Defining Gender’s Social Dimensions

Gendered experiences are similar to membership in a club which enrolls certain people at birth, without their consent, and brings them up according to its rules. The processes of adopting and assimilating into assigned roles are imperceptible at best and illegible at worst, because the cisgender and straight members go through life accepting the benefits of membership, without thinking about the costs. Gender is something imposed on us and that we choose to accept or contest. Gender involves a series of ongoing re-assignment.