Attached.

External Social Forces - Outline
I.
II.

Introduction
Discerning Personalities

III.

Sexuality Personality

IV.

Psychological Interest

V.

Cultural Expectation

VI.
VII.
VIII.

Religion
Social Expectation
Discussion


Running head: EXTERNAL SOCIAL FORCES

External Social Forces
Name
Institution

1

EXTERNAL SOCIAL FORCES

2
External Social Forces
Introduction

A person spends more than half their life trying to figure themselves. Even when they
have achieved, what by human standards, is considered to be a success, there is still an element
of addressing those inner desires that determine a person’s identity. It is for this very same
reason that the society is bound and driven by a different value system that tries to guide it to a
definitive and “moral” standing. The definition of what is or should be considered moral is
ambiguous even to those who claim to understand the social value system. Religion, culture, and
law are just some of the few value system that is put in place to guide people to an “accepted”
personality. However, as Sumerau (2017) writes in “cigarettes and wine,” we are as vulnerable
and as strong as our inner desires drive us to be. We can only find ourselves within that scope
that we have allowed ourselves to breach. The effect of our immediate society on the personality
and persons we grow up to be is very real. We cannot ignore that the community holds a lot of
influence on our understanding, behavior, and reasoning. The personality that a person has and
the beliefs systems are primarily due to the intentional and unintentional factors that have
influenced their understanding of what the social value system identify as social right or wrong.
Discerning Personalities
The most significant question to personality is how much is inherent and how much is as
a result of social forces outside a person’s control. Does the society control us or do we control
the society? It is a question that demands a careful review of those social and inherent factors
that are assumed to influence our understanding and our adherence to a value system. One can
only blame the society so far, beyond which, it will be unreasonable (Mardell, 2016). For
example, we grow up being taught that we must respect our elders, however, as we grow up, we

EXTERNAL SOCIAL FORCES

3

learn that respect is earned and as much as the society demands we respect others, those
demanding respect must act in such a manner that is respectable. The influence that mold our
personality can, therefore, be said to be as a result of both external and internal factors; without
either of which, we are doomed to grow to unbalance. Importantly, our sexual identities are
influenced by both what we see and what we believe in. Within every person, there are those
inner desires that are hidden and are what determining our identity as we are all sexual beings.
Sexuality Personality
Sexuality has been an age-old issue that has continued to be discussed with some society
admonishing it as dirty while others are embracing it as the pathway to life. Whichever society,
sexuality has formed a very important part of our society. Importantly, it has helped define our
society and the manner in which it has developed (Butterfield, 2015). However, the factors that
influence sexuality and the identity we adopt are very much external as they are internal. It is
critical to review those factors about our society and its influence on changing identities.
Psychological Interest
Sumerau (2017) starts his book by pointing out that from an early age, he was more
fascinated by boys than he was in girls. He points out an incident when a boy opened his fly in
public, and that was the best moment of his life. He argues that he did not in any way, have any
control of his interest in boys as compared to girls. It was something that came naturally to him,
and he embraced it. Similarly, sexuality just like the interest to play football is innate and one
that one has little or no control at all over. The argument of internal interest can be compared to
the interest that a boy has in a girl, or a girl has in a boy. It is an interest that is regarded as being
“natural” and there being no control over such feelings. It can also be argued that “queer” feeling
to be natural in any person. Furthermore, there has existed transgender persons since time

EXTERNAL SOCIAL FORCES

4

immemorial. It is, therefore, not a new identity crisis but a refusal by the society to appreciate,
accept, and create a space for people with a transgender identity. This refusal to accept such
people has been driven by external factors.
Cultural Expectation
When a child is born, the parents use color to define their gender. However, there is no
evidence showing that bright colors are for girls and dull color are for boys. It is a biased
perspective that has allowed people to use colors to define gender. As such, it has allowed boys
to identify themselves with dull and rough colors, while girls with bright and smooth shades.
This is one effect of cultural influence in defining identities among people. The cisnormativity of
culture has refused to allow the existence of different gender identities and created a gender
binary that is definitive. This has allowed the society to be cisgender, demonizing the
transgender identity without offering them the opportunity to challenge the thought. It is a
conceptual misnomer that has removed the opportunity and chance for the society to accept and
embrace an identity that seems to defy the element of time (Williams, 2017). Nevertheless, it has
hindered the embracement of inner feelings by those who lack the normalcy to behave like boys
or girls. Instead, it has allowed the classification of transgender persons as “queer” and
undeserving in the society, which has marked them as a target for ridicule and harsh treatment.
Religion
Religion is perhaps the most influential factor in guiding the rhetoric against the
acceptance of or the existence of transgender identity. The manner in which religion defines
everything into either right or wrong has allowed people to find a definition of what should or
should not be accepted. Religion has set a “natural” way of doing things. This has created a gap
through which the society has had to adhere to as the “correct” way. The argument being that

EXTERNAL SOCIAL FORCES

5

humans exist in two genders for a certain reason, procreation, and one cannot be born male only
to possess female instincts. There is a reason for everything, and such reason is the natural order
of things and how everything needs to be done. As such, religion has defined what should be
natural and what should not (Russell & Horn, 2016). Nevertheless, religion is just a conceptual
ideology that empowers people to a certain way of belief or thought. It confers them with the
understanding and rules that allow the society to live in such a manner that “acceptable” to
everyone. Even when someone has different feelings as those provided for by religion, they are
forced to hide those feelings as they are “unacceptable,” religiously. The effect of religion can be
felt in its influence in our way of life, our belief system, and even our behavior code. It has
refused to influence people to an understanding that allows its followers to “love one another as
we are loved by our God,” and instead made it an immoral and demonic condition.
Social Expectation
The society is binary biased and perceives every other gender classification as innately
wrong, without clearly elaborating on what makes it wrong. For example, if a girl is attracted to
another girl and the two are mutually exclusive, the question is how their interest in one another
affects the society. The society has a huge influence on how people behave or what they believe
in. This has been perfected by “public messages” that have defined some things as acceptable
while others as unacceptable. However, the society, through television and mass media has been
influential in changing the held perspectives regarding gender identities (Jones & Finch, 2017).
For example, from the 1930’s there was an intentional campaign towards the sexualization of the
society. The mass media through TV and Hollywood flooded the market with “revealing”
pictures that allowed the society to be “accustomed” to the idea of nude being cute. It has been a
campaign that saw the feminization of the male image in the late 90’s and into the 2000’s. It

EXTERNAL SOCIAL FORCES

6

allowed the society to come to terms with the idea of a feminized male and hence get
accustomed to the notion of same-gender sex relationships. Today, nearly every film, comedy, or
music video is saturated with feminized males or masculine females, which has gone a long way
in influencing perspectives in many societies.
Cinclusion
The modern world has made tremendous steps towards the achievement of gender
disparity. The church has joined in the fight towards gender equality and acceptance of
transgender identity. The media has perhaps been the most influential player in the fight towards
the achievement of transgender recognition with its saturation of sexualized messages. While it
has not borne much fruit, the current society is much more accommodating of the transgender
identit...