The Social Construction Of Gender

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

Level one is “Gendered Selves,” which is the gender we are when we are born into this world. An example is how young boys and girls are treated in society and how they fit into their set standards. Young boys and girls don’t really have an option of what toys they receive because their parents will get them what fits their gender. Boys are given what is sold in the boy section while girls are given what is sold in the girl section. It is really hard distinguishing boy and girl toys and actually finding general neutral toys. Level two is “Gendered Social Structure” which means gender is the one of the organizing principles of society. An example of level two is how men and women are separated when it comes to restrooms. Level Three is “Doing Gender” which is an accomplished activity and something we are constantly improving. An example of this is a boy wearing make up. This is an accomplishment for the boy because he is doing something he loves and it makes him internally happy. In Margaret Andersen’s essay, “The Social Construction of Gender,” she explains how even if you were born male or female, gender and sexuality makes up how you are going to grow up in society

According to Andersen and Howard Francis Taylor, race is a group treated as a distinct in society based on certain characteristics some of which are biological, that have been assigned social importance (2). In Social Construction of Race, race is not biologically but socially constructed. In Madison Grant’s The Passing of the Great Race, he writes about the Nordic superiority and he argues for a eugenic program. This book is considered a main book when dealing with scientific racism. In this book there are three groups of people: Mediterranean, Nordic and Alpine. The Mediterranean were the intellectuals, the Nordic were the rulers, and the Alpine were the peasants. The new movement, eugenics, was led by Sir Francis Galton. Eugenics means well-born, a pseudoscience that postulates that controlling the fertility of populations could influence inheritable traits passed on from generation to generation (1). In Dalton Conley’s book Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth, and Social Policy in America, he talks about the persistence of racial inequality or wealth inequality. The wealth are look at as the “nest egg.” What this means is the wealth and credit are passed down from one generation to the next. There are many events that fall in the social construction of race theory. The Irish became white in early