Social Construction Essay

Individuals acquire their knowledge by organizing messages received and establish cognitions toward the reality by the most frequent and accepted information transmitted through interaction with the world. These cognitions are fundamental elements for social constructions. Social construction refers to the phenomenon in which certain objects and perceptions are created by the society. A social construct that appears to be natural and undeniable for those who believe in it does not necessarily represent the reality; therefore, remains as a social invention. Such notions could be varied throughout certain time periods and across different countries due to diverse cultures between societies. The core concept of social construction is that some

Dress provides a visual cue towards gender and in most cases, the dress makes the man or woman. Children are usually accompanied by their parents when shopping for clothing; therefore, their choices for dress need to be approved by their parents. Children who want to dress specific to opposite gender are prevented by their parents and their behaviours are indicated as inappropriate to their gender. Moreover, parents encourage their children to participate in sex-typed activities to encourage so called ‘male’ or ‘female’ behaviours. Boys are more likely to be supervised by their parents to engage in outdoor activities such as fishing and sports while girls are more likely to participate in artistic activities, which include dancing and drawing. Boys who wish to play house with girls are often ridiculed and ostracized by their peers; in order to avoid these negative effects, children tend to adjust their behaviors to meet other’s expectations. Gender stereotypes could be a result of gender construction; boys and girls are expected to act in different ways and their actions are guided by their parents. Girls are expected to be quiet and careful while boys are allowed to be loud and adventurous. Parents assign their children with gender differentiated household tasks; boys are more likely to have maintenance chores that involve with physical works, such as lawn mowing, whereas girls help with domestic chores, such as doing the laundry. Parents’ assignment of household tasks provides their children with a basic link of certain types of work with