The world we live in has messed with our minds in the most literal sense. From childhood, we are taught to not to see black and white, but to cast out anyone who's preferences do not match the norm. Sexual orientation is what separates us by preferences. There are two things that define us as individuals; XX and XY. People fear to be labeled heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual because of these gender norms society has created.
Although, at a young age we realize by exposure to tell girls and boys apart from childhood interactions. We know that girls have cooties and boys are from Venus, but what about their gender. Gender is what separates the two not the sex. People often associate sex and gender as the same when in reality they are not.
Let's talk about sex for instance, sex doesn't tell you who you are it tells you what you are. It's nothing more sad in the world than not having your sex match your soul. Sex can not determine your femininity or your masculinity only how the world will see you. When you think about it we don't teach our young ones to live the lives they want, but instead to live the life they were given. We teach them what it means to be a man or a woman by setting up road blocks in their lives. Sex does not define you, but it molds you into the person you become.
Gender on the other hand, represents who we are on the inside. The feeling we get when we wake up every morning. Not what the world see when they look at us, but what we see when we look at ourselves. Often people's gender do not match their sex and cause confusion within themselves. Our gender identity is who we decide to be after our chromosomes are set in place. The problem with this is these rules society set in place for us.
Society tells us if you are born a particular way then that's how you should act, but it's not always that simple. For most people it's complicated. Living a double-life pretending to be something that you're not can be a burden. Trying to live up to society's expectation begins to weigh on you as you get in touch with yourself.
Sex and gender play a major role in our everyday life whether we want it to or not. Our sex is how we understand what we are an our gender is how we understand who we are. It is often natural for men and women to be specific sex and feel like the complete opposite--this is our gender identity.
Gender identity can be defined in many ways, but society refers to it as confusion. Society likes to deem you crazy for not exploring your sexuality the correct way, but in actuality there is no correct way. We are all human with different struggles in life.
However, until society lightens the reigns on gender norms people will live in fear of being themselves.
