Social Construction of Gender Societies construct of gender is defined as the two binary sexs, male and female. This can come from a medical definition of gender being hormones, chromosomes and anatomy. This label is a tool used to define others as it helps humans understand their own behaviors and how to react to others. However these labels can sometimes be restricting, and pressure conforming. They help create discrimination and sexism between the genders. It is an important topic for Women and Gender Studies, as it allows one to evaluate their own behavior based on the societies pressured behaviors and to understand systematic operation of “deviant” genders. The gender binary is so ingrained in American culture that how one acts, …show more content…
Sex meaning the physical attributes of someone be it hormonal, chronological or anatomical. “...social institution of gender depends on the production and maintenance of a limited number of gender statuses and of making the members of these statuses similar to each other” (Lorber 57). To divide the sexs, and therefore gender, society puts them into masculine and feminine categories. The phallus being the underlying symbol of masculinity; there is great emphasis on the phallus and or lack thereof. If there is a working phallus at birth the child could be considered a male, if the phallus is too small or unresponsive it then may be considered a female. Then the action and emotions of the sexs are also gendered. Masculinity and Femininity are divided by the concept of intimacy. A “male” will be strong and less intimate with both their feeling and others while a “female” is allowed to be in tune and intimate about their feels and others. It is these strict statutes that define the social definition of …show more content…
With modern technology doctors try to pinpoint just what gender the child should be. However to which one of these can be credited with fully gendering an individual, for there is not one indisputable aspect of someone who is intersex, is up for debate. At this time in the infant's life these labels are pushed onto them, for better or for worse. The International Bill of Gender Rights states, “It is fundamental that individuals have the right to define, and to redefine as their lives unfold, their own gender identities, without regard to...initial gender role.” While giving an intersex child a gender seems to be the normal, natural thing to do it may not be the best. International Bill of Gender Rights also states “All human beings have the right to control their bodies, which includes the right to change their bodies cosmetically, chemically, or surgically, so as to express a self-defined gender identity.” If the child being intersex is not harmful to its healthy, why is it such a necessity to sometimes surgically alter its appearance? This alteration is usually to help the parents connect with the child more, to understand them as one sex or the other and to help strangers do the same. Yet this also takes away the child's options later in life if they had wished to look and live as someone who is intersex. It is a conformity that takes away one's
Overviewing our information, there is evidence of ethical wrongs and rights when considering sexual reassignment treatments for minors. Also, there are multiple options to choose from when transitioning and risks and gains that come with each. As we read from Dr. Kaufman and Dr. Beaver, the natural effects of puberty are irreversible while the effects of puberty blockers and hormones are reversible. Then from Dr. McHugh, gender dysphoria belongs in the family of similarly disordered assumptions about the body and should be treated in other ways than blockers, hormones, or
Sex exists in a binary system of male and female, and people can be forced into this binary. A mother of an intersex child states that the surgery comes from “the message that a child’s body is not acceptable as-is and should conform to what the state thinks it should be” (“Their Baby Was Born”). Sex, just like gender, exists in a binary, and when individuals do not fall into the two categories, society becomes uncomfortable. Sex, like gender, is socially constructed (Fausto-Sterling). This means that sex is a spectrum and not the binary it has been made to be. However, society continues to see the binary as normal and will attempt to force individuals to fit the already established system. Because they are in the middle of the sex spectrum rather than at the ends, most intersex individuals in the documentary experienced and continue to experience the same pressures to conform described by the mother and Fausto-Sterling. One person identified with the female gender, but her mother raised her as male. Despite her gender identification, she was continually told to be more masculine and to conform to her assigned male sex and gender. Others also had their appearance shaped through surgery and other means to fit into the sex-gender binary but now choose to identify as neither male nor female. However, this lack of gender-sex identification can leave them socially isolated since
While sex refers the biological characteristics that make up a person, their gender is determined by the behaviors and attitudes considered “proper” by society according to their sex.
The word gender refers to a general classification of human beings into male and female with socially and culturally constructed characteristics, behaviors, attributes and roles preconceived and labelled as appropriate for each class. The society and culture today have placed human beings in a box which to a large extent dictates how we act in the world.
Everyone dreams of the day they will meet their children. From a young age, you can hear people saying the plans and desires they have for their future boy or girl. Our society is constructed in such a manner that everything operates under this male-female dichotomy. However, this system of operation is not always applicable. Cases where this is evident is when intersex babies are born. Intersex babies are born with genitalia that do not pertain entirely to either males or females, hence the term, intersex. Parents are unsure of what to think about their child. What should they name it? What colors shall they dress them in? Will they raise it as a boy or a girl? They are consumed with questions that are normally answered by assignation to a sex category.
