Social Construction Of Gender Summary

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Recommended: Social construct of gender

Antonio Winters
SOC 308-Alyson Spurgas
March 3 2016
Midterm

The social construction of gender is the ubiquitous and systematically constructed concept in which society compartmentalizes gender roles and associative behaviors/ideals. Under this paradigm, “appropriate” comportments of behavior per gender are emphasized. The social construction of gender almost exclusively lends itself to a binary/dialectical framework through which the notions of masculinity and femininity are not only conceptualized, but also enacted on a conscious and subconscious level (“doing gender”) In respect to this notion, gender studies scholar, Judith Lorber expresses, “Most people find it hard to believe that gender is constantly created and recreated out of human …show more content…

Radical feminism, for example, identifies the social construction of gender as “patriarchal” in nature and asserts that patriarchy is “more fundamental than class relations in determining women’s experiences (TAW, 394)”. Through the branches of feminism (i.e. radical and social), the concept of gender stratification is emphasized as the central figure of women’s inequities in both a cultural and theoretical …show more content…

It is also communicated that by emphasizing personal dominance and gender equality, the hierarchal properties of gender will become obsolete. Liberal feminism also focuses on “gender socialization” as one of the sole inhibitors of an egalitarian society (TAW, 360). The academic article, “Early Socialization”, highlights Oregon State University’s definition of socialization as, “the progression of learning and understanding culture and society, right from wrong, and values and beliefs. Though some of these aspects vary among different ethos… (Early Socialization, Reed)”. In other words, socialization is the ongoing process through which we as individuals adapt norms, behaviors and ideals that are associative with our status and cultural settings. It’s important to note that liberal feminism seeks to expel the corollaries of gender socialization and (due to its individualistic nature) emphasize personal freedom and social/political autonomy—which can only be done through self-sufficiency amongst all individuals and methodically thinning the walls of discrimination against

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