Gendered Self
Sociology 202
Bovin Som
Dr. Holzgang
11/19/2012
Gendered Self
From January, 1991, the day I was born, I have been given a status, class, and expectation from both my family and the society. A status that was obtains involuntarily at birth, as a son of a Cambodian’s governor, and the only male in family after my dad. It was determined that my sex, the biological distinction between male and female, was male. From that moment, my parents used my gender, personal traits of the society to determined how they going to raise me. Expectation and demand for perfection is pressured upon me because my parents are Cambodian Chinese, where the Chinese culture looks up to the son of the family as a family heritage, and continuity of the family line. For this matters, there are good and bad events following me with my shadow. As a child, I was really spoiled. My sister is very jealous of me because I’m the son, so I get more things than her. She used to be really mean to me because she feels that being a daughter means nothing in my parent’s eyes. According to Professor Li Xiaoyun of the College of Humanities and Development at China University, he quoted that “Chinese women has improved greatly in the past two decades, but gender inequality still commonly exists in almost all social aspects including political power, education, health, employment and assets possession” (2005). This is very true in my family because my mom would hit my sister if she misbehaves, but if I were to make the same mistake, the most punishment I would get is to be screamed at. Love between us is also different. For example, my grandpa has a photo of me in his wallet, but not my sister. Why? I asked him. He said that because she is older. We all know the answer that I’m his grandson. It would be different if I have a brother. Growing up in a high society, I have the opportunity to go to private school. In my school, there are many third culture kids, where they are foreigners living in
Bovin Som
Dr. Holzgang
11/19/2012
Gendered Self
From January, 1991, the day I was born, I have been given a status, class, and expectation from both my family and the society. A status that was obtains involuntarily at birth, as a son of a Cambodian’s governor, and the only male in family after my dad. It was determined that my sex, the biological distinction between male and female, was male. From that moment, my parents used my gender, personal traits of the society to determined how they going to raise me. Expectation and demand for perfection is pressured upon me because my parents are Cambodian Chinese, where the Chinese culture looks up to the son of the family as a family heritage, and continuity of the family line. For this matters, there are good and bad events following me with my shadow. As a child, I was really spoiled. My sister is very jealous of me because I’m the son, so I get more things than her. She used to be really mean to me because she feels that being a daughter means nothing in my parent’s eyes. According to Professor Li Xiaoyun of the College of Humanities and Development at China University, he quoted that “Chinese women has improved greatly in the past two decades, but gender inequality still commonly exists in almost all social aspects including political power, education, health, employment and assets possession” (2005). This is very true in my family because my mom would hit my sister if she misbehaves, but if I were to make the same mistake, the most punishment I would get is to be screamed at. Love between us is also different. For example, my grandpa has a photo of me in his wallet, but not my sister. Why? I asked him. He said that because she is older. We all know the answer that I’m his grandson. It would be different if I have a brother. Growing up in a high society, I have the opportunity to go to private school. In my school, there are many third culture kids, where they are foreigners living in
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