Gender as a process of social construction As part of our society, we have classified the “natural” differences between sexes as gender. The classification of female and male is also contingent with age; we have boys and girls, men and women, grandfather and grandmother ( Goldberg and Adriano, 2007). We have become so accustomed to the classification of male and female that we tend to interpret gender strictly as a biological state of being. When examining the idea of gender it is easy to interpret it as a simple phenomenon. That is, gender is widely perceived as simply being a natural occurrence that happens at birth.
Sex, Gender and Gender roles redefined In her book The Second Sex, Simone De Beauvoir states, “One is not born, but, rather becomes a woman”. This statement highlights the difference between sex and gender. While sex is a biological term, gender is a social and cultural construct. An individual is born into the categories of male or female but it is the very task of ‘accomplishing gender’ that determines the social identity of the person. Women are under a constant pressure to adhere to roles that are specific to their gender and so are men.
For example, masculinity femininity and the male and female anatomy are factors that determine gender identity. Hermaphrodites are individuals who are born with ovarian and testicular tissue, resulting in having a testicle and an ovary. Hermaphrodites are labeled as male or female at birth, so the gender identity and gender role are determined as soon as a newborn in born, known as the sex assignment. However, intersexual individuals are known to have testicles or ovaries, but do not result in having both. Intersexual individuals show either testes or ovaries of one sex, but external genitalia show sexual organs of the other sex.
There is such a vast range of genital formations that “if you look at all the variables in nature that are said to determine human ‘sex,’ you can’t possibly find one that will unequivocally split the species into two” (Stoltenberg 24). So if there is such a vast range of genital formations, to assign just two gender roles for every single person that is born seems downright silly. One can have an enlarged clitoris or a microphallis, and society feels the pressure to fit this person neatly into either the “male” or “female” categorization. But, it is society itself that makes the qualifications of what this categorization means. You have a penis, you’re a male- grow up to be strong and dominating!
Just the Way We Are Everyone thought that there are similar differences between males and females. Both genders are different through their social, emotional and intellectual qualities. Gender roles influence women and men in virtually every area of life including family and occupation, but are women and men subject to different roles or behavior expectations? Gender role by definition is,” the public image of being male or female that a person presents to others.” (Dictionary.com). In early American culture it was common for a women’s job to be an obedient housewife in clear contrast to the male’s duty to be a job holder.
To conclude the essay, statistics and studies will be discussed with relation to gender role socialisation. Gender “is a social construction organised around biological sex. Individuals are born male or female, but they acquire over time a gender identity that is what it means to be male or female.” (Gregson et al., 1997. p.53). This explanation gives us the idea of two different relationships. That is the relationship between the two genders, and the relationship between gender and society.
“True Women and Real Men: Myths of Gender” I spent the day at a local café observing men and women. I watched them closely as they came in and walked out and came to find out that many of Devor’s arguments were accurate. Just as Devor states “masculinity and femininity can be demonstrated through a wide variety of cues (533)”. We can easily differentiate males and females by the way they dress, by their behavior, body language and verbal language. Out of all these criteria I believe that body language is one of the most significant cues and it reveals tremendous information about ones gender role in the society.
Gender role change Aspects of the male and feminine roles have been easily tied together under the social-constructs heading for many years. The inter-relationship of both genders is a root cause for these social-constructs. Social-constructs have been placed into a hierarchical social system and invented and/or constructed by a number of different participants, who are already part of the system. Gender roles are currently changing as women are adopting masculine traits and have joined the bandwagon of their male counterparts to work where males have shown their dominance in the past. The normal characteristics that relate to femininity are softness and tenderness, prompting society to perceive a delusional falsehood that women are weak, unable to defend themselves.
In the Bohemian Rhapsody Anime video there are several gender themes displayed. These themes help one come to learn about society’s views on gender. This video has several themes in regard to gender. First this video expresses gender stratification because in this video the main characters that survives and seems to be in control of 1. (Patriarchy) the plot is mostly male.
Sex refers to one’s biological identity of being male or female while gender refers to the socially learned expectations and behaviours associated with being male or female. Sex is biologically assigned while gender is culturally learned. From the time that we are born we are influenced by various things, the surrounding environment, our parents, the culture of the area and country. Children are most influenced by their parents and are at their most impressionable from a very young age [Lauer & Lauer, 1994; Santrock, 1994; Kaplan, 1991] . Generally it is widely accepted across the board that early gender socialisation is one of the most important issues in early childhood, as it is affecting both boys and girls.