Social Meaning Of Gender

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Social Meanings of Gender Aaron H. Devor, professor of sociology and formerly Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, portrays in his article, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender” from the book Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality, how society affects the stereotypes we have when it comes to the gender. In this article, Devor describes how gender identity begins at a very young age; “Children begin to settle into a gender identity between the age of eighteen months and two years.” Children subsequently grow to understand which specific gender grouping they belong to. Moreover, this also depends on the child’s cultural idea of how each gender is perceived. Gender is lightly shielded in some societies while there are very strict behaviors between men and women in other cultures. Society plays an enormous role in defining …show more content…

It feels like that’s all there is and there isn’t anymore. You’re either a boy or a girl and that’s how your parents raised you. The gender role as a male or female is just the “natural” way of doing things. If anyone diverges from their assigned role, it is considered unnatural and even immoral by many. I agree with Devor’s opinion that gender roles are taught at such an early age before the child can even realize that they don’t have to follow these societal norms. I am not saying that a person should be able to choose if they are male or female, one should just accept who you are and what gender you were born with. My point is that you should be able to choose your behavior as a male or female. Individuals should be able to decide for themselves if they want to be more masculine or feminine regardless of their genders. In addition, their parents should be supportive of their choices despite of what seems “natural” according to

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