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What role has history played in shaping our understanding of gender? How have different societies approached gender identity throughout time?
The history of gender identity reveals fascinating variations across cultures and eras, from strict binary systems to more fluid interpretations. Modern perspectives on gender expression emerged from centuries of evolution in social thought, scientific research, and cultural movements.
Keep reading to explore how ancient civilizations, revolutionary thinkers, and contemporary society have contributed to our understanding of gender identity and expression.
A History of Gender Identity
Throughout history, many societies have operated within rigid gender binaries where roles and expectations were strictly defined. For example, both ancient Greeks and ancient Chinese adhered to strict gender roles, where men were expected to engage in public life and women were expected to manage the home and family. People who deviated from these norms were either marginalized or mythologized to explain their exceptionality. However, some societies throughout history—such as Mesopotamia and some Native American cultures—allowed for a greater degree of gender fluidity.
Given what we know about the history of gender identity, anthropologists and sociologists theorize that gender is a social construct. By this, they mean there’s a spectrum of gender experiences, ranging from ultra-masculine to ultra-feminine to androgynous. Where a person falls on that spectrum—and how they express their gender—is both deeply personal and culturally determined. This perspective on gender arose in the early 20th century, prompting greater academic study of and respect for people who broke the gender binary. For example, in Weimar Germany, there was an institute devoted to studying a burgeoning subculture of people who we might describe today as transgender or nonbinary.
However, it wasn’t until the feminist and pro-LGBT revolutions of the mid-1900s that gender identity became prominent in social discourse. During this period, activists and intellectuals began to question gender norms. For example, Simone de Beauvoir critiqued the constraints placed on women in The Second Sex, transgender pioneers such as Marsha P. Johnson brought greater awareness to LGBT struggles, and the men’s liberation movement challenged masculine ideals such as stoicism and dominance.
The 1990s brought further advances, especially after philosopher Judith Butler published Gender Trouble. Butler proposed that gender identity is not something one is, but something one does—an ongoing act shaped by social and cultural contexts. Butler’s perspective emphasized the fluidity of gender and the idea that identity could not be neatly categorized into binary roles. This contributed to a greater cultural understanding of gender theory and helped amplify the voices of those advocating for expanded gender rights.
Gender Identity in the 21st Century
While Western culture historically resisted gender fluidity, social media enabled greater visibility and acceptance of diverse gender identities in the 21st century. This led to expanded legal protections for gender-nonconforming individuals in many nations. However, this shift sparked significant debate. Traditionalists, including many American Christians, maintain that gender is determined by biological sex and view gender distinctions as crucial for social stability. They often oppose LGBT rights expansion and gender-affirming care. In contrast, advocates for gender expansionism argue that supporting authentic gender expression and equality promotes individual well-being and creates a more just society.
Against this sociocultural backdrop, people have come up with novel ways to describe their gender alignments. Here’s some context about a few terms you may have seen trending recently: alpha males, tradwives, and gender fluidity.
Alpha Males and Tradwives
In contrast with young people who are exploring gender fluidity, some have embraced gender traditionalism. These people often describe themselves as “alpha males” or “tradwives.”
The alpha male identity is an expression of masculinity that values power, dominance, and masculine superiority. The term arose out of the manosphere, online spaces where men discuss how to reclaim their masculinity. Recently, the alpha male phenomenon has been popularized by pop culture figures such as Andrew Tate, who argue that gender expansionism undermines men’s natural position at the top of the social hierarchy and who advocate for a return to traditional gender roles. These views often manifest in misogynistic and anti-LGBT language and activity.
Tradwife (short for “traditional wife”) identities are the feminine counterpart to alpha masculinity. Tradwives express an old-school form of femininity that values beauty and domesticity, subservience to men, and motherhood as a biological imperative. Tradwife influencers trended on social media in summer 2024 with posts that represented their lifestyles as idyllic, prompting concerns that some young women might be swayed against going to college or pursuing a career.
In an episode of the podcast Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News, Joy Reid discussed the “tradwife” movement, explaining that it has historical roots in 1950s television that portrayed women primarily as homemakers. This idealized domestic role was later championed by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly in the 1970s. Reid criticized the recent revival of this ideology, citing examples such as Senator Katie Britt’s emphasis on being a “proud wife and mom” during a political address.
Gender Fluidity
Gender fluidity encompasses transgender individuals, nonbinary people, and those who don’t conform to traditional gender expressions. While only about 5% of young adults identified as gender-fluid in 2022, these identities have grown significantly among Generation Z, with transgender and nonbinary identification increasing by 48% and 60% respectively between 2021 and 2022.
Reflection & Discussion Questions
- How might our current understanding of gender identity be different if the Weimar Institute’s research hadn’t been interrupted by World War II? What potential knowledge was lost?
- In what ways do social media platforms influence modern conversations about gender identity compared to how these discussions happened in pre-internet times?
- How do you think Simone de Beauvoir’s ideas from The Second Sex relate to current debates about gender roles and identity?
- What parallels can we draw between ancient societies that accepted gender fluidity (such as some Native American cultures) and contemporary approaches to gender expression?
- How might the rise of “alpha male” and “tradwife” identities reflect broader societal reactions to changing gender norms?
- What role does economic and social stability play in how societies approach gender norms? Consider how different cultures throughout history have become either more rigid or more fluid in their gender expectations during times of change.
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