RUNNING HEAD: INTERSECTIONALITY, GENDER & SEXUALITY NORMS
Valaree Williams
Dr. Lisa Beringer
Final Exam Essay
December 16, 2020
Intersectionality, Gender and Sexuality Norms
The gender roles in today’s society pretty much shapes the way we live and interact
with others in our busy lives and every day researchers have been trying to answer the
question, how does popular culture construct, maintain and/or challenge gender identity
and sexuality norms. For the purposes of this paper, I will dive deeper into the different
aspects of intersectionality along with the methods on how the popular culture constructs,
maintains and challenges gender identity and sexuality norms. According to Planned
Parenthood, “Our society has a set of ideas about how we expect men and women to
dress, behave, and present themselves.” This has become and outstanding issue that needs
more attention and this paper is the perfect opportunity to look more into this issue. The
goal of the research is to understand how popular culture can construct, maintain and
even challenge gender identity and sexuality norms. Understanding the different aspects
of intersectionality, gender and sexuality norms is very crucial to answering this puzzling
question.
INTERSECTIONALITY, GENDER & SEXUALITY NORMS WILLIAMS 2
According to YW Boston Blog, “Understanding the terminology is important for
people, it can expand their knowledge on the issues.” They go on to define some
important information related to the topic. According to YW Boston Blog,
“Intersectionality is defined as the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as
race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of
discrimination or disadvantage; a theoretical approach based on such a premise.” Gender
roles/norms is defined as the role or norm that is learned by an individual as appropriate
to their own gender which can be predetermined by the popular cultural norms. Most
societies have social norms that pertain to sexuality and gender roles. Society often
