ABSTRACT
Gender is a social pressure to behave and experience ourselves in concert with the cultural expectations for the body people are perceived as inhabiting. It is critical for students to understand that gender is not wholly contained within each individual. Rather it is, in a sense, “in the air” in the form of cultural expectations. It is also critical for students to understand that individual responses to these expectations are widely variable. By the 1960s there came a cultural shift in which military service became largely elective. In fact, there has been no mandatory conscription in the last 50 years in the United States, although laws still allow for it and males are still required to register for the draft at age 18. Situations vary tremendously and people often fail to take them into account in judging the causes of people’s actions. Some men may perceive crying at funeral to be socially acceptable but may avoid it in their workplaces.
