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Social and cultural construction of gender
Gender in society
Gender in society
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Becoming aware of gender was something that happened late in my life. I grew up knowing there was a difference between boys and girls, but never sought out more information on gender. When my close friend came out as trans, it was a shock to what I considered within the realm of ‘normal’ life. After joining social media communities, such as Tumblr, I became well acquainted with the LGBTQ community and the concept that gender lies hidden in plain sight within all that we do. This new awareness of the gender spectrum led me to re-analyze the way I interacted with gender, from a young age to today.
Growing up in a white, upper-middle class family had many impacts on the way I do gender. My father makes enough money that he alone is able to support our family, which allowed my mother to stay at home to raise myself and my three younger siblings. Household chores were done by my mother while we were at school and my father was at work. Not to say there was no mobility within these gender roles, but they followed the traditional model with a male breadwinner and a
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Gender was something I never challenged, having been given no motive to do so. I wonder how my identity would differ had I been exposed to the concept of a gender spectrum at a younger age. By identifying as a gay woman I face several struggles regarding gender and gender norms, and my privilege of being born cisgender has also had a major effect on my life. I built my gender identity primarily during my childhood, and later brought into question by education on sex and gender through my interest in studying gender. Throughout this process I was impacted by how society defines gender, whether or not I was aware of it at the time. It wasn’t until I realized what a large role gender played in society that I could really analyze my own identity and I was able to be confident as
The definition of gender has become way more revolutionary and expressive compared to the twentieth century. Gender used to be similar to sex where someone would be identified as a male or female based on their biological genitals however, this day in age it is way more complex. Someone can be born a male but mentally they feel like a male. In “Sisterhood is complicated” Ruth Padawer explains the journey of different transgender males and the obstacles they face while attending Wellesley college. Wellesley is a women’s college that has been around for a very long time and is in the process of the battling the conflict of whether they should admit transgender students. Ariel Levy author of “Female Chauvinist Pigs” tackles the stereotypes and
I was assigned to the female sex category at birth and raised as a girl; the very fact that I can state that simple statement and people can get a fairly clear idea how I was raised shows just how intertwined we are with the social construction of gender. Women can relate because they were probably raised in a similar fashion, and men know that they were raised differently than I was. This is one of the many ways our society supports Lorber’s claim that gender translates to a difference among the binary American society operates on (Lorber, pp. 47-48). My parents kept my hair long until I decided to donate it when I was 12 years old, my ears were pierced when I was 8 years old, and
I always sensed that I was not a “girl’ and would partake activities such as sports and distancing myself from drama that is considered “girly”. I also have a niche for masculine things such as clothing and play video games, which are marketed profusely towards boys and men. At the same time, I did not feel like a “boy”. I was, during my early childhood, elementary, and pre-teen years labeling my as an “outsider” due to the perception of myself not fitting in. I went on to take on my persona as this “tomboy” while still having a distinctive identity that was not matching with the beliefs of how transgender people were in the
How do you describe yourself? What is gender to you? Are you comfortable with yourself? In “The Freedom to Choose Your Pronoun” by Jennifer Conlin, she talks about high school and college students who question the gender roles being assigned to individuals due to being born female or male. Supporters of preferred gender pronouns (also known as P.G.P’s), are glad to be able to choose their own pronoun as in to how they feel about their selves and not in how society sees them. In agreement to Conlin, anyone deserves the right to choose their own pronoun at whatever age desired, if someone feels confused of what they feel within themselves, they shouldn’t hide it, they should speak up and receive support to decide what they really want their
In this article, Shaw and Lee describe how the action of labels on being “feminine” or “masculine” affect society. Shaw and Lee describe how gender is, “the social organization of sexual difference” (124). In biology gender is what sex a person is and in culture gender is how a person should act and portray themselves. They mention how gender is what we were taught to do in our daily lives from a young age so that it can become natural(Shaw, Lee 126). They speak on the process of gender socialization that teaches us how to act and think in accordance to what sex a person is. Shaw and Lee state that many people identify themselves as being transgendered, which involves a person, “resisting the social construction of gender into two distinct, categories, masculinity and femininity and working to break down these constraining and polarized categories” ( 129). They write about how in mainstream America masculinity and femininity are described with the masculine trait being the more dominant of the two. They define how this contributes to putting a higher value of one gender over the other gender called gender ranking (Shaw, Lee 137). They also speak about how in order for femininity to be viewed that other systems of inequality also need to be looked at first(Shaw,Lee 139).
