Essay On Social Construction

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1. Provide a 1-2 sentence operational definition of “social construction.” What is an example of social construction. (3pts; full sentences)

The society has a certain expectation of us based on the differences in our characteristics, such as race, gender, or class. We might not be aware of the presence of social construction; however, the society’s expectation dictates on how people supposed to act, think, behave, and response. For example, social construction of gender begins at birth when the doctor tries to decide whether a baby is a boy or a girl based on what the baby’s genitalia and other secondary sex characteristics, such as gonads and sex chromosomes, look like. After the doctor classifies the baby as either a boy or a girl, the parents continue with the social construction process as they dress and provide toys for the baby. The parents of a baby girl tend to dress the baby in a pink–colored dress and provide the baby with dolls or cooking toys, while the parents of a baby boy tend to dress the baby in blue-colored pants and provide the baby with building blocks or car toys. As the children grow, the society expects them to behave according to the assigned genders. The children learn the society’s expectations by observing and imitating others with the same gender as them. Therefore, it is particularly difficult for a person with both sexes like Cheryl Chase to live in a society where the conception of gender is dichotomous, because she does not fit into the either one of the two categories of gender that the society accepts (Weil, 2006).

2. Discuss 3 differences between public health and medicine. [6 pts; full sentences]

Firstly, public health focuses on preventing illness in the community, while medicine focu...

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... that emerged from high-level prejudice community increases the risk of contracting HIV through risky sexual behavior such as unprotected anal sex. However, the data on HIV might not be accurate because the survey that the study used only identifies the main cause of death, which could leave the presence of HIV/AIDS at death remained undetected. In addition, the study used different surveys from different time periods. Responds from the early years of HIV epidemic might be underestimated because the existence of the disease was not yet widely known.

j. The authors discuss the consistency of their findings with previous research. Name 2 other groups who experience similar increased risk? [2 pts]
Other groups that experience similar increased risk of premature mortality are Blacks living in Jim Crow states and Whites living in high-level of anti-Black prejudice.

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