Gender, defined by Sara Arber refers to the social, economical and cultural expectations and norms given to men and women. Gender is an important socially constructed idea that differentiates the roles and responsibilities given to the sexes, deeming what is appropriate and acceptable for men and women as well as the way in which they are treated by their social groups. Social construction is a specific concept based on space and time, thus gender being a social construction, is continuously changing throughout time and varies amongst societies. The socialization of gender has increased the thoughts that males and females acquire certain traits in order to become masculine or feminine, creating gender differences and deeming them as ‘natural’, …show more content…
Sex is a physical classification of men and women by their different natural and biological attributes (chromosomes, sex organs, chromosomes. etc.)(Arber, S and Thomas, 2001:18).In contrast to sex, gender refers to the experience of masculinity and femininity, which relates to the societal norms and roles put in place for men and women. Gender entails the social roles learned by males and females through socialization, linked with culture to understand the different behaviors and social roles expected of men and women, despite biological differences (Vcampus.uom.ac.mu, 2015)(Nobelius, 2004). Owing to the fact that gender is a social construction, ideas of gender change across time and differ within cultures, for example: the ideas of being a man in all cultures and not the same. In many cultures in Thailand, it is okay and acceptable to be a feminist; feminism is not looked down upon, however, in other cultures feminism amongst males is looked down and frowned upon and seen as a sign of weakness because of gender constructed …show more content…
Example: women are socially perceived as weak and inferior to men, allowing women to be undermined and deemed socially and economically powerless. It also portrays an unequal status among men and women; women are portrayed as easy targets for diseases and viruses such as HIV, owing to social constructions and the vulnerability associated with women in a gender and sex perspective. Women are easy targets, thus gang rape, sexual abuse and violence is more common among women and has enormous effects and consequences on physical and mental health (Arber, S and Thomas, 2001:14,15). In addition to HIV, more women are prone to develop illnesses such as osteoporosis, depression, and anxiety. Etc.With reference to osteoporosis, more women are affected than men because of deep social reason –such which relate to why women do not get enough nutrition and exercise. These reasons are influenced by social perception of women, the diet they should have or the roles directed to them, example: women should be at home looking after and caring for the children rather than at the gym exercising to keep healthy (Arber, S and Thomas,
Have you ever realized how society put us in categories, on how we should act according to our gender? Or have you ever watched commercials that actually try to break free from the gender stereotypes? If not then you should pay attention. Gender is something that strongly influences the world around us, whether it influences our behavior or how people treat us, it is still something with great power. Investigating how we are socialized in regards to gender is interesting because it is such a broad topic on how society characterizes everyone by gender.
In recent years, gender has become a hot topic of discussion. Gender is defined as “the state of being male or female”, however, some gender theorists suggest that gender is a social construction that was not founded on sex. According to gender theory, the term gender is not expressing the state of being feminine or masculine. Many suggest that the separation between gender and sex has to deal with dominance being associated with gender as opposed to physical characteristics being associated with sex. Until the rise of industry in the West, the strong divide of gender was not prevalent.
Gender is “a social construct that prescribes the roles, attitudes,
The Impact of Culture and Gender Roles Heather Richardson-Barker Drexel University Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender, as well as the influence of family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role. The term Gender, as defined by the United Nations, includes the psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female or male. It further defines acceptable
Synthesis #1 Our concepts of gender are constructed by our biological characteristics and societal factors. In many societies, these concepts of gender, and the differences in men and women are rooted in tradition. The moment a child is born a kind of social construction begins. A child whether girl or boy will most likely be shown some behaviors on how they should behave according to their biological characteristics. Throughout history, we have seen the same stereotypes placed on gender, men should be strong and brave.
Gender roles are present everywhere and are more and more prevalent the further back you go. They define relationships and heavily influence people's actions. Gender roles can hurt those that are trapped in them because they are not allowed the freedom of living like they want. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one key relationship in the story is wrecked by gender roles.
