Additional differences between men and women are that they differentiate as they often inhabit different social roles as well as occupational. Finally, sexual reproduction is a biological constant that is ultimately related to men and women being different since a woman is defined as childbearing and child rearing (Eagly, 1987) and promotes intimacy between the men and women. Furthermore, men often employ their power over women as well as their sexual relationships, which at times women counter power through sexuality by using sexual attractiveness to control the man. Therefore, concerns about power and the differences regarding the sexuality are bound together. Modern context in where social movement and increasing gender and equality threaten the traditional male dominance may be directed on those woman who challenge the power of a man and the status (e.g.
I feel that our concepts of gender and sex contribute to the ways we embrace gender and sex in diversity. I feel that we look at males in one light and females in another, we all at some point expect men to be the ones that are tough, and brave and look at women as being emotional. When it could be the other way around. There are still those who feel that women should be home makers and not working to where men should be out bringing home the bacon. Do our concepts of gender and sex contribute to our understanding of sexual orientation?
The women’s movement and the consequent development of feminist ideas in the 1960s and 1970s influenced the question of gender and began emphasise the importance of gender as a concept of its own. (Howson, 2013, 51). To understand the differences between male and female, it is important to formulate a basic distinction between gender and sex. The key distinctions to note are based around biology and social arrangements. Oakley (1972, cited in Howson, 2013) refers to gender as the ‘psychological, social and representational differences between men and women, which are socially determined and culturally variable’.
Once a child's gender is evident, others treat those in one gender differently from those in the other, and the children respond to the different treatment by feeling different and behaving differently. Pg. 122 The process of gendering and its outcome are legitimated by religion, law, science and the society’s entire set of values. Pg. 122 As a process, gender creates the social differences that define “woman” and “man.” In social interaction throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected, see what is expected, act and react in expected ways, and thus simultaneously construct and maintain the gender order pg.
Outline and evaluate the Biological approach to gender development The biological approach to gender development tells us that sex determines if an individual is genetically a male or female but that gender determines your own feelings about who you are as a person, either masculine or feminine, and this is due to the differences in their brains. This usually is due to the chromosomes a person has or hormonal differences. Every individual has 23 pairs of chromosomes. Women have 2 X chromosomes while men have an X and a Y chromosome. As an embryo, a male’s Y chromosome starts to produce testosterone and other male sex hormones.
We without help from the SRY gene; female reproductive organs would form instead of male organs. Some people do not believe that their gender identity corresponds with their biological sex (mainly transgender people, but also including; transsexuals and inter-sexed individuals as well.) Difficulties can begin because society maintains that a person must accept a manner of social gender roles, which is based on their sex, and the person may feel that it is not consistent with their gender identity. This is known as “gender
By the time we reached late childhood and adolescence our concept of gender identity and sexual orientation is firmly entrenched (Wood, 2010). Our behavior, aspirations and attitudes is also strongly influenced by the gender role expectations in particular cultures. This essay will relate, contrast sex and gender in society and how important it is for sociologists to distinguish them both. The term “sex” is the natural biological genetic makeup that distinguishes males from females and in particular the sexual organs and their characteristics. Bodies are, so we think, natural, God- given, sacred, hardwired.
Some actions might be dictated by our hormones acting up or the we are raised to treat other and ourselves but our own personal emotions are the causes of our reactions. In the end, males will use logic while females would use intuition. Works Cited: 1) Blum, Deborah. "The Gender Blur." Utne Reader.
Firstly, we must understand the term socially constructed, and how it relates to gender. Gender deals with masculinity and femininity. In sociological terms, it is the hierarchical division between men and women which is embedded in social institutions and social practices. Sex, on the other hand, is assigned at birth; based on external genitalia. “Gender is usually described as socially constructed, and sex as biological.
An example of this are the distinct sexual organs that children are born with to associate them anatomically with a gender. In addition, geneders are further differentiated when other sexual characteristic begin to display during puberty. Chemical messenger compounds known as hormones are what coordinates the appearance of such physical differences. There is research that suggests that the same sex hormones which create sexual organ differenciation in utero, and also that trigger puberty later in life may also play in important role in determining gender identity. Males normally have more of the male sex hormones called androgens than females.