Gender Is An Institutionalized System Of Social Practices Essay

Although gender is a socially constructed idea, it is often suggested to be a natural phenomenon. Society plays an important role in reinforcing gender roles in a way that disguises itself as natural, and is thus accepted without question. The United States’ gender system emphasizes gender hierarchy and a binary system that forces individuals to conform. In order to progress gender equality, it is important to denaturalize these social constructions of gender.

In today’s society from a young age boys and girls are raised socially different, known as gender socialization. A gender role is a set of behaviors, attitudes and personality characteristics expected and encouraged based on an individual 's sex. Sex is a person’s biological status referred to as female, male or inter-sex. However, gender is related to attitudes, feelings and behaviors that a given culture associates with biologically sexed bodies. Cultures differ about what is appropriate for males and females for example, from the moment boys and girls are born they are dressed differently. In some countries, the color pink is immediately associated with girls, while blue it associated to boys. Parents unconsciously reinforce gender

Gender is actually a set of rules, customs and traditions assigned to people of a particular sex. Gender is not biological but sex is. Rather, according to Lorber, it is influenced by our society and our culture. By proving this claim, Judith Lorber has put forth the example of the man and this example is efficient in distinguishing “gender” as a practice than as an innate attribute.

If perceivers often observe a particular group of people engaging in a particular activity, they are likely to believe that the abilities and personality attribute required to carry out that activity is typical of said group. “Both within and across different cultures we find great consistency in standards of desirable gender-role behavior. Males are expected to be independent, assertive, and competitive; females are expected to be more passive, sensitive, and supportive. These beliefs have changed little over the past twenty years within the United States and apparently around the world as well” (Hetherington & Parke, 2016, Chapter 15). These general beliefs and stereotypes likely stem from observations of women and men in differing social roles. In the workforce, women are more likely than men to hold positions of lower status and authority. Conversely, men are less likely than women to be homemakers and are more likely to be employed in the paid workforce. Although these stereotypes hold true in some cases, in today’s society, they are being shattered almost daily. Women are now holding higher positions of authority in the workforce than ever before. In some cases, the woman is the sole breadwinner whilst some men are now taking the role of homemaker and stay at home

Still, in the same vein of race and ethnicity, gender operates as an organizing code for society due to the cultural connotations denoted to being male or female. In fact, in most societies there are distinct patterns for gender activities, roles, and even attributes. This is manifest in the division of labor in relation to gender.

Gender as a Social Construction This annotated bibliography is focused on research that supports the idea that gender has been socially constructed. Haslanger’s chapter offers an understanding of what is meant by the term ‘socially constructed’ and how gender can be defined from this viewpoint. Zimman complements Haslanger’s argument by explaining that it is our discourse that influences our perceptions of gender. Eckert and McConnell-Ginet’s chapter is helpful when explaining how gender is socially constructed by exploring how from birth we are treated and labeled according to whether we’ are male or female.

Gender stereotypes are beliefs that certain attributes, such as occupations or role behaviors, differentiate women and men (Eisend, Plagemann, & Sollwedel 2014). There are masculine and feminine versions of each of these attributes (e.g., independent versus dependent roles in everyday life), and the masculine and feminine variants of each attribute are very strongly associated with males and females, respectively. Although stereotypes can provide useful orientations in everyday life, they can produce

Historically, sexuality has been a source of oppression, as well as pleasure and empowerment. The manner in which law recognizes sexuality is important for it produces a standard to be adhered to. From this standard, norms are established. The legal system acts a regulatory and governance body that acknowledges and legitimized cultural norms influence gendered identities. Cultural feminism suggests that gender disparities can be justified through biological differences. Gendered assumptions are therefore justified through reproductive capabilities, such as nurturing and domestic attributes of women. The analysis of law and cultural norms that perpetuate sexual danger and inhibit pleasure will be conducted through a sequential analysis of the three primary waves of feminism in light of Catherine MacKinnon and Gayle Rubin’s feminist critiques. Radical feminists such as Catherine MacKinnon argues that sexuality is the linchpin of women’s oppression. Gender is a hierarchy and a division of power, and therefore, women are inherently oppressed due to their sexuality. The source of sexual oppression originated from gendered patriarchy, specifically through woman being viewed as subordinates to their male counterparts. In contrast, sex-positive feminists, such as Gayle Rubin, reject sexual essentialism and suggest that sexuality is constructed.

The process of gender socialization reveals much about how gender identities are formed, but gender is not just a matter of identity: Gender is embedded in social institutions. This means that institutions are patterned by gender, resulting in different experiences and opportunities for men and women. The concept of the term “gendered institutions” means that entire institutions are patterned by gender. In a gendered institution, men and women are channeled into different, and often differently valued, social spaces or activities and their choices have different and often unequal consequences. Gendered institutions are the total pattern of gender relations, which includes the following (Acker 1992): stereotypical expectations, interpersonal relationships, and the division of labor along lines of gender. As well as, the images and symbols that support these divisions and the different placement of men and women in social, economic, and political hierarchies of institutions.

(Eisenchlas, 2013) Humans, being labelled by social creatures, are greatly influenced and shaped by society as well as social interactions, because of this gender roles are socially constructed rather than biologically

A stereotype is an inference that a person has certain traits that all members of the group have. It is a mindset that is based on assumptions. These structures affect how people process information and perceive others. The innate need for order leads humans to sort people into groups based on certain traits. This type of categorization is not only socially acceptable but encouraged as a way to simplify daily social interactions. While stereotyping reduces the amount of processing required during social interaction, it often leads to prejudice and misguided assumptions. Stereotypes can be based on numerous characteristics, including race, religious affiliation, and even gender. Gender stereotypes are especially prevalent and often used. Gender stereotyping includes automatically assigning certain attributes to a person based on their gender. This mentality has been prevalent in almost every era, including the 16th and 21st century. In both the 16th and 21st century, society has a huge impact on the individual by creating stereotypical gender roles and then applying pressure to conform to them.

The concept of gender has a strong social impact on me. When I was born, I was immediately assigned to a biological sex as a female with two X chromosomes. I was then socially classified as a girl in the society with feminine gender roles. Gender is defined as a social principle which attribute to the roles and expectations of males and females through the years of different societies (Phillips, 2005). Gender can be considered as behavioural, cultural and psychological traits

When describing something that influences your gender, most people would assume that your “sex” or our biological identification given to us at birth would be the most definite source; however there are multiple factors and processes that contribute to one’s gender identity. The multitudes of institutions that assist in the socialization of an individual vary from person to person, but are all beneficial in creating a sense of gender. According to Michael Messner, there are two types of institutions, the gendered and the gendering. The gendered institution is described by Messner as “an institution constructed by gender relations. As such, its structures and values (rules, formal organizations, sex composition, etc.) reflect dominant

Gender socialization and gender roles have always existed in society. When analyzing gender roles, they are not always equal or consistent when comparing cultures, however, the expectations of females and males are often times clearly defined with a little to no common area. The Japanese culture is an example of the defined gender roles that change over time. According to Schafer (2010), because “gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females”, they must be taught (p.357). These roles define how females and males are viewed in society, their household, and workplace. When examining gender socialization in the Japanese culture, it is important to analyze how gender roles are

Gender is a learned social construction on what you do. It is a cultural system based on the binary opposition of men and women but there are also variations