Social Construction of Gender - 1183 Words

BIBLOGRAPHY 1. â€Å"Night to His Day† – Judith Lorber 2. Wikipedia 3. Judith Butler 4. Yahoo 5. http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/ARTH200/ gender.html In order to understand the answer of the above question, it is very important to understand what exactly is â€Å"Gender† and what a â€Å"Social Construct† means. GENDER In a layman’s language, Gender is simply the distinction between male and female. However, if we look deeper in well, we will notice the gender construction starts with the association of sex category at the time of birth. Sex is the biological distinction between a man and a woman and gender is based on sex. A sex category becomes a gender status through naming, dress and†¦show more content†¦The building blocks of gender are socially constructed statuses. Western societies have only two genders, man and woman. Some societies have three genders-men, women, and berdaches or hijras or xaniths. Berdaches, hijras, and xaniths are biological males who behave, dress, work, and are treated in most respects as social women; they are therefore not men, nor are they female women; they are, in our language, male women.4 There are African and American Indian societies that have a gender status called manly-hearted Women- biological females who work, marry, and parent as men; their social status is female men. They do not have to behave or dress as men to have the social responsibilities and rights of husbands and fathers. As a social institution, gender is a process of creating distinguishable social statuses for the duty of rights and responsibilities. As a process, gender creates the social differences that define woman and man. In social interaction throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected, see what is expected, act and react in expected ways, and thus simultaneously construct and maintain the gender order. In a gender-stratified society, what men do is usually valued more highly than what women do because men do it, even when their activities are very similar or theShow MoreRelatedGender And Social Construction Of Gender1230 Words   |  5 Pages‘Gender’ is a category used by all human beings to describe the state of being either male or female. Gender is often described as socially constructed which implies that it is something individuals may not be aware of. Through the social construction of a concept, meanings are created. These meanings and understandings are developed in coordination with other individuals rather than within individuals themselves. Because all societies are different, the social construction and therefore definitionsRead MoreThe Social Construction Of Gender1220 Words   |  5 PagesQuestion 3 In the reading â€Å"The social Construction of Gender† by Judith Lorber she describes how gender is socially constructed. Sex is the biological difference while gender is the social and cultural meanings attached to femininity and masculinity (lecture). From the time that a child is born the doctor assigns it a gender, girl or boy, depending on its genitalia. In the reading â€Å"Naming All the Parts† it focused on how when doctors view genitalia to decide the gender they say there is a penis orRead MoreThe Social Construction Of Gender978 Words   |  4 PagesSociologist Peter Berger wrote in his â€Å"Invitation to Sociology† book that â€Å"social reality has layers of meaning, and the discovery of each new layer changes the perception of the whole.† (Berger 1963). Berger, as a sociologist responsible for helping create the social constructionism theory, is not just extending an invitation to sociology. He is already explaining how the world can be vi ewed by people who already are actively participating in society. This consciousness allows the layer of how peopleRead MoreGender Is A Social Construction?849 Words   |  4 Pages First, what is gender? What does it mean to say that gender is a social construction? Gender refers to the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male. (Macionis 2015:308) The society in which we live produces our views of what women and men are and what they are supposed to be. However, many people say that gender is â€Å"socially constructed†. Basically meaning it is constructed by society. For many decades, it has been what gender should representRead MoreThe Social Construction Of Gender1000 Words   |  4 Pagesas the definition of gender and gender norms. Judith Lorber wrote an essay called, The Social Construction of Gender. The essay was included in the textbook, Women s Lives. A textbook written by Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okinawa Rey. †Å"Women’s Lives† is a Feminist focused compilation of essays. As well as, cultural analysis of women globally. Lorber is one of many authors who wrote essays regarding gender for â€Å"Women’s Lives. Lorber argues gender constantly changes due to social interaction. A societyRead MoreThe Social Construction Of Gender Essay1297 Words   |  6 Pagesownership of their bodies. The first article is â€Å"The Social Construction of Gender† by Judith Lorber. In this essay she states that sex and gender is constructed through the society in which we live and that, â€Å"Gender is so pervasive that in our society we assume it is bred into our genes† (Lorber, 64). Lorber’s article takes the standpoint that physical gender expression is such an important topic to individuals because when the conventions of gender are shifted, â€Å"we feel socially dislocated† (65). AnRead MoreThe Social Construction Of Gender989 Words   |  4 PagesRace is a system of categories put in place by society in order to make each individual fit into a certain social group. It is due to societies implementation of such a system that individuals in these racial categories do not always look at each other as equals, causing a race to not always identify themselves as a homogenous front. This essay will delve into the poetry of a popular Def Jam spoken word artist Black Ice, whose piece Bigger Than Mine looks into the dualism within Black society inRead MoreThe Social Construction Of Gender832 Words   |  4 PagesSex, as we have learned, refers to the physical and anatomical differences between males and females. These differences are biological and unambiguous. Gender on the other hand, refers to the aspects that influence each sex and make them distinct from a social standpoint, and each of us does gender constantly. The social construction of gender has caused controversy throughout the years, and has ultimately conceived one of the most contended topics in our society of late: feminism. Feminism refersRead MoreThe Social Construction Of Gender957 Words   |  4 Pagesregulations in which people have to obey making social life be structured. Society has expectations for people to live by. People tend to live up to the norms in order to feel part of the world. Individuals do not want to be judged and labeled, so unconsciously live by the roles that they believe their gender has to follow. Gender is socially constructed concept in which society acts upon. The family is the first to influence individuals to this idea. Gender has roles in which boys and girls are supposedRead MoreGender Is A Social Construction1213 Words   |  5 PagesS One cannot talk about social interactions in society without talking about gender. Gender is part of According to Macionis (2015), gender is â€Å"the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male†. Most societies only view gender as being either male or female. An individual must portray their gender correctly in order to be normal in society. Meaning a woman must act feminine and a man must act masculine. However, what happens when an individual chooses