Gender Identity as a Factor of Image Formation Policy

A.Guliaeva, School of Governance and Politics, MGIMO University;

Y.Deev, School of Governance and Politics, MGIMO University;

K.Lyalina, School of Governance and Politics, MGIMO University

Key-words: gender identity, masculinity phenomenon, sex personality, image formation.

Abstract

In the modern world, there is a growing interest in the problem of the formation of personality identity, which is primarily due to the dominance of the anthropocentric approach. Identity is formed and maintained throughout a person's life and depends on many factors. This concept has been studied by various researchers, which made it possible to determine its complexity and multidimensionality. The relevance of the research is due to a number of factors of a practical and theoretical nature. While major powers are often associated with their political leader and his image on the world stage, the role of identity and its influence on the image of a politician becomes an urgent issue for analysis, since, thanks to self-determination and a high level of self-concept, representatives of any country or parties, factions can influence public opinion about a particular person. The aim of the study is to take a comprehensive and systematic approach to the analysis of problems within the framework of the concepts of «identity», «gender identity», as well as to consider the phenomenon of the formation of a political image, based on the features of the formed identity. The methodological basis for the article was the following methods: analysis, synthesis, elements of classification, comparison and generalization, as well as case study. To sum up, it is important to note that the phenomenon of personality and gender identity as one of the components of human science has long attracted the attention of representatives of such humanities as philosophy, psychology, sociology, but in the modern world, political science also cannot exclude this phenomenon from its subject field.

Introduction

In the modern world, there is a growing interest in the problem of the formation of personality identity, which is primarily due to the dominance of the anthropocentric approach. Identity is formed and maintained throughout a person's life and depends on many factors. This concept has long been studied by various researchers, which made it possible to determine its complexity and multidimensionality. However, at present there is no universal definition that satisfies all the requirements of science. Moreover, the problem of determining the identity of a person, as the researchers note, is multifactorial in nature, since a person does not exist by itself, but as a part of the surrounding world, with which it interacts and to which it adapts throughout its entire life, in order to be better in it.

The phenomenon of personality identity as one of the components of the science of man has long attracted the attention of representatives of the humanities such as philosophy, psychology, sociology, linguistics, etc., each of which contributes to the discussion and solution of this problem. The problem of social identity is at the junction of the interests of various social sciences, despite the fact that for a long time it was on the periphery of scientific analysis in psychology. In recent years, it has found its place in the psychology of cognition.

An analysis of the process of the formation of modern ideas about social identity shows that interest in research in this area arose in the mainstream of general psychological and socio-psychological trends, removing the contradiction between the structural-functionalist and phenomenological traditions in the study of personality. In conditions of social instability, personal identity is the leading and determining direction of social self-identification. The basis of a person's self-identification in changed conditions is not so much the basic need for self-esteem as the need for meaning, understanding, which contributes to the best adaptation and strengthening of a sense of control over one's own life.

The relevance of the research is due to a number of factors of a practical and theoretical nature. With major powers are often associated with their political leader and his image on the world stage, the role of identity and its influence on the image of a politician becomes an urgent issue for analysis since representatives of any country or parties, factions can influence public opinion about a particular person. It is also important to emphasize that the immediate image around which a competent political image is shaped can become an essential element in the acceptance or rejection of a politician within the framework of both public consciousness and the dominant political paradigm.

This article examines the basic concepts of «identity» and «gender identity», traces the history of the origin of the two concepts, spheres and areas of active use, analyzes the features and forms ideas about these categories. The article is devoted to the consideration of various situations that demonstrate the existence of this phenomenon in the framework of the modern political situation, as well as an analysis of the features of this phenomenon.

Main part

The appearance in the scientific discourse of the second half of the XX century. The term “gender” has conditioned the formation of not only a persistent interest in aspects of the phenomenon of human sex, but also the theoretical diversity of interpretations of various forms of gender being of a person, including the phenomenon of gender identity. This study attempts to analyze the existing theories and approaches to the concept of «gender identity» in the diachronic aspect, to generalize the strengths of existing interpretations and to give our own definition of gender identity.

In the context of a diachronous analysis of the transformation of views on the concept of «gender identity», it seems relevant to consider a number of methodological approaches.

The essentialist approach to gender identity allows us to highlight the characteristic features of a socio-cultural-biological group. Because of the essentialist approach to gender identity was formed within the framework of feminist theory, this group was by default women. Female identity is built from the position of reverse female identity in the culture of patriarchy by denying the male and recognizing the female as an alternative position; at the same time, there is an established opinion regarding the specificity of female thinking.

The feminist approach assumes a clear restriction of the concepts of «woman» and «femininity», as a result a significant group of women is formed, which remains an exception due to the inconsistency with these concepts. According to S. Boehm, the emphasis is on the position of substantiating inequality and the possibility of changes in the existing gender-role segregation.

R. Connel, being the author of the structural-constructivist approach in gender theory, developed such concepts as «gender order» and «gender regime». In the scientific work «Gender and Power. Society, Personality and Sexual Politics» he proposed four paradigms for analyzing gender identity as opposed to two classical approaches - essentialist and feminist.

The Marxist paradigm is based on theories of class approach, social reproduction and dual systems. Oppression of women within the framework of this theory is considered as the reproduction of capitalist relations in society.

The sex-role approach illustrates the dependence of the individual on the social structure, within the framework of which there are certain social roles prescribed on the basis of gender, which are imparted to the individual in the process of socialization. Both of these paradigms in their construction are based on biological differences in the context of the segregation of sociocultural aspects of gender interpretation. Their main disadvantage is the lack of an explanation for the change in sex-role models and taking into account the very possibility of their transformation.

