Across the world gender is really seen as strictly masculine or feminine. If you step outside of this “social norm,” you may be considered an outcast. This dissociation includes biological male/female, intersex, and transgender individuals. These people are severely repressed by society because their gender identification, behaviors, and even their activities deviate from the norm. Most Americans are extremely committed to the concept that there are only two sexes. Therefore, restrictive American ideals of male and female gender identities inhibit the growth and acceptance of gender expression. Each genre is separated by unspeakable rules or guidelines that it must adhere to. This in turn creates internal tensions that inhibit personal growth. For males this can be, or is, an extraordinarily arduous task. In most cases it is other male figures, such as the father, who administer and enforce these certain rules. The most common of these rules include the fact that boys cannot cry, and if they do, they are considered to be acting like a girl and therefore made fun of. These simple statements can force kids to put their emotions aside, in other words, put them “on the back burner.” This could affect the child's effort to grow and also create problems with the child's ability to understand his or her own emotions and those of others. Traditionally boys are prohibited from doing anything that is immensely feminine, such as ballet or dancing. Although both are advertised primarily for girls, boys are included in these activities. For example, in the movie called Billy Elliot, there is a boy who struggles between his love of dancing and his father's expectations of him. Billy's father wants him to continue with his boxing classes (even though... middle of paper... surgeries, hormone therapies and frequent therapy sessions to become who they truly believe and know themselves to be. There is more to gender expression, gender identities and biological sex that can be seen The reason we don't go looking for differences between them is because some individuals are afraid of any difference that breaks their social norm by having large. differences and challenges they might face in becoming themselves. These differences and challenges are what bring us together and make up the communities we live in. They could be someone's teacher, best friend, sister or brother someone's model Those "different people", such as intersex, transgender or even biological males/females who differ from our (everyday) social norms, are ultimately not so different..