Gender and Sex Essay

Sociologists reject the idea that behavioural differences between men and women are biologically determined. Outline the key grounds for this rejection and discuss what this means for a sociological understanding of gender.

Within the last decade society has become more open to ideology and lifestyles that years ago were tabo. This is largely due to the fact that the millennial generation may be one of the most laid back and accepting generations of all time. One major lifestyle that was rarely expected was homosexuality within the last decade this issue is no longer in the closet. Most people feel comfortable being open about their lifestyle choice and even show it off. Shortly after the acceptance of gays by society a new issue presented itself and this is transgender people. The community as whole fights for their rights together and it is referred to as LGBTQ. LGBTQ means lesbians, gays, transgender, bisexual, and queer. The LGBTQ community has made great progress in the last decade they have become more open about their community and have gained rights that they should have always had. Even though the community has made progress they still have a long way way to go especially within the workplace.

Women are empowered, encouraged and even pressured into being involved in a sport or some type of fitness activities today; however, it hasn’t always been that way (Cahn 278). In the 1920s, also known as the “golden age” of sports, women and young girls faced obstacles such as rejection, gender discrimination, and stereotypes when showing interest in sports or fitness activities. One famous author named Susan Cahn, wrote a book called Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women’s Sports, and focuses on the decades between the 1920s and the 1960s. For most of the 19th century, females were accused of causing a great deal of danger to the moral and physical areas of masculinity. Through the research of multiple different aspects, such as media, appearance, and gender roles, Cahn puts together an idea and theme that athleticism is seen as a masculine trait because it was once constructed by society itself; which fortunately for the women, that idea can be changed. In the later centuries, Cahn writes about the progress of woman 's appearance in sports, however then describes the difference in respect, attention throughout media, opportunities and wages between men and women. Through both primary sources such as newspapers, interviews, and journals, as well as secondary sources like relevant literature, Cahn writes her book in a historical non-fiction genre. After reading Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women’s Sports by Susan

The “50 Shades of Grey” franchise has blurred, or “grayed” the lines between what is considered acceptable and what is considered sexual abuse. This franchise demonstrated how the social construction of gender roles has played a powerful role in the prominence and reporting of rape, and how the media has come to influence sexual assault cases, it’s victims, and the perpetrators.

Many parents voice a fear about their child learning about gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation. They think that hearing, seeing, or learning these things will influence their child. According to research, however, no matter how often children are exposed to these topics they still will make their own decisions later on in life on the matter. Often parents are upset when they hear their children are learning about these terms because they do not know the dictionaries definitions for these words are. According to webster; gender is the state of being male or female, the word typically used to reference social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. Gender identity is a person’s perception of having a particular gender that may not correspond with the sex they were given at birth. Sexual orientation is a person’s sexual identity in relation to the gender to which they are attracted. Many times a person’s sexual orientation can be labeled as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. Diversity is an important lesson to teach children especially at a young age. To understand how to best teach diversity about gender in a classroom background information, teaching strategies, and student’s understanding of diversity is important.

There are a plethora of people in the world who believe that being gay, transgender, bisexual, or completely different from the social norm is a choice, but making assumptions are not the best way to go. There are circumstances when someone can choose to be different, but in actuality the reason they are different is based on genetics. Having a different view of oneself’s gender is not always a choice. It is considerably something that is known right away and is usually not second guessed then there are no decision to be made about whether they are choosing to be that way or not. Genetics decides eye color, hair color, and facial features, so accordingly it would most likely decide the decisions and views on gender and sexuality. In reality, it is often overlooked that genetics play a massive role in who we are.

My beliefs and view on the gender ideology towards work and family is more weighed on one side (Masculine) and partly on the other (Feminine). It is evident that the ‘Masculine’ gender is more dominant in our society and because of this; there is more expectation and responsibility for the masculine gender. However, there is a continual inclusion trend in which we are witnessing the feminine gender assume some roles of the masculine gender. But overall, the masculine effect is still dominant. I personally feel that there should be a good balance of work and family responsibility by the men. It is necessary that the ‘Men’ are mostly responsible for taking the role of the breadwinner of the family therefore, the working hours of the men would have to be met as required by the employer. For example, working 40 hours a week is the minimum in the US but varies in some other places. In a case whereby the man has to take an overtime shift just to meet the needs of the family.

