Jackie Kay Trumpet

Both Deborah Blum’s The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over? and Aaron Devor’s “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes” challenges the concept of how gender behavior is socially constructed. Blum resides on the idea that gender behavior is developed mainly through adolescence and societal expectations of a gender. Based on reference from personal experiences to back her argument up, Blum explains that each individual develops their expected traits as they grow up, while she also claims that genes and testosterones also play a role into establishing the differentiation of gender behavior. Whereas, Devor focuses mainly on the idea that gender behavior is portrayed mainly among two different categories: masculinity and

The general public depicted in An's story utilizes a test to decide how masculine or feminine an individual is to dole out them to specific assignments and sexual orientation particular positions. While this is by all accounts fairly tragic at to start with, it quite accurately reflects the present society. In spite of the fact that individuals are not compelled to seek after professions that fit their cliché gender roles, in reality, there are unmistakable "manly" and "ladylike" connotations with numerous policed acts, wherein not adhered to, is met with prejudice, violence and varying levels of ridicule.

This semester, I am taking Intro to Sociology and we have been looking at different perspectives of our society. One thing we are studying is how from at such a young age, we are taught to assign gender roles. In Patricia J. Williams’ magazine article, “Are We Worried about Storm’s Identity- or Our Own”, an essay taken out of the Nation magazine (June 2011), she tells a story about Storm, whose parents choose not to reveal the sex of their baby. She is a legal scholar and examines issues related to law and culture. Williams focuses on all the stereotypes that we associate with gender, how we as a society find social order in assigning gender roles, and the need to have the proper pronouns so that we know how/what to label a person. The author’s use of ethos and logos really brings the point home that we need to be more open about all the possibilities associated with gender and pronouns.

Sex is the biological definition of the person, which is through the classification of the genitals. Gender identity is a person’s psychological belief that they are either man or woman no matter the sexual orientation. Gender has created a grand division between men and women. Discriminating women to be weak, unreliable, and irrational. While Men are to be declared as superior. The fight to become equal evolved from the industrial period where woman was no longer needed to also be a provider alongside her partner.

In society, gender is a real struggle by reason of people do not believe that men and women should be treated as equals. Gender, although not directly mentioned is still a part of the story. In “The Minister’s Black Veil” (Hawthorne 28), the author indirectly mentions gender with,“The black veil, though it covers only our pastor’s face throws its influence over his whole person.” Like the black veil, gender is a prospect that individuals are fully judged based upon. Gender is an effective way

Charlotte Perkins Gilman does a remarkable job letting us get inside the head of her unnamed main character in “The Yellow Wallpaper” giving us a taste of the female psyche, in particular showing how historically some women subject themselves to the control of men. Alternatively, Nick Hornby does something altogether similar with “High Fidelity”, introducing us to Rob Fleming, whose male psyche reveals, among other things, how men focus and base their success one expectations influenced by gender roles. In the paragraphs that follow, I will attempt to compare and contrast Gilman’s and Hornby’s findings regarding the male and female psyche. In particular, I hope to explore how gender divisions have vastly influenced society.

But it is neither the king nor the kingmaker—the potent, hormonal essence of competitive, risk-taking masculinity—it’s often assumed to be” (p. 21). Fine believes there is a direct correlation from the effects of an individuals beliefs and environment to their specific actions. Fine agrees with Eagly’s and Wood Social Role theory explaining, “Sex differences and similarities in behavior reflect gender role beliefs that in turn represent people’s perceptions of men’s and women’s social roles in the society in which they live”(p.459). Testosterone is not the main factor behind the way males act, it is the reaction to the way a male acts. Society pressures males to be providers, strong, competitive and sexual.

I believe to understand the relationship between biological sex and gender communication we must first understand what each of these are. Biological sex is a designation based on biology, whereas gender is socially and psychologically constructed according to Gendered lives chapter 1. Sex and Gender are paired so that most men are masculine and most women are feminine. A person is designated male or female based on external and internal sex organs. The physical forms such as ovaries, penis, clitoris and prostates make up sex in a person. Sexual development is also influenced by hormones. This occurs even when we are still in our mothers ' wombs. Biology also doesn 't determine the meaning the members of a culture assign to particular behaviors which ones are values, which ones devalues. But this mainly depends on how we treat these differences.

