Influencing Conflict The person that I am today is a melting pot of different influences from throughout my life. I have been influenced by certain actors, songs, family members, and so many other things. Sometimes, these influential sources determine how I react to the different things going on in my life. Without a doubt, the issues of gender and religion have had a great impact on the way that I react to conflict. By looking at these two key concepts, how they relate to other issues, and the research that has been done on them, it becomes clear that religion and gender are quite influential. Gender is how you perceive yourself – as male or female. I am a female, both as the sex and the gender, and I have found that society places many specific expectations on women. From a young age, boys are taught to suck it up when they are hurt, but girls are allowed to cry it out. The way this is reinforced throughout one’s life causes many women to become more emotional as adults, and I am one of those women. So when I am sad, I am going to cry. When I am angry, …show more content…
For example, it seems that women tend to have less power over situations than their male counterparts. Power plays a large role in conflict, and when it is not equally balanced, the person with less power tends to lose the argument. In regards to identity, women place more of an emphasis on what others think of them, as opposed to what they think of themselves. Men could care less about what others think of them. This can create conflicts, as the perception of others can be easily misinterpreted. However, it can also help ease conflicts, as women do not want the other people involved to have a negative view of them. Once again, women can have a tendency to be overly emotional, which can cause them to be extremely upset or angry in conflicts. This exacerbates the conflict, making it much worse than it needs to