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Gender and sexual orientation
Gender and sexual orientation
Gender and sexual orientation
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Having the opportunity to read many essays such as "The Man We Carry in Our Minds" by Scott Russell Sanders, "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, "Why Boys Don 't Play with Dolls" by Katha Pollitt, and "Our Barbies, Ourselves" by Emily Prager, it has been amazing for me. Now, I could better understand about how life would be much easier or much harder for many people through generations. In this paper, I want to argue and discuss about if biological, social, and cultural factor are important in shaping gender role. Also, I want to explore how females or males are more restricted by conventional gender role.
Briefly, I would like to analyze some key point before giving my own opinion about what this essay will treat. Thinking about the biological, social
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In other words, these factors affect the way in which people think; and how they behave in social situations. For instance, in “The Men We Carry in Our Mind,” Sanders wrote this essay based on his own experiences to let the readers know about his point of view in different situation through his life. Cultural factors are the beliefs, values, traditions, customs, laws, and language founded by a nation or a society. They include artistic value, marriage customs, and religious beliefs that are native to a particular region. When I read “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, I learned about the cultural factors that the author expressed in her essay to teach her daughter the best way to subsist in her society. Gender role is the role or conduct known by people as adequate to their gender (female or male), determined by their predominant norms. It is a group of societal norms showing what type of behaviors are generally possible, convenient or desirable for people based on their actual or perceived sex. A simple instance of this occurs in "Our Barbies, Ourselves," the author Emily Prager wrote that the Barbies (the preferred dolls by girls) created by Mr. Jack Ryan "looks like someone who …show more content…
From my own opinion without judging how people can think and respecting people 's different point of view, I believe biological factors are elements that definitely could affect the nature or outcome of human behavior. Contemplating different girls and boys, I have been analyzing how biological factors affect them in a positive way. When I see a girl playing with her dolls, I can observe how sensible and appreciable they are; and how they take care of their dolls. My interpretation of this is that girls were born with a sense of maternity. Despite that maternity is achieved when girls become women, I feel that girls come with this beautiful sense inside their bodies. This can explain how sensible girls are with their dolls. Girls appear to be little mothers. Many times, they play with her dolls without having a teacher that teaches them how to do it. Despite that there is not a teacher teaching how to be a mother or a school to study this important aspect in the women 's lives, the girls know how to take care of their dolls like mothers take care of their babies. In my particular opinion, I believe that the boys were born less sensitive than girls about maternity, but with an amazing, brave and strength that characterizes or describes the distinctive nature or features of the future men. From my point of view, I think boys have a brave, extraordinary strength that characterizes or
Young children are typically raised around specific sex-types objects and activities. This includes the toys that that are given, activities that they are encouraged to participate in, and the gender-based roles that they are subjected to from a young age. Parents are more likely to introduce their daughters into the world of femininity through an abundance of pink colored clothes and objects, Barbie dolls, and domestic chores such as cooking and doing laundry (Witt par. 9). Contrarily, boys are typically exposed to the male world through action figures, sports, the color blue, and maintenance-based chores such as mowing the lawn and repairing various things around the house (Witt par. 9). As a result, young children begin to link different occupations with a certain gender thus narrowing their decisions relating to their career goals in the future. This separation of options also creates a suppresses the child from doing something that is viewed as ‘different’ from what they were exposed to. Gender socialization stemming from early childhood shapes the child and progressively shoves them into a small box of opportunities and choices relating to how they should live their
There are many different facets to the nature versus nurture argument that has been going on for decades. One of these, the influence of nature and nurture on gender roles and behaviors, is argued well by both Deborah Blum and Aaron Devor, both of whom believe that society plays a large role in determining gender. I, however, have a tendency to agree with Blum that biology and society both share responsibility for these behaviors. The real question is not whether gender expression is a result of nature or nurture, but how much of a role each of these plays.
In “The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?” Deborah Blum states that “gender roles of our culture reflect an underlying biology” (Blum 679). Maasik and Solomon argue that gender codes and behavior “are not the result of some sort of natural or biological destiny, but are instead politically motivated cultural constructions,” (620) raising the question whether gender behavior begins in culture or genetics. Although one may argue that gender roles begin in either nature or nurture, many believe that both culture and biology have an influence on the behavior.
Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons reflect two unique societal struggles. While both texts deal with a main character attempting to overcome society’s resistance to progress, they delineate from each other in the characters’ relative successes as well as divergent societal implications. The formal cause of these differences is ultimately societal mores as well as contrasting aims: Ibsen deals with feminism, whereas Turgenev discusses nihilism. However, both novels were written in the 19th century and dealt with local issues, where the implications beyond their respective societies were disregarded. Hence, these two texts both play an important role in their respective societies. However, these two texts are harbingers for two contrasting revolutions, where A Doll’s House and Fathers and Sons feature enlightened and darkened protagonists respectively. While both Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House challenge traditional society’s thoughts and beliefs, the diction, character arcs, author’s tone and exposition reflect contrasting opinions on the successes of the two revolutionary attempts.
This article was written to bring attention to the way men and women act because of how they were thought to think of themselves. Shaw and Lee explain how biology determines what sex a person is but a persons cultures determines how that person should act according to their gender(Shaw, Lee 124). The article brings up the point that, “a persons gender is something that a person performs daily, it is what we do rather than what we have” (Shaw, Lee 126). They ...
