If gender is constructed, could it be constructed differently, or does its constructedness imply some form of social determinism, foreclosing the possibility of agency and transformation?

-- Judith Butler

The Age at Which Gender Begins

Generally when we think of gender, either male or female comes to mind. At birth one of the genders is assigned as our sexual identity. From the moment of birth society expects that gender to be transfixed. Throughout life gender and sex are linked and expected to be the same. Whether we like it or not, these specific gender roles are expected to be met. Thus, gender is a social construct that is unacceptably fluid or altered.

There are many people who don't wish to fall into the two typical gender categories or may wish to alter their appearance to look like the opposite sex, or get a sex change. These people include transvestites and transsexuals. Transvestites simply want to dress, look and act like the opposite sex. Transsexuals usually undergo a sex change to become a member of the opposite sex. Society generally perceives this as strange, and out of the norm. What we need to understand is that when there is a social construct, not everyone is going to be content in confiding to the expectations of society.

Gender Bending

Transsexuals and transvestites do not conform to the conventional male female dichotomy. Instead, they choose their own path to sexual identity and thus question the essences of sexual construct. Their sexual identity is based on the deconstruction of a central social ilk, which applies to both female and male. Transsexuals and transvestites challenge all social binaries, thus they do not fall into a product of societys' gender machine. Gender bending has various dimensions that consist of male and female traits or genitals. The very act of gender bending can be difficult for society to accept, yet some people are able to pull it off without even anyone knowing.

Evidence That Gender Bending Can Be Successful

Jazz legend Billy Tipton was actually a cross-dresser disguised as a man. Tipton cut her hair, dressed in normative male clothing, and changed her name. In other words, she threw in her gender towel (femininity) for her love of jazz. During that era, women were unaccepted in the jazz/music industry. For this reason Billy conformed to a new sexual identity. Her new life was much like any other man's life; she married a woman and even adopted children. Tipton successfully, until her death in 1989, fooled fans, children, and wife of her true sex. This just goes to say how identity is transparent and one can conform to whichever identity they choose. So women aren't that different after all!

Intersexes

For many centuries, the concept of hermaphrodites has created confusion in defining of gender and sexes. Particularly in Europe, where the first cases of hermaphrodites were found, created confusion amongst many scientists. The cases of studying gender and sexes are a prominent part of history, but also how society is reluctant to accept hermaphrodites as they are.

In the article, Doubtful Sex, by Alice Dreger, the beginning cases of hermaphrodites are examined. In the nineteenth century, as males being the only gender to have a first-hand experience of studying inter-sexes, they evaluated intersexes as unnatural, as an attempt to explain and reinstate the definition of sex and gender. One of the most capturing cases was of Abel Barbin which reinstated scientist's confusion of intersexes. Barbin, was assigned as a girl at birth and lived as one up until puberty. When she realized menstruation and was impossible and was suffering abdomen pain, visited a doctor that stated she had been mislabelled as a woman. Consequently, her sex was changed to "match" her true sex "(Dreger, 18) and banished to Paris to live a new identity. Needless to say, her new life as a "he" is not a happy one, much like all hermaphrodites that are relegated to a unique sex without consent.

Leave Intersexes Alone!

There have been a few cases when intersexes have not been forced to change their sex, where the parents let them grow up and decide what they want to do later on in life. But does society allow this to happen? For example, there are no places where an inter-sex child can change or go to the bathroom while at school. Society in general is affected by gender on a daily basis, but more so for intersexes. There is a need for a strong voice within the intersexes community that will examine such issues that affect their lives on a daily basis.