Gender Hierarchy Essay

674 Words3 Pages
Gender Hierarchy Gender is a social conception, in which, individuals play a “social performance.” This role is learned and developed through a dialectical process of acculturation from birth. It is an individual’s sole purpose upon birth to simultaneously create and validate a sense of self. It is culture, rather than biology, which is the most determinant for gender. While biology determines an individual’s sexual difference it is culture which gives meaning to that difference. Outside of a social context, gender is meaningless; but within a social context, gender serves to create a hierarchical structure. Hierarchical structure is another way of asserting male dominance. Gendering creates this hierarchy of male dominance through the way a child is dressed, the way a child is treated, the toys they play with, the movies and television they watch, etc. “Gendering” occurs in an individual’s everyday[daily] life. The way a child is dress also demonstrates how the child is treated and how they are to act. Girls are dressed in pink, flowery, pastel colors to show their softness. While boys are dressed in blue, with sports embroidery, more flexible, roomy clothing expressing their independence. Boys are dressed more freely to be more independent with sports embroidery to represent aggression. Whereas girls are dressed more to be cute/ pretty representing their subordination and dependency because their clothing is not as liberating as the boys they need to depend on others to help them get around. Gender is meaningless removed from social context. From birth children are taught through a dialectical process of acculturation that males are superior to females. The acculturation expresses male dominance which serves to validate the hierarchy. This hierarchy is persevered still in today’s society; examples are presented in advertisement,

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