Gen Zs Fluid Take on Gender Expression

everyone’s gay now

it’s just the face everything’s so fluid

now they’re just used to be gay and

straight

it starts at birth pink is for a girl

and blue is for a boy

even before you’re born gender places

expectations on you

expecting a woman to be warm sexy and

feminine

and expecting a man to be unfeeling

strong and decisive it’s said that

getting older provides more

opportunities for self-expression

however these opportunities were

pioneered by many people within my age

range

as you see an increase in young people

getting comfortable exploring their

gender identities

as form of self-expression there’s an

increase in confusion from other

generations

despite these ideas not being new

challenging gender expression has become

more socially acceptable

additionally by challenging norms of

gender expression generation z

has managed to grow past outdated ideas

surrounding gender expression and gender

roles

today i’m going to describe the changing

culture surrounding gender expression in

today’s youth

before we go forward we must take a step

back

we can all acknowledge the long-lasting

existence of those who look to bend

society’s rules

such as william dorsey swann as the

first drag queen and madame cj walker as

a strong

female entrepreneur however there was

extreme bias and misconceptions

surrounding those who attempted to break

against societal norms

these ideas keep progressing through the

years such as a man and woman’s role

inside and outside of the house

with women being expected to be

proficient in household activities

and men being expected to bear the brunt

of a financial

burden as generations progress through

boomers generation x and now generation

z

you see individuals becoming more

comfortable with challenging the way

gender

should be expressed it’s important to

understand the concept we’re talking

about today

gender expression and sexuality are two

different concepts yet

they constantly get confused gender

expression is a reflection of one’s

internal perception of their gender

there’s a common misconception that

one’s gender expression is indicative of

their sexuality

after acknowledging the rigid gender

expectations of the past

it’s important to see how they’ve

morphed to fit a more progressive youth

through the emergence of social media

people are allowed to use the different

platforms to express themselves

normalizing different kinds of gender

expression instagram provides platform

for thousands of individuals to blend in

among

millions of other individuals like them

seeing male dancers on instagram

has removed some of the stigma

surrounding male dancers and stopped

many people

from assuming their sexuality based off

the activity they choose to participate

in

additionally with the rise in popularity

of beauty gurus and makeup culture there

has been a shift in the culture of

makeup makeup brands have rebranded to

become more inclusive as a result of

increased gender expression

from the younger generations on social

media

through social media you see an increase

in teenagers who found a safe space to

express themselves

social media allows you to control who

views your content and how your content

is presented

however when discussing social media

it’s necessary to discuss

the negatives it’s impossible to ignore

the overwhelming amount of anxiety

and sadness that the constant scrutiny

of social media can bring about

when you put yourself out there on

social media you’re leaving yourself

vulnerable to plenty of negative

judgment however social media allows you

to control your content

and who is allowed to view your content

in addition to that

social media is comprised of thousands

of little communities

for everyone to feel comfortable and

find their place

once someone is able to find their place

on social media they can feel

comfortable expressing themselves with

minimal judgment

in addition to social media pop culture

and its inhabitants have adapted to the

different acceptable times

within mainstream social media you see

people pushing against the gender

roles assigned to them by traditional

society with male stars like asap rocky

painting his nails

a young thug wearing dress is intended

for female models

they’re pushing barriers and opening up

opportunities for a lot of younger

people

to take direction on their own these

wrappers help alleviate some of the

negative conversations

around self-expression with young men

the influences allow young men to feel

more comfortable with gender expression

such as exploring nail polish and

alternative waves of dressing

additionally with the help of women like

janelle monae and billy eilish there’s

an influx of young women using their

influence

to feel more comfortable with exploring

the way they convey themselves to the

world

such as exploring masculine ways of

dressing and straying away from

feminine beauty expectations however

experimenting with gender identity does

not come without any consequences

growing up my friend kylie hated her

hair for reasons i never understood

at six years old it was long brown and

gorgeous

for the next four years of our life she

spent months trying to convince her

parents to let her cut it shorter

despite what her parents wanted she just

wasn’t comfortable

with long hair it didn’t reflect who she

was and who she wanted to be seen as

finally around the age of 10 her parents

let her cut it to her shoulders

as children her parents thought she was

too young to make decisions about the

way she wanted to be perceived leaving

her to feel

uncomfortable in the body they had

gifted her with

soon years went on and kylie continued

to leave her hair

short however kylie realized she hated

the dresses she was forced to wear to

our school concerts

kylie went to war with her parents for

the right to wear khakis in school as

long as she could

however once we reached middle school we

weren’t allowed to wear khakis anymore

at this point kylie was suffocating

under the pressure from her parents

and now our school kylie threw herself

into sports in order to find a community

where she could dress comfortably

finally

at the age of 13 kylie left the school i

attended and began to settle into her

own

she cut her hair to her ears and

exclusively wore

baggy sweatpants and baggy shirts after

my experiences with kylie

i saw how hard she fought to effectively

convey how she wanted to look

the unwillingness of her parents to

listen to their child encouraged

distrust between kylie and her parents

kylie had a full

understanding of how she wanted to

convey her gender expression

from a young age now i know what you’re

thinking

no one knows who they are at six however

gender places barriers on you before

you’re born

not leaving room for experimentation the

impact your gender has is inescapable

it places stereotypes on you before

birth in addition gender expression and

your awareness of it starts at a young

age

the inclination to experiment with your

gender is natural and this generation

has only normalized it

social media allows the younger

generation to express and explore their

gender identity

no matter what obstacles are presented

to them in their immediate lives

the yearning to express yourself

surpasses any obstacles presented

by utilizing the internet this current

generation has many

outlets for self-expression instagram

snapchat and twitter

have been utilized by the current

generation to display their personal

gender expression to anyone who will

listen recently

i’ve become friends with a 17 year old

named sebastian

he’s a typical teenage boy playing

sports and video games

however he’s begun to get more curious

about how nail polish would look on him

the last time we hung out he asked me to

paint his nails a pretty blue color so

he could see how it looks

although i didn’t think much of it

something so small made his eyes

light up once his nails were painted he

asked me to take the polish off before

his mom saw

despite the explosion of gender

expression within the last 20 years

there’s still a disconnect between the

younger generation and the older

generation when discussing gender

expression

older generations tend to have a very

rigid view of gender leaving very little

room for experimentation

whereas younger generations possess a

broader sense of freedom

when addressing gender expression

because of this disconnect

there’s a huge level of confusion older

generations have when addressing younger

generations

gender expression is so important to

every individual

gender expression is one of the many

facets of self-expression

despite the barriers placed around

gender expression in the past

gender expression has been allowed to

thrive within our advancing society

with social media platforms and

influencers in the media

gender expression is not only accepted

but encouraged

we’ve seen generation z really push the

boundaries on what is socially

acceptable

in order to make comfortable spaces for

everyone

now i am well aware along with thousands

of other teens

that there are people in all age ranges

who disagree with the majority

people who believe that giving children

too much power for themselves could only

cause more confusion

however without the ability to explore

for yourself at a young age

there will only be more confusion at an

adult age thank you