The textbook identifies four approaches to gender development: biological, interpersonal, cultural, and critical. Define each theory. Then answer the following question: which of the theoretical approaches to gender do you find the most valid? Be sure to include at least two examples from your own experience as well as two scholarly sources to back up your claim.

Gender and sexuality are problematically understood and represented in Australian classrooms because of the presence of gender bias and the marginalisation of sexually diverse students, which reflects the patriarchal society that we live in. It is important to acknowledge that issues related to gender and sexuality are not just issues for older children and teenagers. They are just as applicable to young children who are at a very impressionable and susceptible stage of their lives and are going through the process of forming their own notions of what is acceptable behaviour for males and females (Gobby, 2016b). Carolyn Hannan, Director of the Advancement of Women Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, describes the concept of ‘gender order’ in her opening keynote speech titled “Challenging the gender order”. She states that ‘gender order’ “could be very simplistically defined as the way society is organised around the roles, responsibilities, activities and contributions of women and men, in other words, what is expected, allowed and encouraged in relation to what women and men do in different contexts” (Hannan, 2006). This notion is linked to the binary perception of gender and sexuality where the ideals and beliefs surrounding masculinity oppose those of femininity (Gobby, 2016b). For example, males are aggressive, females are gentle; females are emotional, males are rational; and males are tough where as females are

Males and females are classed differently from the moment they are pronounced boy or girl. Gender determines the differences in power and control in which men and women have over the socioeconomic determinants of their health, lives and status in their community. Our society moulds how men and women should and should not behave and can be observed in all parts of our society. As a result of these Gender stereotypes men and women have issues which affect their health which are unique to each gender. Males for example are perceived to be greater risk takers as a whole in our society than that of females. We represent risk taking behavior with masculinity and violence, high speed driving and contact sport with the male gender. (Doyle 2005)

Sex as explained in “Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach”, is that sex is a biological characteristic that distinguishes females and males, consisting of primary and secondary sex characteristics (Henslin, 2015). Gender is the behaviors and attitudes that society has put into place for people to act their sex. Girls act like girls and boys act like boys. The sociological significance of gender is that it is a device by which society controls its member. Gender sorts us, on the basis of sex, into different life experience. Sex is a biological characteristic that distinguish females and males, consisting of primary and secondary sex characteristics. (Henslin, 2015, p. 292) Gender is defined the behaviors and attitudes that society has put into place for people to act their sex. Girls act like girls and boys act like boys.

For many years, mankind has wondered how to choose the sex of a child before its birth for which countless myths, folk remedies, and magic potions have been offered as a solution. None of these methods were based on scientific evidence. However, in recent years gender selection has been made possible through advances such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis using biopsy methods combined with in vitro fertilization and sperm separation using flow cytometry techniques (Reubinoff, 1996, p. 344). These methods can increase the likelihood of producing a child of the desired sex, although none can guarantee success. The fact that the procedure can be fairly simple and inexpensive may cause medical practices to notice

Gender has been around throughout history; however, within recent years, gender has separated itself from the traditional view of sex, e.i., male or female, and has become centered on ones masculinity or femininity. Of course gender is more than just ones masculinity or femininity, gender has become a way for one to describe, he or she, in a way in which they are different from everyone else. Gender has turned into a sense of identity, a way for one to feel different and fulfilled among all of those around them. Of course gender’s sense of freedom would seem outside of structure and only affected by one’s own agency, however, structure is a key component in establishing gender. We can look into both ethnic Mexican’s

Many argue that a person’s sex and gender can be changed or up to that person. Times have changed where people can now change body parts and look almost exactly like the opposite sex. The thing is, gender and sex are not the same thing but both have different meanings which has also changed throughout the years. I will be refuted on why sex cannot be change but gender can.

In order to answer the question above this essay will discuss in depth what exactly sex is and what gender is and the differences between the two terms. The research carried out will display that we live in a patriarchal society without a doubt as we look at how gender links to inequality in society. A patriarchal society can be clearly seen from the gender inequality in the labour force which is paid labour and also in unpaid labour which occurs in the household. Another area the answer will reflect on is how gender inequality links to education which overall links to society. Finally the answer below will show how the media also portrays gender inequality and how it affects the people in society.