Gender and Sexuality

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Recommended: The impacts of the gender stereotype

Males and females are classed differently from the moment they are pronounced boy or girl. Gender determines the differences in power and control in which men and women have over the socioeconomic determinants of their health, lives and status in their community. Our society moulds how men and women should and should not behave and can be observed in all parts of our society. As a result of these Gender stereotypes men and women have issues which affect their health which are unique to each gender. Males for example are perceived to be greater risk takers as a whole in our society than that of females. We represent risk taking behavior with masculinity and violence, high speed driving and contact sport with the male gender. (Doyle 2005)

From the time a male first starts to walk many parents will give him toys which promote violence, they will sign their young boys up for rugby league and buy them the computer games which are based on violent behavior. This perception that the male gender needs to exuberate this type of conduct is a large part due to the society we live in and how males are perceived. Women however due to their lighter frames and child bearing needs are deemed to be more delicate and sensitive then that of the male gender and are suited to more subtle and less aggressive games and often play with dolls as children, are not taught to stand up for themselves and are enrolled in sports such as netball and dancing.

Traditionally we have lived in a patriarchal society, in which males were assumed to be the breadwinners of the family to hold down a job and support the household. Women have been characterized as the housewife whom takes care of the family and looks after her husband. This is known as the division of labor, males were seen as the dominant sex purely because they contributed to the family?s material well being of the family more than that of the female.(Brettall & Sargent 2004) Only in recent times has this theory started to change with many women now in the workforce. Males still however dominate the participation rates in the workforce as well as occupying the majority of highly placed positions. In 1996 women in the workforce was calculated at 54% whilst males were 74% still a twenty percent difference but a big change from the 48 percent difference in a 1966 poll. (Zadoroznyj, M)

This change in the workforce with now many w...

... middle of paper ...

...les. Many problems are biologically based yet there are many health issues which are due to the social construction of gender in our society.

References:

Brettell and Sargent. "Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective" Prentice Hall; 4 edition (August 12, 2004)

Burck and Speed. (2005) Gender, Power and relationships. London and New York. Routledge.

Garrett, Stephanie. (1992) "Gender (Society Now)" Routledge

Kessler and McKenna. (2008) Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach,. Chicago and London. The University of Chicago Press.

Doyle, J. (2005) Sex and Gender: The Human experience. Iowa. Wm. C. Brown Publishers.

Wainrib, B. (1992) Gender Issues Across the Life Cycle. New York. Sprinder Publishing Company Inc.

WHO "Unequal, Unfair, Ineffective and Inefficient Gender Inequity in Health: Why it exists and how we can change it" World Health Organization. 2007 Web.

http://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/csdh_media/wgekn_final_report_07.pdf

Zadoroznyj, Maria. (1999) "Social Class, Social Selves and Social Control in Childbirth." Blackwell Publishers Ltd/Editorial Board. Web.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9566.00156/pdf

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