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Social and cultural construction of gender
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Social and cultural construction of gender
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Some sociologists claim that gender is a product of social constructionism, which is a learned idea shaped and created by society. It is often confused with sex, and is defined as “a socially constructed system of classification that ascribes qualities of masculinity and femininity to people” (Sheppard & Mayo JR, 2009, p. 261). This means that there are specific traits and assets given to males and females. Gender characteristics alter over time and vary between different cultures. Sex, on the other hand is biological, and refers to your internal and external anatomy that you were born with, and is not something that can be socially constructed. I think gender is socially constructed because it is a manmade concept used to make sense of and distinguish the two sexes that is shaped by culture, social structure and the media. It assigns specific culture made attributes to men and women that can be positive or negative.
Sociology acknowledges the strong social and cultural guidance that create our gender identities and roles. The sociology viewpoint suggests that the various ways that
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In the mid-19th century women did not play sport due to the idea that it was seen as too masculine and they needed to remain delicate and feminine, so it was exclusively for men (Else, 2012). However, in the late 19th and early 20th century, it became attractive for women to be out exercising and gaining a ‘healthy glow’, and many were gaining interest in the idea (Else, 2012). The majority of people did not approve of this though, and there was strong opposition when women tried sports such as rugby and cricket. Women engaging in sport such as these that were already strongly associated with men were seen as making themselves overly masculine and disrupting the stability between the male and female genders (Else,
Female educators in the early 1900’s strived to control the participation of women in sport, establishing certain constraints in order to maintain a male-dominated sports sphere. Athletic activity was healthy; yet too much athletic activity was rigorous and harmful to the female body. At the same time, though, these educators made a point to stress the presence of femininity in sport—which directly contributed to the introduction of sexuality into sport. If the educators of the early 1900’s did not have such an overbearing presence in female sport, maybe there would be no discussion about the swimming suit modeling of Amanda Beard, or the sexy, controversial, eccentric outfits Serena Williams shows off while playing at Wimbledon.
Ever since sports has been introduced into our society it has always been gender specific. Today, sports are still gender specific but not as much as before due to the change in social norms. Many people enjoy playing sports. For some it may be the competition, for others it may be for the love of the game. It has been difficult for individuals who enter non-traditional sports for their gender. Women have especially struggled with this matter until the Title 9 was issued. Before Title 9, many women were not allowed to participate in track and other sports that were not considered feminine. During the Victorian Times, women were only allowed to play sports that didn't make them look sweaty, tired or just messy. They had to stick to the norm of being conservative and looking proper. Can you imagine, they had to even wear skirts for baseball and other sports? How can you be comfortable and play well in that kind of an outfit? When it came to tennis, they had to look graceful like a ballerina. The main concern in playing a sport is enjoying it and playing it well. It never had to do anything with being part of a beauty contest. Women were given limitations into what sports they could participate in. However, realistically women were just as good as their counterpart when it came to playing sports in which they were not allowed to play.
Throughout Gendered World sociologist argue that gender and sex are socially constructed instead of being innate. The authors present evidence in regards to history, biology, and contemporary viewpoints using day-to-day examples. Although alternative viewpoints may argue that through a biological perspectives gender and sex is an innate characteristic through deeper examination it can be determined that gender and sex are truly socially constructed.
Gender Inequality is something that happens abundantly more often than we think within our everyday society. These events that take place we might not even be noticing them until someone points them out to us or we’re put into the position where we need to, due to our society has been taught to work and what we look for in these situations when they appear to be happening. This is something that our society really needs to work on to fix as a whole. The problem with gender inequality is that it often affects females more than males from having completely equal rights or fair opportunities within our society to do the things they’re passionate about within our everyday lives and work areas across America. Some of the places where gender inequality might be over looked at, is the sporting aspect of our population.
For the past century, the United States of America has made countless advancements in technology, medicine, and many other fronts. As a society, it has advanced at an incredible rate, becoming a major world power in an incredibly short period of time. The biggest barriers that America is working on are currently taking place within its own borders; civil rights and the battle for equality have men and women of every race up and arms. Specifically, the fight against sexism is the most modern struggle in America. Discrimination against women is harmful to both men and women; it holds women back into a useless position and forces men to take the brunt of the work. Men are expected to work, but women are almost expected not to, and instead "be nothing more than dangling, decorative ornaments--non-thinking and virtually non-functional” (Chisholm 4). There is progress to be made in the American society in its attitude and treatment of women. Gender inequality continues to be a social problem in the business, family, and personal lives of women.
