Gender In Ismat Beauvoir

Throughout history, women have constantly been objectified and forced into submission by the male dominated society. Simone de Beauvoir’s philosophical work, The Second Sex, echoes the intense oppression of women and reflects the first wave feminist movement. Her existentialist decoding of genders resulted in the idea of the Other, which explores the phenomenon of women forced into the role of an object, while men are the subject. In the second chapter, “The Girl”, Beauvoir further studies the idea of this oppression during one’s transition from a girl into a woman. Beauvoir states that no matter how much freedom and sense of self a girl holds, she is always forced into the role of the Other in society. Beauvoir 's idea of the Other held

Laquer claims that sex as we know it is a social construction and historically, a one sex model supported society’s position and later a two sex model was used in the same way. Society has a large influence on the topic of sex and gender, and from the very start of the formation of a community’s social construction, sex and gender are

Through my experiences with people of many backgrounds, as well as my education, I have learned to separate the idea of sex and gender. I still maintain certain traditional views regarding gender, however I’ve come to the realization that the social constructs of men and women are not, and should not, be as rigid. In my opinion, I have acknowledged that there are differences between ‘men’ and ‘women’, however these differences should be used to uplift one another, rather than to tear the other gender apart. For example, a family unit in which the man decides to take on the responsibilities of the

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

The Traffic in Women: The “Political economy” of sex by Gayle Rubin is an exploration of the origin of women’s oppression. Rubin’s main objective is to arrive at a more fully developed definition of the sex/gender system, otherwise referred to as “mode of reproduction” and/or “patriarchy”. She further develops her definition through the analysis of the work of Levi-Strauss and Freud from a marxist perspective. Rubin provides the following preliminary definition of the sex/gender system “A set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed sexual needs are satisfied.” (159) She attempts to add to her definition of the sex/gender system through the analysis of the overlapping work of Claude Levi- Strauss and Sigmund Freud. Despite implications with their work, Rubin believes that both Levi-Strauss and Freud provide conceptual tools in describing the sex/gender system. Rubin looks at a Marxist analysis of sex oppression, as well as, Engels theory of society which integrates both sex and sexuality. Furthermore she incorporates aspects of each theory addressed into her own working definition of the sex/gender system. By shifting between Marxist, structuralist and psychoanalyst explanations of sex oppression, Rubin is able to construct a multi-dimensional definition of the sex/gender system that is not only inclusive but also provides a basis of which to build from.

In chapter nine of The Real World, Ferris and Stein (2014) describe the construction of gender and sexuality in society. They start out by defining sex and gender are not interchangeable, but sex is biological and gender is defined by social or cultural aspects (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p. 243). Furthermore, gender inequality was introduced into the chapter by expressing that in the past, females had less power in society because of their biological differences from males (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p. 246). Although, biological differences are not the only reason why gender inequality exists in society today. For instance, from a functionalist perspective, certain characteristics make women and men better suited for certain jobs (Ferris & Stein, 2014,

Judith Butler’s essay, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory” calls for a new way to view sex and gender. Butler argues that “gender identity is a performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo”. In this case, gender is not constituted by what one is, but rather what one does; the performative acts constitute gender. In other words, gender is not the starting place; it is an identity repeatedly constructed throughout time. Butler is trying to show us a feminist perspective of sex and gender. She attempts to follow Beauvoir’s path in a fight against society norms.

Gender subjectivity is another important aspect of the debate around gender because it focuses on a move away from the idea of innate sexual identity characteristics that divide human beings into male and female (Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology, 2014). This type of view challenges the essentialism of sexual difference into something more then a binary between male vs. female, heterosexual vs. homosexual, etc., as it recognizes that these dichotomies are problematic because the term of gender encompasses a whole range of identities across a spectrum. In particular ideas like what does it mean to be equal? (Butler) and seeing division of gender into binary conceptions of identity can be seen as a process of ‘othering’ (de Beauvoir) are some of the areas that this topic examines.

