior: Boston, MA:  person education, Inc publishing Allyn & Becon

Jensen, Gary F. 2003. Social Control Theories in. Encyclopedia of Criminology. Richard A. Wright (Editor). Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/l/l3Bguk/soccon.pdf

Tirop, Zippora and Madi Sawyer 4/27/2011 Conflict Theory with Jane Addams and Karl Marx

Word count: 1474

Is the same Sex Marriage or Homosexuality still be considered as a Deviance in the United States

I am studying South Sudanese who are living in the United States and how they view   homosexuality. Most people believe that homosexuality is a deviant thing. I did the survey because I wanted to know more about their feeling and understanding about other cultures. I had an experience in the summer of last year when I went to the Midwest. I met with some of my friends whom I did not meet for a long time. One day, we watched the CNN news coverage. The headline news was about the same sex marriage in the state of New York.  One of my friends wanted to turn off the TV. After the news, we had a conversation about same sex marriage and how the state of New York allows it. There were a lot of arguments made by my friends because they do not like same the sex bill getting passed.  Some of them asked if there are some people among us who like the announcement of the bill.  I asked them what is wrong about the same sex getting married and why do they care. By that time, I observed most people get annoyed by the news. Some got mad at me and wanted to debate with me.  I told them that America is a land of freedom and that includes the freedom to be who you are. Everybody got mad at me simply because they considered same sex marriage as deviant. Because of that issue, I found out that homosexuality is considered as something that is not normal. They told me that homosexual people are the people who really behave in a unique ways. One said that homosexuals do not conform to their society norm. I really had a hard time answering a lot of those questions directed to me.  But these friends of mine do not know that I also disagree with the idea of same sex marriage. I do also consider as a deviant because Sudanese believe that marriage should be only between a man and a woman.

            On the other hand, not only Sudanese dislike the idea of the same sex marriage but also some friends who are Americans. I realized that having little knowledge about the topic made me look like I am just supporting them for no good reason. The same thing came up when I told those Sudanese friends that I have a gay classmate; they considered me as a deviant simply because I have a gay friend. Sudanese make jokes about me sometimes because I told them I have gay and lesbian classmates. This was the time that I realized same sex marriage is something most people dislike. This is the time I knew when some people go in the opposite way of society, they are considered as a deviant.

            I found that adapting to other cultures has difficulties. American culture was totally different. Things such as greeting and making friends were hard. Holding hands with friends was considered a deviant to American culture. However, one friend of mine told me one day that holding hands with someone is a sign of affection or relationship in American. I was like “okay I got it”. He said please do not hold hands with your Sudanese friends. But in Sudan, we do not consider that as a deviant.

I have also experienced discrimination myself when I came to the United State as an immigrant from Sudan in Africa. I remembered when one of co-worker at Seattle-Tacoma international airport asked why I am so black than black. The same thing was said to me by one of my classmate in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He said he never saw a black person like me. Sometimes students make fun of me simply because they never seen someone like me before in their life.  However, all of the things that I had encounter like discrimination of skin color and same sex marriage are labeled as deviance because they are socially constructed.  As I read articles about who is considered deviant, I find that it is the people who behave in sharply different ways from the custom and who do not conform to the norms of the society. Someone who ignores the common and behaves in a unique ways is said to be a deviant person according to me understanding. I think all of these are socially constructed by the society. I believe this is the same idea to what Howard Becker talks about in the article when he defined deviant as outsiders. People who break a rule that a society has already agree upon.     

I really feel like an outsider because of all the ridicule people make about me. All of these things such as discrimination and color were considered as deviant because they are not in their culture. I was a deviant because they are found not to be American norms.  I think important of acceptance is there but there are a certain things that should not be practice even though personal believe have influence on the society. In my opinion, people should not be allowed to be what they want to be simply because there are rule that govern the society. 

Word count: 882

Citation:

Becker, Howard (1963) Outsiders defining Deviance.  Boundaries readings in Deviance, crime And Criminal justice, P 1-18.

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