R. Connell «the paradigm of gender categories» named the third paradigm. Its essence was to describe the relationship of inequality between two social categories - men and women. Gender identity is determined from the standpoint of the correspondence of the social status of the patriarchy reproduced by relations.

The fourth paradigm considers gender identity as a process of interaction of historically formed social structures, where femininity and masculinity are constantly reproduced identities. This theory is called the theory of practices. According to R. Connell, in the conditions of a patriarchal social order, not only femininity is secondary in relation to masculinity, but also variants of masculinity in relation to hegemonic masculinity are secondary. Thus, the analysis of «theory of practice» applies not only to the relationship of masculinity and femininity, but also to the relationship of different variations of masculinity.

Due to the androcentricity of the modern world, it would be appropriate to focus on the concept of «hegemonic masculinity» introduced into the terminological field of gender studies by R. Connell. This concept describes the type of "ruling" masculinity, which is at the top of the hierarchical society; shared by the overwhelming majority of society, feeling the unity along racial, social, cultural and gender lines. Hegemonic masculinity is an ideal pattern that is highly structured and socially rewarding to follow it. According to M. Kimmel, hegemonic masculinity is a type of masculinity of men who have power over both women and subordinate men (i.e., over those men whose masculinity models are marginalized; these can be social, cultural, ethnic and sexual minorities). In such a case, hegemonic masculinity is not only dominant masculinity, while dominant femininity cannot be hegemonic. Hegemonic masculinity is represented by a cult of physical strength, aggressiveness, a tendency to violence and suppression of emotions. According to M. Kimmel, the cultural conditioning of the concept of "masculinity" directly affects the level of violence in society. The definition of masculinity has a significant impact on men's propensity for violence. The more rigidly masculine traits are structured in society, the more differentiated the concepts of masculinity and femininity, the higher the level of male violence in this society.

Thus, it is important to note that gender identity is the inner self-awareness of a person as a representative of one gender or another, that is, as a man, woman or representative of another category, associated with social and cultural stereotypes about the behavior and qualities of representatives of a particular biological sex. 

Gender identity does not necessarily match biological sex.

In contrast to the concept of mental or psychological sex, the concept of «gender identity» is widely used in the framework of gender studies. Such a scientific approach implies, in particular, that the idea of ​​the obligation and normality of the coincidence of the sex assigned at birth and the inner self-awareness of a person are not accepted as an axiom, but are considered critically from the point of view of anthropology, philosophy and other disciplines. According to leading modern specialists in the field of transgender people's health, the discrepancy between gender identity and gender assigned at birth is a matter of diversity, not pathology, and gender non-conformity can’t be considered as negative or painful in its essence.

The best case to observe is about Senator Ashburn. It a good example of how different biology is and how gender identities differ from each other, however, they allow lobbying within a certain political field the interests for which there is a demand in society. As Senator Ashburn was known for his homophobic views, he consistently voted against local initiatives of his fellow supporters of the gay movement, refused to recognize same-sex marriage and criticized his political and «heartfelt opponents». However, in March 2010, near the end of his term, Ashburn was arrested at a gay club in Sacramento for drunk driving. Another visitor to the gay club was in the car with him. California Senator Roy Ashburn, known in the United States as a critic of sexual minorities, admitted on the radio that he is gay. During an interview on Californian radio KERN, Ashburn, who has consistently voted against gay supporters, said his position in the Senate reflected voters' expectations, but not the 55-year-old's own "internal conflict". Ashburn said he has no plans to run for public office in the future. Ashburn has served in the state Senate since 2002. He became famous as one of the most intolerant politicians towards sexual minorities, opposing the legalization of same-sex marriage and other legislation that met the interests of the gay movement, but explained this phenomenon by the fact that he always acted exclusively in the interests of voters. «My practice throughout my political career when it comes to gay people has been to avoid any suspicion that might be thrown at me since I was in hiding. Therefore, any vote could somehow reveal my secret», - Ashburn said. However, it's also worth noting that he apologized to gay men for his former homophobic stance when he voted against granting rights to LGBT citizens.

Findings

To sum up, it is important to note that the phenomenon of personality and gender identity as one of the components of human science has long attracted the attention of representatives of such humanities as philosophy, psychology, sociology, but in the modern world, political science also cannot exclude this phenomenon from its subject field. The issue of gender identity is at the intersection of the interests of various social sciences, despite the fact that for a long time it was on the periphery of scientific analysis.

In conditions of social instability, identity is the leading and defining direction of social self-identification. The basis of a person's self-identification in changed conditions is not so much the basic need for self-esteem as the need for meaning, understanding, which contributes to the best adaptation and strengthening of a sense of control over one's own life.

In the course of this study, the goal of considering the phenomenon of the formation of a political image, based on the features of the formed gender identity, was achieved. It was also possible to come to the conclusion that gender identity is the basic structure of social identity that characterizes a person (individual) from the point of view of his belonging to a male or female group, while the most significant is how a person categorizes himself. This study proved that gender identity is a broader concept than gender-role identity, since gender includes not only the role aspect, but also, for example, the image of a person as a whole.

The goal was achieved thanks to the implementation of the following tasks:

1. It turned out to systematize knowledge within the framework of the problems of the terms "identity", "political image" and "gender identity", to identify their main theoretical and structural features and contradictions;

2. The main aspects of the concepts of "identity" and "gender identity" were revealed, the history of their formation was traced. It was possible to analyze the origin of terms from various points of view of the main theorists of these concepts and to study the forms and types of these categories;

3. A critical analysis and comparison of the features of the development and use of these terms in the framework of the modern political situation was successfully carried out, the difficulties of their use and interpretation were studied, and cases related to this phenomenon were considered.

Reference

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