Although, I did not know much about “performing” gender I always acted myself and did not care what anyone thought about me. It was difficult for me being biracial growing up because I never knew where I fit in. My identity is something that I perform and have always performed in ways that is most comfortable for me. Gender is involved in our everyday lives. It is a way people express who they are and how they want to be represented in society. In the article Doing Gender by West and Zimmerman, they explain how gender is everyday interactions among individuals. Ultimately, gender is socially complex and guided amongst individuals. Gender is decided individually, so to speak, but gender is developed into something that is socially identified. It is a way an individual can express their attitude based on their designated sex category. Gender has been developed into something that is socially defined because of how nature gives abilities to notice differences between masculinity and femininity As stated in the article, by West and Zimmerman, they noted in the article, how it is “necessary to move beyond the notion of gender display to consider what is involved in doing gender as an ongoing activity embedded in everyday interaction.”(West, Zimmerman 1987) There are social interactions involved in everyday situations that correspond with gender that most people don’t recognize. Believe it or not, you wake up every day and probably don’t even realize you are performing your gender identity. Your gender is your role in society and what you make of
Gender differences are influences on gender behavior in the way that one must fit through the assumptions and inevitable confusion to distinguish the reality of the assumption. Men and women are obviously different inherently, but not in what they can and cannot do. Men and women are different and have different roles because this is society presented them to the world. Women have the most difficulty getting through these complicated times. There should be equality among all men and women of all races and ethnicity. This is a never-ending issue. We as a society should always know and act on the importance of gender roles, gender equality, and challenges with education in developed and developing countries.
When separating men and women according to gender, most people would do it based on physical appearance. Would you have ever thought that you can tell whether someone is man or woman according to psyche? Psychological gender differences have had a long history dating back for more than a century. The use psychological research on women began in 1879 which also marks the beginning of formal psychology. Any research done during these years was mostly used to the notion that the white male was supreme over everyone else. This belief is a gender stereotype and children develop their gender based beliefs on such things. I believe children should develop their gender based beliefs from studies that are unbiased and doesn’t favor one gender over another.
When I hear the term Feminism I automatically think its about doing things for women, and what they stand for, so I didn't really have a good idea about it. So I went online and looked it up. "Feminism consists of ideas and beliefs about what culture is like for women just because they are women, compared to what the world is like for men just because they are men. In ethical terms, this form or aspect of feminism is descriptive. The assumption in feminism is that women are not treated equally to men, and that women are disadvantaged in comparison to men" (http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/a/feminism.htm). I have to say I definitely agree that women and are not treated the same as men, and I don't think we ever will. Theres a saying I believe it is "its a mans world", I don't know if I believe that. I just feel like men were always held
Sex is the biological classification of male or female according to genitalia at birth. An example is when a baby is born with a vagina its sex is automatically classified as a female and if it is born with a penis its sex is male. Sex category is identificatory displays that match a person’s biological sex. For instance, a person who is born female will appear to be female through her actions, mannerisms, style, etc. However, sex and sex category can vary independently because a person can claim membership in a sex category that does not match their sex criteria. In other words, a person can be a male but have mannerisms, style, etc. of a female. Gender is the social differences used to determine if someone is a man or a woman regardless of their
Around the world gender is genuinely seen as strictly male or female. If you step out of this “social norm,” you could be considered an outcast. This disassociation includes, biological males/females, interssexed, and transgendered individuals. These people are severely suppressed by society because their gender identification, behaviors, and even their activities deviate from the norm. Most Americans are exceedingly devoted to the concept that there are only two sexes. Therefore, the constrictive American ideals of male and female gender identities inhibits growth and acceptance of gender expression.
As a child grows and conforms to the world around them they go through various stages, one of the most important and detrimental stages in childhood development is gender identity. The development of the meaning of a child’s sex and gender can form the whole future of that child’s identity as a person. This decision whether accidental or genetic can effect that child’s life style views and social interactions for the rest of their lives. Ranging from making friends in school all the way to intimate relationships later on in life, gender identity can become an important aspect to ones future endeavors.
Social Construction of Gender is a process, stratification system and structure. The day to day interactions emphasize gender as opposites. Take for instance, conversations, formalities of daily life, sayings, and so on. The social construction of gender is created through social interaction – through the things we do and say with other people. This means that gender it is not a fixed or inherent fact, but instead it varies across time and place.
The relationship between sex and gender can be argued in many different lights. All of which complicated lights. Each individual beholds a sexual identity and a gender identity, with the argument of perceiving these identities however way they wish to perceive them. However, the impact of gender on our identities and on our bodies and how they play out is often taken for granted in various ways. Gender issues continue to be a hugely important topic within contemporary modern society. I intend to help the reader understand that femininities and masculinities is a social constructed concept and whether the binary categories of “male” and “female” are adequate concepts for understanding and organising contemporary social life with discussing the experiences of individuals and groups who have resisted these labels and forged new identities.
Identities are an important part of the human experience. One of the many identities that creates a person is gender. Society, being the entity establishing social norms and social roles, plays a part in effecting the individual’s gender, and how they choose to express themself. The underlying or overlying identities also have the same effect. Gender is not only an identity, it is a lifestyle inside and out. Gender, like race, class, and sexuality; is not limited to the binary scale, and that is normal, natural, and human. The concept of gender is man-made, but it forces one’s hand to analyze the thought processes behind an individual's perception on gender through self, through society, or through the dichotomy and/or correspondence of the