Doing Gender

Sociologist Dalton Conley wrote his book, You May Ask Yourself, addressing how “gender is a social construction” that is so normal for society to think how a man or woman should act towards the public. Society often categorizes roles that females and males are suppose to play in, but not only are they categorized they are also being taught what their gender role is suppose to do. The beginning of gender socialization can start with a child who is not born yet by simply having the parents purchase items that are all pink if its expected to be a girl, but if its expected to be a boy then everything they purchase will be blue. Conley states that gender roles are “sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany ones’ status as male or female” (Conley [2008] 2013:134). So even when a child is growing into their infant years, toys are made specifically for their gender. By examining how social construction places gender in categories it becomes apparent that males and females get differentiated a lot which emphasizes inequality between them.

Doing Gender by Candace West discusses ‘doing gender’ which is the gender a person is identified with at birth. It is something that society has created as it describes people Candace West discusses sex, sex category, and gender taking place in everyday social interactions. Sex is binary, consisting of being either male or female. Sex category claims membership to one or another for example, a transvestite or crossdresser. Finally, gender is a conception of attitudes and activities appropriate for a sex category.

Gender roles have played a major part in society. According to the book “The Psyche of Feminism” “A gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate

From studying Sociology we know that gender roles are prescribed roles that are assigned to each gender. These roles are prescribed by our culture. Sociologists also use the term “doing gender,” which are day-to-day activities that reinforce or demonstrate the commitment to a gender role. For instance, for men doing gender includes the demonstration of masculinity, showing little emotion, the validation of dominance and power, their outward appearance, and ability to always be a “big boy.”

Our gender has an effect on every aspect of our lives, varying from how we view ourselves and other people to how we interact in social and civic life. It also impacts the way we set our goals in opportunity areas such as education, work, and recreation. Gender socialization starts at birth then manifests through family, education, peer groups, and mass media. Gender norms are automatically placed on us, where women should learn how to be nurturing, sensitive, emotional, passive, and always hold a man’s position higher than hers. On the other hand men should be overly confident, aggressive, dominant, and view women beneath them. This paper uses various readings to show how these gender norms are supported and challenged in today’s society.

Throughout the course of sociology, we have covered many different types of theories, who they target and why they target those people. For this paper, I am going to be talking about gender, and how it is applied in a social space. To gather my data I spent 2 hours in two retail stores, Target and Wal-Mart. Barbra Risman’s theory argues that gender needs to be seen as a social structure so we can better analyze the ways gender is tied into the individual, interactional, and institutional dimensions of society. The first dimension, individual applies to an individual himself or herself and how their gender affects their everyday lives.

Without a critical gendered lens, it’s unlikely that one would even consider the concept of “doing gender”. It’s important to understand that people’s actions are a direct result of socially constructed gender norms. Over time, a person’s actions might feel normal and as if they come naturally, but in reality they are learned actions that result from socially constructed gender norms. People typically don’t consciously think about how they are going to perform their gender, unless they are overtly defying norms to challenge constricting gender/sex norms.

The way society is taught to be socialized is salient and goes unnoticed, therefore it is valid to claim that gender is socially constructed through our everyday practices, whether we are aware of the construction or not. With socialization beginning the instant a child is born, the process is continuous through out adolescence and varies dramatically across the two genders. With guidance from institutions and arenas such as education, sports, music and the mass media gender seems to be coerced, as it comes with a scripted set of behaviors and attitudes. This essay argues that gender is socially constructed on an everyday basis. To further explain this thesis the essay will draw on early childhood socialization of masculinity and femininity,

This process involves acting out what we believe to be society’s perception of what it means to be masculine or feminine (West and Zimmerman, 1987). The initiation before a man and woman begin dancing together is perhaps the clearest example of individuals ‘doing gender’. In this space, men are almost exclusively responsible for initiating conversation or some sort of physical interaction. The idea that men must be aggressive and women must be passive only reaffirms our gender stereotypes. This relationship is even more evident in fraternities, as there seems to bee an even wider range in terms of what is deemed to be appropriate behavior (Boswell and Spade, 1996).

The term gender refers to the characteristics of a person despite the person’s biological sex. Gender role, which is the focus of sociologists, is the anticipated attitude and behavior that a certain society connects with each sex. With this definition, gender is placed evenly in the sociocultural context. Events that previously occurred had a vital impact on gender roles. Due to this, the study of gender emerged as one of the significant disciplines in the field of sociology in the twentieth century. The gender issues were studied using various research and theory. The research on gender issues provided a testament that all social interactions that occur, and the institutions where they occur, are gendered in one way or the other. Sociologists explain gender roles with respect to various theoretical perspectives. The perspectives are the ways of perceiving social reality that guide the process of research and provide a method for understanding the data. The sociological perspectives on gender roles include functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interaction, and feminist sociological theory (pearsonhighered.com).

Throughout today’s society, almost every aspect of someone’s day is based whether or not he or she fits into the “norm” that has been created. Specifically, masculine and feminine norms have a great impact that force people to question “am I a true man or woman?” After doing substantial research on the basis of masculine or feminine norms, it is clear that society focuses on the males being the dominant figures. If males are not fulfilling the masculine role, and females aren’t playing their role, then their gender identity becomes foggy, according to their personal judgment, as well as society’s.

In the article, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,” the author, Aaron Devor, is trying to convince his audience that gender shapes how we behave and relate to one another. He does this by using an educational approach, describing gender stereotypes, and making cultural references. These rhetorical devices serve his larger goal of getting readers to reflect on how their childhoods formed their genders. “Maleness and femaleness seem “natural,” not the product of socialization.” (Devor 527) Throughout his article, he makes us wonder whether or not gender is recognized through socializing.

As Lorber explores in her essay “Night to His Day”: The Social Construction of Gender, “most people find it hard to believe that gender is constantly created and re-created out of human interaction, out of social life, and is the texture and order of that social life” (Lorber 1). This article was very intriguing because I thought of my gender as my sex but they are not the same. Lorber has tried to prove that gender has a different meaning that what is usually perceived of through ordinary connotation. Gender is the “role” we are given, or the role we give to ourselves. Throughout the article it is obvious that we are to act appropriately according to the norms and society has power over us to make us conform. As a member of a gender

She is especially upset by the field of sociobiology.  Gender as Social Structure By assigning people to one or two categoriesmale or female- society has created difference between them. Risman feels that genders strongest influence is found at the interactional level, and therein lies the deepest liability for the continuation of inequality in American family life

The two themes that need to be discussed in order to explain gender differences are difference and inequality. Difference is how men and women are differentiated. It is the way social relationships, processes and institutions distinguish between men and women that sociologists are interested in. also how them processes “create meanings about femininity and masculinity” (Marsh and Keating, 2003 p.265). Inequality refers to the way gender distinctions and inequalities are linked together, as well as power relations and hierarchy. Sociologists are trying to determine whether inequalities between men and women are due to social distinctions (Marsh and Keating, 2003). Feminist sociologists argue that women experience a drawback