Main idea: Gender is a social construction in which individuals are placed into “two and only two” gender categories. Individuals are gendered by their appearances and performances. Certain traits or display of traits are associated with a particular gender and most often we label individuals according to that standards. Lucal explains that she is often mistaken for a man because of her short hair and outfits she wears. It is believed that all individual without proper markers of femininity is assumed to be men. Furthermore, if anyone who does not fit into the either of two gender categories, they are automatically placed into the closer category. When Lucal was at a shopping mall with her friend and her baby, people would automatically …show more content…
Theory: Lucal used Lorber’s gender and social construction to explain that gender is something that we do by learning, not a something that we were born with. Whether we like it or not, we all do and we cannot escape from it. She also used Goffman’s view of gender as a performance to explain different roles she plays and costumes for different parts. She grew her hair out when she was in the market for a job and applied bright fashionable nail polish color when getting on an airplane. These examples can be related to theories of gender difference such as gender as an institution or gender as a rule.
Question: We are living in a place with great diversity. Different cultures have different gender issues, it is safe to ask everyone to conform to the same logic of gender
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Well written, easy to understand and as a reader, I felt a sense of connection because Lucal used her own experiences. However, I feel that Lucal did not properly show that Lorber’s statement of gender bending does not serve as a tool to break down the gender categories contradicts from her experiences. More often than not she avoided confrontations with people in public to minimize inconvenience. I did not understand why she refused to practice femininity most of the time and not all the time. It seems that she neglected to show true purpose of withdrawing from participating femininity routines. In future research, she can include some quantitative data collection. Perhaps, conducting surveys in public
Candance West and Don Zimmerman are the authors of “Doing Gneder” that was published in ‘Gender Society; on 1987. The point that the authors were trying to get accros in “Doing Gender” was that people fullfille their ‘gender’ just like any other rutine that people do in their life. It is hard for people to avoind ‘doing gneder’ becae it is almost a never ending activity. We do gender each and everyday to where we are onlivion to it. We step into our gender unknowingly while we are interacting and socializing. Children learn frm a ver yound age how to do gender. From a young age girls care about things like lip glass. The little girls associate wearing lip gloss with looking prettier. We make sure that they know how to be a ‘boy’ and ‘girl’. Gender is not at all who we are and it is not our identity. Gender is a mask that we put on when we face others. We don’t act in public like we act when we are alone. Just as stated in “Doing Gender” by Creative Sociololy, “It Is a product of social interaction… production…..A social construction. “ We do gender to avoind being judged by others. A man takin on the characteristics of a femal and vise versa is risky. As stated in the article “Doing Gender”, “…behave outside the boundres…risk…judge harshly…” Society treats the individuals who break the statues quote unfairly becase they are challenginf the system. There is a raise of unequal distribution of power by every person who participates in doing gender. Whne you compare men and
Lorber uses logical reasoning to illustrate her conclusion. As Lorber introduces the subject matter she briefly discusses gender as a persistent presence throughout life. "The work we do...shapes women's and men's life experiences, and these experiences produce different feelings, consciousness, relationships skill -- ways of being that we call feminine or masculine. All of these processes constitute the social construction of gender" (p. 65). In this quote, Lorber uses logical reasoning to rationalize her point.
Before discussing the change from identifying the characters’ traits as female to relating their actions more to a male identity, and vice versa, the relationships between the male and female characters must be explored
The social expectations are contrived by a society and are not natural. Although each person does have some agency in deciding how they identify with their gender, it still becomes a reality in situations like
At our inception we are simply biotic matter without any sense of gender. However as we age, our sense of gender beyond the objective view of our biology reminds us that men are different from women. Are we truly different entirely from one another, or are the differences in gender brought about by our social interactions? Drawing on the works of authors of Anna Quindlen, Virginia Woolf, and Cathy Song, it is apparent that these divides are not rooted in our genetics. Although, on the surface, they agree that socialization is a cause of gender difference, they convey different meanings for our expectations concerning gender. Woolf’s claim is without an outlet by which women can escape the gender expectations society expects of them, which reinforces
Gender defines people in society. People may utilize their gender as an advantage or disadvantage, depending upon the situation. Whether it be a female or male, people can and will exploit themselves in order to achieve ‘happiness’ and goals. There is also many societal gender based stereotypes, for example if you are a man you behave a certain way and if you are a woman you behave a certain way although, there will always be stragglers who deviate the norm. Nevertheless they are judged for it.
