It is a central organizing principle of societies, and often governs the processes of production and reproduction, consumption and distribution,” (FAO, 1997). Gender and sex are put into categories and they are not the same thing. Sex in biological and physiological terms refers to male and female and defines them in such ways as breasts, testicles, women’s menstruation cycle, and hormones. Gender also refers to socially constructed roles, activities and behaviors. How do gender and sex contribute to the concepts and constructions of masculinity and femininity?
Society and culture really create the roles of what is usually exepted as appropriate for a person of a specific gender. I would also say that society does somewhat contribute to the excepted role of a specific sex in society. Culture will always play a huge part in the separation of what is expected of a man, women or other sex in society. Do our concepts of gender and sex contribute to the ways we embrace gender and sex in diversity? Of course the concepts we have created to define how gender and sex differentiate contribute to the way society looks at gender diversity.
The most important difference is between the sexes, as that cuts straight across all the other groupings. Women are not given the equal opportunity to express themselves in the workplace like men. Daniel Namosuaia (2010) puts emphasis on how all women should have the equal opportunity to work callous type jobs like men. Generally law enforcement workers are males because women are not expected to have the physical qualities to obtain that position. Nicholas P. Lovrich (2006) goes into further detail on why great strides have been made regarding gender and hiring practices.
However, this is not always the case. Different societies have always had their own standards in regards to gender roles. According to Elizabeth Corrigal and Alison Konrad’s Gender Role Attitudes and Careers: A Longitudinal Study, “gender role attitudes refer to beliefs concerning behaviors, responsibilities, and activities appropriate for women and men.” Normally, or should I say, traditionally, in
There are many theories to explain the existence of gender division in employment. Underpinning explanation of gender segregation in the labor market are issues concerning male power and gender assumptions of the division of labor (Bagilhole, 1994; Crompton, 1999). Gender segregation in employment is of concern for two measures quite aside from the facts of quality of opportunity: segregation into different areas of work remains a key issue that contributes to the gender in earnings (Forth, 2002). Later, the studies focus on the issue of masculinity which has been a re-occurrent topic in most debates. Masculinity is a subjective term, and in most cases it is influenced by one's perception and culture (Cullins, V.2012).
Differences in cognition between men and women are highly influenced by their roles in the society and culture they belong to. For example, in a society where women are defined by their male partner and depend on him economically, it is likely that they will depend on them mentally as well and will be more prone to develop depression when losing them than the other way around. Although there are biological explanations to the reason why females tend to be more prone to depression (hormonal changes in puberty, menopause or the premenstrual period, for example), I do not believe depression could be evoked solely by hormonal changes (because otherwise depression would be even more common among females) without the participation of environmental factors in addition. Another reason why I believe socio- cultural explanations are more relevant when explaining gender differences in prevalence of depression is because these
In sociological terms, it has been pointed out by transgender activist Leslie Feinberg that: ‘gender is a key factor that shapes social behaviour and social institutions.’ and ‘gender is ‘understood culturally and theoretically as a dualism.’ (Marsh et al, 216) Gender inequality is definitely something that we often take for granted; it is accepted and seems so normal in society. These differences often seem invisible to us even though it happens in our everyday life in everything from employment and education to politics and the media without us being aware of it. (Davis, K. 2006) explains: ‘Society shows us that gender is a system that privileges some men and disadvantages most women.’ I agree with this and believe that social differences significantly changes male and female attitudes and views on life more than biological differences in gender. Before we look at the gender inequalities in paid employment, it is vital to look at unpaid labour and the discriminations that women face. History has shown us that the roles and responsibilities for men and women were already chosen for them.
In order to identify this situation, we must try to get to the root of the problem and must understand the sociological factors that cause women to have a much more difficult time getting the same profits, wages, and job opportunities as their male complements. The society in which we live right now have been shaped historically by males for centuries. Women in the workplace get the short end of the stick when it comes to men. Because men have more power given to them and people tend to look at the men for leadership. Also women are more likely to allow things to happens where as men would not.
The world is becoming more and more a ‘single’ country and even though differences in all dimensions are in place, similarities are also constantly growing. The diffusion of cultures, languages, economies seems to be unpreventable. The gender dimension and the issue of gender equality are often mentioned in papers about globalization and its impact over societies and people. The effects of globalization have been gender-differentiated because of the differences between men and women in terms of access to and control over assets and economic resources (Cagatay and Erturk, 2004). The term gender refers to how a person’s biology is culturally interpreted into accepted ideas about what it is to be a woman or a man.
It requires a focus on actual results in term of gender equality in the practice areas at all levels. There are two complementary approaches to achieving gender equality: firstly is mainstreaming gender and secondly promoting women’s empowerment. Both are critical Women's empowerment is central to human development. Human development, as a process of enlarging people’s choices, cannot occur when the choices of half of humanity are restricted. Targeted actions aimed at empowering women and righting gender inequities in social and economic sphere, as well as in terms of civil and political rights, must be taken alongside efforts to en-gender the development process.