Society and natural desires are often times at war. In many instances, it is up to a person to decide
whether to go with society’s rulings, or to follow their own natural desires. One major struggle with this
case is whether our sex and gender are natural or socially assigned. Are we what we think we are?
Society is unwilling to accept things such as bisexuals, homosexuals, and transsexuals. Many factors
increase fear amongst ourselves, and make most of us believe that heterosexuals are the only group
that should be accepted socially.
Societal conditioning plays a huge role. From the time we are infants, we are forced to comply with
society’s rule. One example, such that a baby boy implies light blue colored things while a baby girl
implies light pink. From then the conditioning further takes place. Girls get Barbies, easy bake ovens,
and stuffed animals. Boys on the other hand get Tonka Trucks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and combat
weapons. From the very beginning society pushes what they believe the gender should appeal to, what the
gender should get used to later on in life. Professions, hobbies, games, are all created for little kids to get
them used to society’s depiction of how each gender should act; a fine example of how society pushes our
roles as a certain gender.
It is not to say that gender cannot be naturally assigned either. There are many cases where say someone is
born a baby girl. Later in life they realize they don’t fit their gender. They have a gender identity crisis (for
lack of a more scientific term) and believe they were born into the wrong body. Is this social or natural
placement? When looked at under a certain light one can say it is natural, though society may deem it as
"unnatural" because they are going against what they were naturally assigned at to begin with. Deep down
would be more comfortable if they were something other than what they are.
To further the investigation, one must look to Coventry’s article entitled “Making the Cut: It’s a Girl...or is it?”.
The article describes the social assignment of baby boys and girls being forced to become one sex or
another at birth because of the size of their genitalia. “The strict division between female and male bodies
and behavior is our most cherished and comforting truth. Mess with that...and the ground beneath our feet
starts to tremble” (UNST121B/C Fall 2004 Packet, Coventry, Section 12, Page 55). This meaning, if a girl is born
with too large of a clitoris and a boy is born with too small of a penis, they are changed into a more
acceptable gender.
Society seems to deem males or females with smaller genitalia as the lesser of the gender. A small penis
clearly cannot be made to pleasure any woman’s needs, therefore, it is unaccepted, shunned, and
belittled. “If a boy’s penis is too small to function as a ‘real’ man’s, that boy would be better raised as a girl...
his body...altered...to look female.” (UNST121B/C Fall 2004 Packet, Coventry, Section 12, Page 56). Society’s
assignment at its finest.
The genitalia is not socially acceptable and “cannot function” as a normal one, thus it is altered to be more
acceptably fitting. This however leads to problems later in life. The body can be altered, but not the mind.
There is a natural mind-set for each sex, ans, if the girl you see before you was actually born a guy with a
small penis, she may still think like a boy, and may be confused sexually as to what she should do. Toggled
between society's depiction of what
is normal and their own natural desires. The seemingly normal and the
natural brains’ responses
are at war in this case. Do what society tells you or go against the grain
of this
suppression? “They felt deprived of choice...” (UNST121B/C Fall 2004 Packet, Coventry, Section 12, Page 59).
There are people that live with this decision because of being unwillingly genetically altered. Why should
society make these life-threatening decisions for them?
There are other forms of sexual pleasure, and it is important to know that the opposite sex does not always
have to be the one to supply that pleasure in order to remain healthy. We are naturally assigned a sexuality,
a feeling, a state of being, as well as a gender. “Females are given an organ, the clitoris, which has no other
function than sexual pleasure” (UNST121B/C Fall 2004 Packet, Stayton, Section 13, Page 2).
“If sexual pleasure is intended only for pro-creational purposes within the marriage bond, then God has
played a terrible joke on...who never married or could not have children or...have had over 30 children in
their child-bearing years!” (UNST121B/C Fall 2004 Packet, Stayton, Section 13, Page 2). The important of this
passage is that sex is not just something to do to create a child. Sex is an emotion just like being happy or
sad. It is a way of release, a way of pleasure, something that can be done in many different ways. Sexual
pleasure is not just intercourse, but masturbation and oral, and any other type of sexual activities, and not just
used to produce offspring. Sex is a state of mind, it is a feeling, an emotion. Sex is natural, and society pushes
what they feel is natural instead of delving inside of a person.
Society views heterosexuality as the norm. Homosexuals and Transsexuals are shunned, viewed as inhumane,
viewed as being below everyone else. What society doesn’t realize is it should not matter how a person pleasures
their own being, and that one should
not restrict these feelings. Society is trying to restrict nature, and
that only
leads to more problems later
on. Restricted feelings have to come out sooner or later. We as human beings
need
to open up and be more accepting of sexual implications. “Many are fearful of the implications. Maybe...
[because] of the rediscovery that the entire universe is our potential sexual orientation and we can find sexual
pleasure in all the dimensions of our life” (UNST121B/C, Fall 2004 Packet, Stayton, Page 6). The fact that society
projects so many things onto people only closes some off further. People lash out, become violent, do weird things.
Does this make them wrong? No. Society needs to have a better understanding for people. Morals, sexual
preference, gender, anything that has to do with sex tends to be limited because of society’s depictions. Sexuality
is natural, gender is natural, being human is natural. What should not be natural is popular opinion. Society should
not be expected to make decisions for people, and should not push such strong beliefs on people.
Let people think for themselves. Things should feel right for the person. They should do what they believe will make
them comfortable. Go against the grain of society. Be what you are, feel what you want to feel despite what
everyone tells you. Be selfish, take a chance and do something that makes you comfortable. In the end, this is
truly the only way to obtain pure and simple happiness.
The truth of the matter is that we are both socially and naturally assigned. It is a battle of wits with both of them,
and comes down to a person’s own choice. What is deemed appropriate and what feels comfortable to the
person are two completely different things. Though we are conditioned socially, we should follow ourselves,
follow our aspirations and our own feelings, especially those that are sexual. We need to open up, be accepting,
and do what makes us feel good. Live your life miserable being tied down to rules or open yourself up to live a
happy productive life. The choice is yours.. So think wisely!
Works Cited
Coventry, Martha. “Making the Cut:
It's a Girl!...Or is it?” Forbidden Knowledge
Fall 2004 Packet. Ed. Philip Jenks.
Portland: Smart Copy, 2004. 54.
Stayton, William. “A Theology of Sexual
Pleasure.” Forbidden Knowledge Fall 2004
Packet. Ed. Philip Jenks. Portland:
Smart Copy, 2004. 1-6.
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