The clusters of social definitions used to identify persons by gender are collectively known as “femininity” and “masculinity.” Masculine characteristics are used to identify persons as males, while feminine ones are used as signifiers for femaleness. People use femininity or masculinity to claim and communicate their membership in their assigned, or chosen, sex or gender. Others recognize our sex or gender more on the basis of these characteristics than on the basis of sex characteristics, which are usually largely covered by clothing in daily life.
According to the DSM-5, gender dysphoria is “the distress that may accompany the incongruence between one’s experienced or expressed gender and one’s assigned gender” (American Psychological Association, 2013). Even though studies have shown that not every individual suffers from distress, it is still possible that an individual might suffer from distress due to the hormonal treatment or surgical procedure(s). In the past, gender dysphoria has been referred to as “gender identity”. However, gender identity, by the DSM-IV definition, is “a category of social identity and refers to an individual’s identification as male, female, or occasionally, some category other than male or female” (American Psychological Association, 2000). Individuals that identify themselves with another gender tend to change their gender, which has been proven to be a hard and long process.
Social Construction of Gender Today’s society plays a very important role in the construction of gender. Gender is a type of issue that has raised many questions over the years in defining and debating if both male and female are equal. Today, gender is constructed in four different ways. The The first way gender is defined is by the family in which a child is raised.
Society today suggest that revealing the “gender” or “sex” of a child from the moment of conception forward is a necessity. But, in all actuality to some this is an invasion of their privacy and beliefs. Many believe that raising a child gender specific is not important to their upbringing or to their growth and development. Gender is defined with several different meanings such as the behavioral, cultural or psychological traits typically associated with the one sex. The sex of an individual, male or female, based on reproductive anatomy (the category to which an individual is assigned on the basis of sex) and the personal traits or personality that we attach to being male or female. Sex is defined as the biological distinctions determined by our genitalia.
The terms sex, gender and sexuality relate with one another, however, sociologists had to distinguish these terms because it has it’s own individual meaning. Sex is the biological identity of a person when they are first born, like being a male or female. Gender is the socially learned behaviors and expectations associated with men and women like being masculine or feminine. Gender can differentiate like being a man, woman, transgender, intersex, etcetera. Sexuality refers to desire, sexual preference, and sexual identity and behavior (1). Sexuality can differentiate as well like being homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, etcetera. Like all social identities, gender is socially constructed. In the Social Construction of Gender, this theory shows
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.
Before doing research, I always thought that intersex can be determined at birth. But intersex sometimes isn’t noticeable until a person goes through puberty or if they find out that they aren’t able to reproduce as adults. When we say what is considered intersex, we mean what sexual anatomy makes you a person with intersex. Intersex is a category that was socially made up by biological variations. In today’s world, we decide what certain things are considered to be normal. We as humans come up with the decisions to say what is considered to be a small penis or a large clitoris and what weird combinations of body parts counts as intersex. There are different things that happens for one to be considered intersex. Doctors toda...
In order to grasp the concept of social construction of gender, it is essential to understand the difference between sex and gender. Biologically, there are only two reproductive genital organs that are determinants of sex: the vagina and the penis. Sex is established solely through biological structures; in other words, genitalia are the basis of sex. Once a sex category is determined, gender, a human categorization socially attached to sex, is assigned based on anatomy. Gender typically references social or cultural differen...
Sex denotes to the bodily and birth features of men and women. Sex is the categorization of people into male and female groups based in biological characteristics. While gender is the cultural or social interpretation of sex; putting people into male behavioral and female expectations groups based on association with biological being a socially characteristics appropriate man or woman. In “The Social Construction of Gender”, “When sociologist refer to the social construction of gender, they are referring to the many different process by which the expectations associated with being a boy or girl are passed through society”. (p.22)
Sex and gender are terms that are mixed up from day to day and seen as similarities rather than differences. Sex is what distinguishes people from being either male or female. It is the natural or biological variations between males and females (Browne, 1998). Some of these variations are genitals, body hair and internal and external organs. It is the make-up of chromosomes, men have one X and one Y chromosome and women have two X chromosomes, these are responsible for primary characteristics (Fulcher and Scott, 2003). Gender on the other hand refers to the sociological differences between male and female. This is teaching males and females to behave in various ways due to socialisation (Browne, 1998). Example: masculinity and femininity. Girls are supposed to show their femininity by being non-competitive, sensitive, dependent, attractive and placid. If and when some girls don’t succeed in keeping this image they will be referred to as a tomboy. On the other hand, boys show their masculinity through aggression, physical strength...