The Embodied Mind : the Appearance of gender construction

Abstract

Gender identity is a central component in identifying the self. In previous research about gender identity, the evident intervention of nature and nurture in its definition has been discussed. Taking as a starting point the physical and psychological aspect of the individual, the search for the true core of gender identity has become a relevant issue. The body and mind as aspects of the human being are crucial factors in the gender classification of an individual, although it is evident, gender´s identity is much an object as it is a subject, the gender of an individual is predominated by the qualities derived from the body. In a society with a dualistic tendency where there is no distinction between gender/sex, the appearance of gender is mistaken as a natural sign of gender, aligning male aspects with masculinity expressions and female aspects with femininity expression, limiting gender to physical characteristics of the individual and assuming that the subjectivity of the individual must align with these characteristics. In this thesis, a psychological and sociological approach is used to study the objective and subjective characteristics of an individual and its social processes, searching into scholarship books and research articles based on the qualitative attribute of gender identity theories as existentialism and social constructivism. Additionally, an empirical approach will take into consideration new conceptions of gender as long as the body's appearance is a crucial fact to an individual's identity, and dress as the most apparent aspect of the body becomes the most effective mean to control gender identity. The embodied mind of gender is merely a dressed body.