It is more of a grandiose social system that is based on the archetype of femininity and masculinity, not what men or women do. A new behavior does not become feminine because females perform it and vice versa. Risman is expanding the theory of “doing gender” and the understanding of female and male behavior. She states that he idea of “doing gender” changes based on the individual’s gender, race, and social class. If in “doing gender” male privilege is still presence than feminists must undo gender to reach equality within the
Clearly, society has been created around two separate classes or genders: men and women. Lorber argues that much of what we consider to be gender has no place in the natural order of the things. She is able
There are countless factors throughout the book that help to create a critical gendered lens. However, I have found that the four most helpful have been the discussions of intersectionality, gender performance, gendered/sexed language, and the three prominent theories of gender/sex. Learning the term intersectionality and what it means in terms of gender and communication really helped shape the way that I looked at all of the content of this course. The idea that a person’s identity is multiplicative rather than additive gives clearly explains intersectionality. The idea that all of the components of a person’s identity work together to make up who they are and how they view the world and are viewed by others is critical to the study of gender
According to Eller “Western cultural in general tends to reinforce this impression: there are two kinds of humans-men and women- and two proper codes of behavior- male female” (Eller 2013:90). The only way this argument could be supported would be if everyone was born cisgender. Cisgender is when the gender you identify with also matches your anatomy.
What does it mean to be a woman or man? Whether we a man or a woman, in today’s society it is not determined just by our sex organs. Our gender includes a complex mix of beliefs, behaviors, and characteristics. How do you act, talk, and behave like a woman or man? Are you feminine or masculine, both, or neither? These are questions that help us get to the core of our gender and gender identity. Gender identity is how we feel about and express our gender and gender roles: clothing, behavior, and personal appearance. It is a feeling that we have as early as age two or three. In the article, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,” the author, Aaron Devor, is trying to persuade his readers that gender shapes how we behave because of the expectation from us and relate to one another. He does this by using an educational approach, describing gender stereotypes, and making cultural references. He gets readers to reflect on how “Children’s developing concepts of themselves as individuals are necessarily bound up …to understand the expectations of the society which they are a part of” (389). Growing up, from being a child to an adult is where most of us try to find ourselves. We tend to struggle during this transition period, people around us tell us what to be and not to be, Jamaica Kincaidt in her short story, “Girl” tells just that, the setting is presented as a set of life instructions to a girl by her mother to live properly. The mother soberly
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.
Lucal, in his article focuses on the building and preservation of boxes and limits with respect to sex, gender and sexuality. In the society, these boxes and their limits rest on a multiplicity of assumptions. The first supposition is that there are two sex’s genders, and sexualities. Everyone is male or a female, feminine or masculine, heterosexual or homosexual but no one can be both. This supposition of sex believes the truth of substantial difference in how persons actually do gender but yet people carry on to believe that there are just two equally elite gender groups into which every person can easily be positioned. (Lucal, B.2008)
In her response she examines the gender stereotypes there are in our society without me instigating a response or asking for there to be a comparison. Her ideas that are similar to ones that Henslin (2007) acknowledges of the idea that men are supposed to be manly and females feminine. She shares the concept that it should be divided up based on desire, and
In the U.S. the gender system is established on a basis of our own standards. “The paradox of human nature is that it is always a manifestation of cultural meanings, social relationships, and power politics; not biology, but culture, becomes destiny” (Lorber 117). We do not picture males and females based on their genitalia, but rather the way that people express their gender identity. No matter someone’s personal identification, the greater society will “do gender” and categorize them anyway.