My Non Participant Observation, A Journal Article By West And Zimmerman

Gender can be defined as “sex roles” which are conditions that one considers to be for men or women. People tends to mistake it with sex or thinks that they are both the same. We discussed about the patterns of gender which how the authors of The Kaleidoscope of Gender describes it as “regularized, prepackaged ways of thinking, feeling, and acting” (Spade and Valentino,2017). It becomes an identity for us. We believe that there is and can only be two genders, being masculine for men and feminine for women. These roles has been forced onto us since birth: blue for boys, and pink for girls. You can see the roles being push onto a person throughout one’s life, but we don’t notice it since it’s “normal” to us.

In the article, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,” the author, Aaron Devor, is trying to convince his audience that gender shapes how we behave and relate to one another. He does this by using an educational approach, describing gender stereotypes, and making cultural references. These rhetorical devices serve his larger goal of getting readers to reflect on how their childhoods formed their genders. “Maleness and femaleness seem “natural,” not the product of socialization.” (Devor 527) Throughout his article, he makes us wonder whether or not gender is recognized through socializing.

In the article from the 2016 book, Rereading AMERICA: Cultural Context For Critical Thinking And Writing by Aaron H. Devor titled “Becoming Members of Society,” Devor illustrates what it means to become a member of society based off learning their gender identity. Based on attributes that are identified with a type of gender offers insight into the social meaning of gender. Societies base gender off on characteristics identified with “masculinity” or “femininity” instead of sex characteristics. The general idea of the social meaning of gender is that men are the dominant ones, while women should be delicate and dependent on a man. The way society bases a gender is off of a body’s demeanor or tone of voice, which creates a false illusion to

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

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

The sociology of gender is one of the largest subfields within sociology; sociological gender studies look at the social construction of gender and how gender interacts with other social structures within society (Crossman, 2016). It Is important that one understands the difference between sex and gender to understand the sociology of gender; unlike gender, sex is biologically determined and relates to the reproductive organs a person has. In order to separate gender and sex sociologists use different pronouns; when discussing gender, sociologists use the terms man/woman and when discussing sex sociologists will use the terms male/female (Crossman, 2016). Although most people fall into wither the category of male or female, some people are born with ‘sex organs’ that do not clearly fit into either of the two specific sex categories, these people are known as intersex (Ashley Crossman, 2016). Gender is described as a social classification based on one’s identity and how one presents themselves to the world; this identity relates to the way one behaves and interacts within society. Many sociologists view gender as a learned behaviour and look at gendered identities as being culturally produced which makes gendered identities socially constructed (Crossman,

Society has conditioned us to believe categorizing genders into “gender boxes” is the norm. We have all heard the classic trite sayings, “Men are the head of the house” or “Women should always cook dinner for their families.” Author, Aaron Devor tackle issues like male and female stereotypes in her article, “Gender Roles Behaviors and Attitudes”; and discusses in depth how gender roles and behaviors are not “natural” and more on the lines of “cultural constructs.” Qualities as such are also identified in Deborah Blum’s article, “The Gender Blur” which reinforces the idea that humans are not born with the stereotypical idea of masculinity and femininity but taught. By highlighting how society has a substantial impact on gender identify, Devor

“Doing Gender” is a phrase popularized by West and Zimmerman. It illustrates the theory that men and women perform actions that are in accordance with the gender norm. In some cases, people do act against the gender norm but it does not diminish the theory of “doing gender.” Our society has formed a rigid understanding of characteristics that are ascribed to the gender binary, which are masculinity and femininity. This social construct of gender dictates the behavior of the individual.

In the reading, Judith Lorber discusses the social construction of gender. She talks about “performing gender” as a way to fit into society and describes how gender construction begins at birth and has to be either reaffirmed or redefined. Mock

According to Andersen (2015) doing gender can be defined as “Evolving from symbolic interaction is a new way of conceptualizing how gender is formed” (p. 48). The previous concept is usually performed in human socializations. Moreover, each individual (female or male) applies the expected actions of its gender in public interactions. Each individual can represent the actions of “doing gender” without taking into account the individual’s sexual orientation. A male example of doing gender is Johnny Depp, this actor usually express his masculine identity through his physical appearance. For example, males tend to express themselves by wearing beards and mustache and in this case Johnny Depp fills perfectly in this category. Another example is

Judith Butler is a famous American academic who is famous for her theories of the performative nature of gender and sex, who firmly believes that gender is socially constructed rather than being innate. One of her most popular beliefs was that there is no ‘proper’ gender, and that gender is a ‘doing’, but not a ‘doing’ by the individual. Gender performativity is not a singular act, but actually a set of repetitions and recitations; through gestures, a way of dressing, and a way of speaking; that become ritualized where the effects observed by others make the gender appear natural. Butler takes a stance on believing that gender is socially constructed and that society influences expectations and characteristics of being a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’,

Gender identity can be defined as “a person’s acceptance of the roles and behaviors that society associates with the biological categories of male and female” (Berger 461). This process of formulating an identity usually “begins with the person’s biological sex and leads to a gender role that society considers inappropriate” (Berger 461). All societies differentiate between male and female roles. Gender roles have evolved overtime and vary across different cultures. In the United States, for example, men were supposed to be the

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.

A major question in social science is the difference between sex and gender. Contrary to popular belief, sex and gender are not the same. Sex is defined as biological differences that make someone a male or female. On the other hand, gender is a social arrangement that defines how to act according to sex categories (Conley 2013). According to the writer and sociology professor, Dalton Conley, gender is so deeply rooted in social construction that it may seem as a natural structure of humans’ lives. In addition, Judith Lorber, a former chair of the Sex and Gender Section of the American Sociological Association, states that gender ‘establishes patterns of expectation for individuals’ (Conley 2013). “Doing Gender,” according to Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman, is a production of our interactions and is something we are exposed to since birth (Watts 2002). The social construction of gender has created gender stratification, which refers to the distribution of socioeconomic resources and power on the basis of one’s gender (Risman 1998). For this study, I have taken two of my cousins to a Toy-R-Us store to see their reactions and note their gender socialization or lack of it.

Gender is the psychological characteristics and social categories that are created by human culture. Doing gender is the concept that humans express their gender when they interact with one another; it is done every day without thinking about it. Messages about how a male or female is supposed to act come from countless places. According to Helen M. Eigenberg in Woman Battering in the United States, “Gender construction starts with assignment to a sex category on the basis of what the genitalia look like at birth. Then babies are dressed or adorned in a way that displays the category because