In this story, the pressure is clear to display a normal identity. It is a conscious decision to display this identity in order to avoid the backlash that society would have if it had rejected non-normative identifies. This story challenges messages of heteronormativity, power, and gender stereotypes. However, she still feels an inner longing to be loved and accepted for who she is. Westerners are particularly interested in the topic of essence. The essentialism issue around sexuality and gender is connected to structure, culture and self-identity – as well as the power that operates across these aspects of society. Essentialism, in its analysis of the gender, perpetuates heteronormative ideas that displaces women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), and devalues them. This culture is a way of reducing people to unattainable, simplistic ideals. It’s almost as if it is a way to keep power with the conforming and select groups. Spade & Willse’s reading “Norms and Normalization” accurately addresses these normative ideology. Additionally, Brandzel’s reading, “Queering Citizenship? Lewitt uses the story “A Real Girl”, a short story about same-sex relationships, to explain the relationship between the characters.
The social and cultural constructions of gender are man and woman. The range of biological sex characteristics (male and woman) is what gender is. Unfortunately, the gender binary is still assumed. Gender, as we all know, is more like a continuum with many differences between woman and man. Essentialists believe that men and women are distinguished by distinct psychological and spiritual characteristics. The social differences between women and men; masculinity or femininity is understood more as a social attribute than a natural one. The quote from Beauvoir “one does not become a woman, but one is born” is a good example. Normativity is fundamentalist because it interprets and inherits its content and meaning between “right” or “wrong”. Gender normativity also refers to the actions that are associated with this sense of right and bad in relation gender performativity. The title is the key to conveying this message. What does “real girl” mean? Who is a’real girl’? How does she embody herself? There are essentially two things that make a girl “real”.
First, biology and essentialism. Essentialism combines biological, or reproduction-focused explanations with spiritual, psychological, and philosophical explanations that focus on innate character. Individuals in every aspect of society adhere to essentialism. The narrator is an example of this, as she pursues a biological body. The narrator’s main concern is not reproduction. She isn’t in pursuit of children, rather, she wants to be loved and represented physically. She wants to fit into a heteronormative social group. In this example, our narrator does have DNA, but she wants a physical body that represents her essence. To be a “real” girl, it is important to have a feminine essence. It is her essence that would allow her to have intimate relationships, and this is what drives her story. The narrator seeks love in intimate and romantic relationships and discovers love within herself. Irene, the second love of the narrator, is a cisgender heterosexual woman who shares essentialist beliefs. The narrator calls her “a shallow, low level functionary”.
Irene’s fundamentalist beliefs may have influenced how the narrator perceived her, which is why she was called a “low level functionary”. Irene is clearly a low-level functionary because essentialism has a hierarchical structure. Irene tells the narrator, “you would not understand that you don’t even have a mother. You’re also not human.” You can’t pretend to be human. She is less-than because she cannot reproduce, has no family or blood relatives, and does not have the ability to do so. A narrator who is considered only “four pound neural computing system in a container” is not regarded “real”. Irene’s claim that the narrator wouldn’t understand human experience is ironic, but she can’t imagine how human characteristics and qualities could exist outside the traditional human form or body. Irene’s accusations that the Narrator was “pretending” humanity is also an attack on her character. This is a clear indication that those who do not adhere to the standard identity narrative are disingenuous, and are trying to deceive the rest of the society. In this instance, it is a woman. Essentialism is therefore responsible for this social organization, gender, sexuality, and individual perceptions.
The essentialist belief system combines biological explanations with social and cultural norms in order to rationalize the gender and sexuality of all people. Although this belief system is an ideology, it has a profound impact on how we view ourselves and other people. The essentialist view also impacts how we perform in terms of gender, sexuality and other aspects. Heteronormative ideologies play a major role in dominating masculinity in patriarchal, capitalist environments. In a patriarchal and capitalist society, heterosexuality is viewed as normal or preferred. The LGBTQ community will be marginalized along with heterosexual femininity. Bisexuals and transgenders are not allowed to exist in a society that promotes heterosexuality as the preferred sexual orientation or gender identity. Gender normalativity tells us that our sexuality depends on this concept. The narrator, a woman who is homosexual and lesbian, is the narrator. “I knew that I was attracted to women, they were what I longed for, what I coveted, and who I admired”. Her sexual orientation is against the norm, making her situation even more difficult to accept in society. In her search for love or belonging, she has been clearly oppressed. “What I wanted most was love”. Marjorie is the second love interest that the narrator uses to show how rigid explanations are used for human experience in normative belief systems. “I had no body. I had no idea how the bodies felt. I did know how I felt.
There are many different explanations or pathways for feelings of sexual or romantic pleasure. The narrator’s emotions and sensations are powerful enough to be accepted by the love interest and society at large. Gender-sexuality essentialism has a hierarchical structure, which places the biology of men and their related sexuality above those of women. This quote shows how the author’s normative views on gender are expressed in the short tale. It says, “eventually…people will want to have new bodies made because they dislike the way their original body has gotten old or gained weight”. The idea is that there are both “good” and a “bad” body, especially when it comes to femininity. This is important because the narrator has a mechanical “bad” body that contains her human essence. What if she were to obtain a body like a person? This possibility has already been addressed. The narrator is asking, “What if I got a body?” Will I then be a human being?” Marjorie replies, “What do you want to be?” Frankenstein’s monster?. This reinforces “good” versus “bad” bodies. The narrator may not be accepted even if he or she were to receive a new human body. This is because they do not follow the social and gendered narrative. It is believed that women have a natural genetic disposition to be nurturing. This is illustrated in the short tale by the quotes, “men have never seen me as alive”, or “I work with them like a robot, and it hurts so bad, but the lines can never be blurred”. In this context, men are portrayed according to the gendered stereotypical view that aligns them as being more business-minded and scientific. Women are more emotionally open and less reserved than men. Men tend to view things in their most basic form. Aside from this, their generalized characteristics enable them to maintain positions of authority, especially when compared to someone such as the Artificial Intelligence lady. This article is similar to Brandzel’s.
“Discrimination against noncitizens can be justified by the desire to protect the benefits and rights of citizenship, which are the exclusive property only of citizens who have been recognized”. Our narrator is an example of a person who does not conform to a patriarchal and essentialist narrative. By excluding them, those who claim to be “real” can gain traction and power.