Gender is not about the biological differences between men and women but rather the behavioral, cultural and psychological traits typically associated with one sex. Gender is socially constructed meaning it 's culturally specific, it 's learned and shared through gender socialization. What it means to be a woman or man is going to differ based on the culture, geographical location, and time. What it meant to be a woman in the US in the 19th century is different than what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. As cultures evolve over time so are the ideals of what it means to be man or woman.
Krane, V. (2001). We can be athletic and feminine, but do we want to? Challenging hegemonic femininity in women's sport. Quest, 53,115-133.
It is no secret that in history women have been generally looked down upon, in the United States women were not allowed to own property (seeing as they were already considered such), vote, or sign legal contracts (Henslin 2011). Of course, over time women have gained more rights and have worked towards an equal footing with their opposite sex shown with the rise of feminism. This, of course, doesn 't mean that the footing is equal. Being a woman still comes with negative connotations seen in casual sexist sayings such as: "you throw like a girl", "she 's just PMSing", and "do not be such a drama queen" all meant to demean and portray females in a negative light. It 's these types of comments that illustrate why girls can typically be too "mean" to each other. Internalized misogyny perpetuated through negative female stereotypes creates a competitive attitude between females. The sociological concept that best fits this hypothesis is symbolic interactionism, the textbook definition being "a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that
In reality, gender is not based on one’s genetic make-up or their reproductive organs. Expanding on this, an individual does not have any control over their assigned gender, but everyone has a gender identity, which is one’s internal sense of being male or female. From a sociocultural perspective, gender roles have the greatest influence on gender as a social construction. Gender roles are the attitudes, behaviors, rights, and responsibilities that particular cultural groups associate with each sex. In regards to gender, the social construction theory acknowledges the connection the topic has with power and meaning, and states that social interaction, or “language” controls how these things are portrayed to individuals. Similarly, sexuality is socially constructed in a sense that, one’s sexual orientation depends on what they are taught to be “socially acceptable”. For example, a person who is raised by homophobic parents would most likely be taught that every aspect of homosexuality is wrong, and therefore they would be influenced to be heterosexual. While many would like to believe that people are born with their sexual orientation, that is far from the truth. All in all, when looking at the big picture, it is clear that race, gender,
Once society observes the higher level of play shown by male athletes, they expect female athletes to compete at the same level, which is a huge dilemma because women don’t have the same support given to men. The most successful women in sports history are generally associated with “acting like men”, and this way of being has given them the superiority needed to stand out in their sport. Due to society’s high standards women athletes have been forced to assimilate their play as much as possible to men, since men are portrayed as the perfect athletes. In Jean O’Reilly’s book “Women and Sports in the United States”, she states “Within the context of the masculine domain of sport, sportswomen are expected to perform hegemonic femininity while distancing themselves from behavior perceived as masculine” (O’Reilly 82.) Pressuring women athletes to compete at the same level as men without portraying a masculine behavior is clearly seen as sexual discrimination.
Increasing the portrayal of women within the practice of sport, or sporting culture relating to the camera exposure that is given to their male counterparts, and even sporting leaders can drastically challenge male dominance in sport today and expose the idea to early development of preferences that success in sport as a female is
and wages. It will also tackle what is being done to solve this problem and what
The conclusion of this essay is that there are four prime factors that construct gender role in today’s society. They include our family, society, educational systems and self conscious. There are other cultural products that affect the gender within these four. category. The.
According to Crapo, (2013), “Gender defines the social statuses and roles into which people are socialized based on cultural concepts about the sexes” (sec. 5.1). Society considers the sex of a person and then determines how they should act and the roles they will play. Humans are considered to be male or female, and their roles or gender is determined by the society in which they live. Cultural differences shape the way that women and men are perceived in their social environment, and these differences also influence how gender is
Gender Inequality at a Workplace Historically, males and females normally assume different kinds of jobs with varying wages in the workplace. These apparent disparities are widely recognized and experienced across the globe, and the most general justification for these differences is that they are the direct outcomes of discrimination or traditional gender beliefs—that women are the caregivers and men are the earners. However, at the turn of the new century, women have revolutionized their roles in the labor market. Specifically in industrialized societies, the social and economic position of women has shifted. Despite the improving participation of women in the labor force and their ameliorating proficiency and qualifications, the labor force is still not so favorable to women.