Durkheim's Theory Of Gender Identity

1. When Durkheim argues that gender is a social fact, he means that “gender is socially constructed” (Parkhouse 2016). While gender is something external to individuals, it constrains our behavior at the same time. Gender cannot be defined, as it “varies by place, culture, time, and age, and over a person’s life course. It is also structured and mitigated by other identities, such as race, ethnicity, social class, education, sexuality, geography, ability, and religion” (Parkhouse 2016), otherwise known as social structure and social processes. When addressing gender, masculinities and femininities must be discussed. In one’s life, there is no constant, universal, or essential experience of gender. However, according to Dr. Alex Parkhouse, within

“Gender was acquired, molded through interactions with family members and with the larger society” (Kimmel 2016). Frued proposed a stage theory – the theory of psychosexual development – of individual gender development, claiming that each individual passes through these stages on his or her path to adult gender identity. Two main factors set this theory in motion: the composition or structure of the psyche and the realities of life. Id, ego, super-ego, and the external world comprise the psyche model of Freud’s theory. According to Kimmel (2016), these different components of the self emerge gradually through a child’s development as the ego tries to navigate its way through the narrow straits presented by the incessant demands of the id and the imperious claims of the

We’re more isolated, have fewer close confidants and friends, and have little social support for family life, save a heaping helping of “family values.” Marriage rates have consistently declined and cohabitation rates have increased dramatically in the past two decades.

Despite this, says Kimmel, the resilient aspect is ever-so prevalent. “American families have changed dramatically over the course of our history, and the family form continues to adapt to changing circumstances. Marriage remains quite popular, with more than nine in ten Americans taking the plunge. The proportion of women who remain single all their lives is actually lower today than it was at the start of the twentieth century. More men than ever are identifying themselves as fathers, and there are more single fathers raising children than ever before as well” (Kimmel 2016).

Despite the nuclear family not exactly being in crisis, the notion of “misplaced nostalgia” still largely influences the family values debate. Society’s creation of the nuclear family – white, mother and father with children, successful, suburbia – is something that many Americans are still trying to achieve and emulate