Anthropologist Thomas Gregor said that there are continuities of masculinities across cultural boundaries. If continuities concerning “manly” behavior are present among men of varying societies, why is this so? What is the reason for males to be placed under pressure to “act like a man” or to “man up” and why is it a common theme found in so many different places? Why do boys often find themselves in situations that are meant to test or indoctrinate them before they are allowed to be considered a man? Male and female are two distinctions that all societies make, and all provide roles appropriate for the two sexes.

Social construction is defined as “a socially created aspect of social life” (Board of studies, 2009, pg.52) and has played a significant role in the way gender roles for males is perceived in society. Masculinity is “the meaning and expressions given to being male and the social organisation of men’s lives and relations” (WHO, 2010, pg.10). Masculinity has adapted throughout the years in regards to how the society that we live in has socially constructed standards for males and how it has affected masculinity. Therefore it has allowed individuals to conform to what society requires males to be. Factors that play a role in the social construction of masculinity are parents/friends, the media, ethnicity and the government.

These ideals have developed into stereotypes that have been thoroughly integrated within 20th century general cultural. It is shocking to say that we have accepted these stereotypes as truth although, they are extremely outdated: their origins date as far back as the Ancient Greek Era. Men can and should exhibit a wider spectrum of traits, whether these are considered "feminine" or "masculine". Men should be accepted for all they are, because they are taught from a young age to bury their emotions rather than express them; and that repression of emotions and frustration eventually comes out with aggressiveness, anger and

In order to fully understand a more in depth evaluation of both why and how men conform to this social phenomenon, one must know how hegemonic masculinity is defined. This term was made popular by Connell’s work Gender and Power which critiqued the male social role and how hegemonic masculinity has developed (Connell 830). Scholars agree that hegemonic masculinity is characterized by “being emotionally detached and

Masculinity is a term that is often associated with strength, power, control, and dominance in men. However, many texts support the claim that masculinity can be perceived as “socially constructed” and available for systematic discrepancy, similar to femininity. For example, in Michael Kimmel’s “Men, Masculinity, and the Rape Culture,” Kimmel identifies the “traditional masculinity” in which men exclusively can experience the “right to manhood” and the “dare and aggression” that is rightfully theirs (Kimmel, 142).

Masculinity, a seemingly simple concept. Yet, when examined more closely, it is clear that masculinity is constantly changing in its definition as well as in its most basic essence. Throughout the years, one can see this evolution firsthand by looking back at the men who have been portrayed in popular media in the United States of America. From the suave Don Draper types of the 1950s to the more casual, educated, and easygoing men- with perfectly chiseled abs, of course- that are portrayed in media today, the difference is clear. This drastic, yet unsurprising, shift in ideals, as well as the exponential increase of media consumed every day, has led to a change in how “masculinity” is perceived, as well as how it is enforced by society in the modern day. Alarmingly, this trend has led to the birth of so-called “toxic masculinity”, a bastardization of the original ideas behind masculinity which has created an enormous, detrimental effect on society as a whole. As defined in the article The Difference Between Toxic Masculinity and Being a Man, toxic masculinity is “manhood as defined by violence, sex, status, and aggression. It’s the cultural ideal of manliness, where strength is everything… where sex and brutality are yardsticks by which men are measured,” (O’Malley) This is a clearly displayed truth, and it’s astounding to see how even from a young age boys are taught not to show emotions other than anger, conditioned to believe that being “like a girl” is the worst possible

In contemporary society, hegemonic masculinity is defined by physical strength and boldness, heterosexuality, economic independence, authority over women and other men, and an interest in sexual relationships. While most men do not embody all of these qualities, society supports hegemonic masculinity within all its institutions, including the educational institute, the religious institute and other institutes which form the ideological state apparatus.