The concept of gender has evolved from referring to the biological condition of being male or female, to be understood as a social construction related to cultural practices which are associated with a particular sex. This new conception has been created by patriarchal societies in order to define and control the behaviour of the participants in a specific community, thus creating some gender-normative expectations which will mark the conduct, attitudes and cultural aspects of what being a woman or a man implies (APA, 2012). Cultural agents are indirectly acculturated by state apparatuses on how to perform their gender basically since they enter to be part of a specific group. Therefore, from a very young age, they learn which activities, behaviour and even toys they should be attached to in order to operate masculinity or femininity following the hegemonic discourse’s conventions.

Judith Butler questions the belief that behaviors of either sex are natural. She proposes a rather radical theory that gender is performative and that sex is constructed. When gender is being performed, it means that someone would take on a role, acting in such a way that gives society the idea of their gender and constructs part of their identity. To be performative means that we produce a series of effects.Gender is constructed and is not in any way connected ‘naturally’ to sex.

In this essay I discuss that "doing gender means creating differences between girls and boys and women and men...." (West & Zimmerman 2002:13) I am concentrating on the female perspective, how societyputs forth expectations of what is 'natural' or biological even though, in some cases, it can be quite demeaning and degrading. I am using some examples from the local media and also a few childhoodexperiences that have helped me to now strongly suspect that the quote from Simone Beauvoir (1972) "One is not born a woman, but rather becomes one" most likely has quite a bit of truth to it.

In her essay, One is Not Born a Woman, Monique Wittig explains, “‘Women’ is not each one of us, but the political and ideological formation which negates ‘women’ (the product of a relation of exploitation). ‘Women’ is there to confuse us, to hide the reality ‘women’ . . . For what makes a woman is a specific social relation to a man, a relation that we call servitude.” Monique Wittig attacks the concept of naturalizing biology and the ‘woman’ category. She believes that the form of a woman’s identity is a product of normal and intrinsic human facts. Thus, her main point is that one is not born a woman but becomes a woman based upon the social constructs of gender and

The following text comes from Simone de Beauvoir called “The Second Sex,” which discusses the ideas of the feminist

These descriptions are incorporated into the laws that govern the populace and provide either privileges or limitations. This should reiterate the idea that gender is a social construct with the ability to be changed both in terms of attitudes towards it and policies that control it. An example from American society would be in the way that homosexuality is treated. The mere fact that homosexual marriage is allowed in only a few states highlights the privilege heterosexuals have and the restrictions placed on those who don’t behave in the same way as the majority. Marriage is a social factor that has become an important part of creating and legitimizing the next generation; however, it is this idea of the next generation that problems many of the social problems arise. As Heléna Ragoné’s essay “Surrogate Motherhood: Rethinking Biological Models, Kinship, and Family” points out, there is the tendency to think of gender as motherhood as the biological birth of a child. Homosexual couples complicate this model and to fix the disparity by implementing laws that makes their marriage illegal. Western society also attempts to force people into deciding on a gender. This drives the gender dichotomy we have in place and eliminates the prospects of incorporating those who don’t neatly correspond with either category. With this model in mind, Western scholars have viewed other cultures gender and sexual activities (and even some of the

This classification is constructed by discourse with the objective of recreating hegemonic paradigms and perpetuating current power relations. Defining Women and Men as universal categories disguises the interests it serves. Therefore, anything that is defined as natural or universal should be studied critically. She writes, “Signification is not a founding act, but rather a regulated process of repetition that both conceals itself and enforces its rules precisely through the production of substantializing effects” (185). The assumption that there is a pre-discursive body with a pre-determined sexuality and gender sustains oppression against subjugated and marginalized subjects. Disconnected from the body, she suggests, gender can include more than two versions. The analysis of these concepts--or deconstruction-- provides tools to the socially oppressed to fight against the existent social