Gender reflection paper

you will go out into the world, break a gender norm, and then write a 5-7 page paper about the experience. Gender norms are a complex set of unwritten rules that dictate how men and women should act, dress, talk, etc based on their gender. Because they are widely adopted social rules, they are enforced, and people who break the rules are often punished in some way. This assignment will give you a chance to see firsthand what happens when people break these unwritten rules. This experience will hopefully give you a better appreEvaluate the results by answering the following questions in a coherent, well-written essay. In other words, do NOT number your answers as listed, or simply list your answers in paragraph form. Points will be deducted for excessive typos, grammatical/spelling errors, and poor writing style.

Describe the situation. Tell me where you went, when you were there, who you were with and what gender norm you violated. Why did you choose this particular norm to violate? Why/How did you choose the situation/context in which to break it?

How did you feel while violating this gender norm? Why do you think you had this reaction?

How did people react to this violation? Give me an overall description of what people generally did,
while also including some detailed examples of what people did/said/didn’t do/didn’t say.

Do you think peoples’ reactions toward you were justified? Why or why not?

How is this particular gender norm maintained/upheld in our society? Were there self-imposed,
internal social controls created by your socialization (e.g., inside you felt awkward, silly, embarrassed, guilty, etc.)? Or were the controls more external and imposed by others (e.g. other people laughed or teased you, other people said things to you to attempt to force you to change your behavior, etc). That is, for this particular gender violation, does society control you primarily as a result of your socialization as a male/female or a result of external sanctions, or both? Explain.

Why do you think we have this gender norm (the one you broke)? In other words, does it serve an important purpose? If so, what is it? If not, what purpose might it have served in the past, or what other reason do you believe we have this gender norm? Do you believe this is a good gender norm to have today? Why or why not?

Why do we have gender norms in general? Do you think gender norms are good or bad for society in general? For men? For women? Or does it depend on the norm? Explain your reasoning.

ciation for the societal pressure to conform to mainstream definitions of gender that we all experience, as well as increased compassion for those among us who violate gender roles every day, whether by choice or simply because of who we are.