Gender roles in the twenty first century world have had evolved over the centuries, the general idea that men and women possess distinct characteristics is often treated skeptically, but this is an almost universal view that has been held since the eighteenth century. Ideas about gender differences were derived from classical thought written by patriarchal societies, Christian ideology from the Catholic Church and science and medicine. Men and women were thought to inhabit bodies with different anatomical structures and that thought that they possess fundamentally
Gender roles, also known as gender stereotypes, are social and cultural norms on how females and males should conduct themselves within a society. Every culture has certain roles both genders are expected to follow. An example of this in traditional American culture is a man becoming a doctor while a female becomes a nurse or men being the hard workers and women being stay at home mothers. Gender development researchers, similar to other developmental researchers, focus on questions of change over time in gender related subjects (Ruble and Martin 1988). Research suggest that children are socialized to understand gender stereotypes at an early age.
The phrase gender role is concept of society that defines what behavior society expect form men and women and how they are suppose to act in society . While evolving, what kind of passive and active toys are allowed to play with? What kind of clothes and colors to wear? Unaware route of molding a person to fit in with society 's norms and values is called sociologists as "socialization." Many think that gender stereotyping in form of clothes, toys or books or along with other aspects, teach a children rising up to fit into conventional gender roles.
Gender is something that is brought to the attention of people well before people are even brought into the world. Take for instance, when a woman finds out that she is pregnant and is about to have a child. The first question that that women is asked is “What are you having?” In doing this we are automatically emphasizing the importance of being able to identify whether or not to buy “boy” things or “girl” things. As a society we deem it important for each sex to practice a set of “norms” of how to behave via that sex.
According to sexologists John Money and Anke Ehrhardt, sex and gender are separate categories. “Sex, they argued, refers to physical attributes and is anatomically and physiologically determined. Gender they saw as a psychological transformation - the internal conviction that one is either male or female (gender identity) and the behavioral expressions of that conviction” (Sterling 4). Although there are biological differences between the two sexes, but gender roles are socially constructed. They determine how males and females should think, speak, dress, behave and interact with society.
Sex and gender are the two terms used for identification of masculinity and femininity among humans in our daily life. Sex is the biological term that determines the biological and “anatomical” differences between male and female species. It also clarifies the primary and secondary sex characteristics a person should have in order to be male or female. However, gender is a socially and culturally constructed term that delineates the distinction between men and women and their roles in the society. Gender is also used to organize relationships between man and women in social life.
Unlike ‘sex’, which typically refers to the biological and physiological differences, gender is a sociological concept that describes the social and cultural constructions that is associated with one’s sex (Giddens & Sutton, 2013, p. 623-667). The constructed (or invented) characteristics that defines gender is an ongoing process that varies between societies and culture and it can change over time. For example, features that are overly masculine in one culture can be seen as feminine in another; however, the relation between the two should not be seen as static. Gender socialization is thought to be a major explanation for gender differences, where children adhere to traditional gender roles from different agencies of socialization. Gender
Until now, there are still many differences and inequalities between male and female. Gender is socially constructed categories of femininity for female and masculinity for male. Under femininity and masculinity, healthy men are thought to be independent, logical and adventurous and healthy women less aggressive, more emotional and easily hurt (Gayle, 2009). That means society already gives male and female a standard expectations ranging from proper behaviors to attitudes. With masculine scripts, men should be occupationally or financially successful.
Gender Inequality Gender inequality is a characteristic of social structure according to which different social groups (in this case men and women) have certain differences resulting in unequal opportunities. Gender inequality is associated with social construction of masculinity and femininity as oppositional categories with unequal social value (Ferree, 1999). One of the main problems in gender theory is the problem of dominance. Together with race and class gender is a hierarchical structure that could to provide both opportunities and oppression (Ferree, 1999). Gender inequality can exist in different forms, depending on culture, region, religion and other factors.