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has managed to grow past outdated ideas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