In Katha Pollitt’s essay “Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls,” she explains the differences between the genders and she argues how feminist movements are hardly appreciated. Pollitt further demonstrates that women’s have the same power as any men have, but society doesn’t let women get higher than men. Pollitt explains that, “It’s twenty-eight years since the founding of NOW, and boys still like trucks and girls still like dolls” (544). From here, we can infer that the author is comparing the activities of boys and girls, and their choices of toys. Since, I am able to read and see the World, I saw that all the time that boys are more rivalry. There have always been presumptions in society that boys are very outgoing and bold, on the other hand, whereas girls are a little laid back sometimes. Girls play quietly and with non-hunting objects. However, boys always make noises. In addition, Pollitt keeps using the word “feminism” throughout her essay, and talks about how women and men should have equal rights. For example girls can do the same things as boys can do or vice versa. I can relate to this story as I grew up with two brothers who always played with cars, trucks, and other toys like dragons, but I was expected to stay away from their things and go play with my, so called, girly stuff.
Gender may be a universal concept, but the meaning of gender differs between societies. The way humans behave, speak, experience, think, and view the world is the final product of socialization. From the moment the sex of a fetus is known, humans are being molded into the person society wants them to be. Different parts of society have different functions in the gender-socialization process. The familial relationships and interactions one has with their immediate surroundings—peers, school, religion, and neighborhood—are the most influential aspects of gender development. Loosely connected societal influences like mass media, politics, and culture are influential as well. Throughout childhood, one’s family and interactions with their immediate surroundings teach and reinforce gender, while the rest of society acts as a reinforcer. During adolescence, the broader society begins to take on a minor instructor role in relation to the family in the further development of gender. Essentially, family always acts as the main gender instructor and reinforcer, while society acts as the secondary gender instructor and reinforcer.
All around the world society has created an ideological perspective for the basis of gender roles. Gender and sex are often times misused and believed to be interchangeable. This is not the case. There are two broad generalization of sexes; female and male, yet there is a vast number of gender roles that each sex should more or less abide by. The routinely cycle of socially acceptable behaviors and practices is what forms the framework of femininity and masculinity. The assigned sex categories given at birth have little to do with the roles that a person takes on. Biological differences within females and males should not be used to construe stereotypes or discriminate within different groups. Social variables such as playing with dolls or
The socio-biological theory suggests gender appropriate behaviour has evolved to allow humanity to survive. There is supporting evidence in the composition of the human body; men have a larger lung capacity and greater physical strength than women in order to better equip them for protecting their family. In contrast, women are born with child-bearing capacities and are therefore biologically predetermined to care for their children, thus ensuring the human race survives.
and behavior of the child. In fact, the more we understand about development and behavior, the better. the more obvious it becomes that nature and nurture are similarly influences. rather than determinants, not only singly but also in combination. Here below, I will endeavour to expose the leading theories dealing with the question of nature.
Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.
The conclusion of this essay is that there are four prime factors that construct gender role in today’s society. They include our family, society, educational systems and self conscious. There are other cultural products that affect the gender within these four. category. The.
Someone can physically look like their parents, siblings or even ancestors from the third generation. When a baby is born, it is common to learn in a natural way. No one teaches a baby how to crawl or how to react when he and she is hungry. However, talents, qualities and personalities are developed through experiences. The environment in which people grew up can have a lasting effect or influence on the way they talk, behave and respond to things around. According to Steven Pinker, Behavioral genetics has shown that temperament emerges early in life and remains fairly constant throughout the life span, that much of the variation among people within a culture comes from differences in genes, and that in some cases particular genes can be tied to aspects of cognition, language, and personality (2). Researchers believe that the origin of behaviors occur in genes in the DNA or even animal instincts which this concept is known as nature of human behavior. Other researchers believe that people are they were they are because they are taught to do so. This concept is well known as nurture in human behavior. In society, there will always be the doubt between Do we born in this way or do we behave according to life experiences? I strongly believe that nurture plays an important role in the upbringing of a child and the decisions that one makes in the future. Firstly, humans learn from their environment and other’s behaviors. Secondly, culture is a huge remark in people’s life. Finally,
Gender is such a ubiquitous notion that humans assume gender is biological. However, gender is a notion that is made up in order to organize human life. It is created and recreated giving power to the dominant gender, creating an inferior gender and producing gender roles. There are many questionable perspectives such as how two genders are learned, how humans learn their own gender and others genders, how they learn to appropriately perform their gender and how gender roles are produced. In order to understand these perspectives, we must view gender as a social institution. Society bases gender on sex and applies a sex category to people in daily life by recognizing gender markers. Sex is the foundation to which gender is created. We must understand the difference between anatomical sex and gender in order to grasp the development of gender. First, I will be assessing existing perspectives on the social construction of gender. Next, I will analyze three case studies and explain how gender construction is applied in order to provide a clearer understanding of gender construction. Lastly, I will develop my own case study by analyzing the movie Mrs. Doubtfire and apply gender construction.
Throughout history every culture, society, and civilization has sought to define what it is to be male or female. Some of these societies were matriarchal in nature, but many more were patriarchal. These differences may have stemmed from religious ideology or may have been due, inadvertently, to geographical location. Perhaps it was simply a matter of how they decided to divide the daily labor or chores required to live and prosper. No matter how gender role is decided or perhaps despite how it has been determined, society feels a need to label and categorize, which is seen in the play, A Doll’s House. The purpose of this paper is to compare gender roles and how they have