Social Construction Of Gender Research Paper

Gender coding is not a natural or biological characteristic. People are born with different physical and biological characteristics, but make sense of their gender roles through cultural influences. “Stereotypes are amazingly powerful, and we may not realize the degree to which our thoughts, beliefs, and actions are shaped by them” (Silverman, Rader, 2010). Boys and girls are labeled as masculine or feminine, which is considered the “norm” for society. Children are not born masculine or feminine, they learn these roles from parents, peers, media, and even religion. Concepts of gender identity are sometimes placed on children even before their birth, such as with the selection of paint colors for the nursery.” Children begin to form concepts of gender beginning around the age of 2, and most children know if they are a boy or girl by age of 3” (Martin & Ruble, 2004). From an early age, children are encouraged to identify with gender coding. Gender is formed at birth, but self-identification as being male or female is imbedded into their minds by parents and society. A child learns to understand their gender role and their identity by what is taught and expressed to them by others. Yet as a child grows, gender coding can cause cultural confusion, and insecurity issues throughout the course of their life.

Children learn as early as age two what it means to be a “boy” or a “girl” (Aina & Cameron). This is described as gender identity, a person’s sense of self as male or female. Gender stereotyping emerges hand in hand with the development of gender identity in Early Childhood (Halim). Gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes and activities of males and females. When babies are born they are either put in pink or blue, as they grow up they still maintain the same “gender” colors. As young children start to socialize, they are playing with either “girl” toys or “boy” toys. When they get older they

Gender and gender roles are a somewhat complicated idea to understand. Contrary to popular belief, gender and sex are two different things in that “gender is not inherently nor solely connected to one’s physical anatomy” (“Understanding Gender”). When parents automatically assign their child a gender based on their sex organs, it leaves very little room for change later in the child’s life, because children born with female sex organs are not necessarily girls, just as children born with male sex organs are not necessarily boys. Rather, gender is based on mindset, personal identity, outward presentations, and behavior of the individual. Binary genders, or the broadly

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.

Throughout many studies, researchers have said that gender develops from families, which is part of the social construction in children. According to Coltrane and Adams, Gender is defined as “To what it means to be a man or a woman in a specific time and place” (Coltrane and Adams). People in this world think that gender is automatically part of biological sex, but according to Coltrane and Adams, it is not a direct result of biological sex. The term is defined as “to refer relatively distinct biological differences between male and females such as genitals, hormones, and chromosomes” (Coltrane and Adams). For gender it is also social and it refers to how a person thinks that someone should look, act and feel (Coltrane and Adams). On the daily life, people will usually assume that a person “is” the gender that corresponds to his or her sex: females are feminine and males are masculine (Coltrane and Adams). In addition, gender also describes how the typical man and woman are supposed to present themselves. A man presenting himself as masculine and a woman presenting herself as feminine in particular cultures (Coltrane and Adams). In other words how women should act and how men should act.

Gender is considered an axis of social order. Its categorisation into masculinity and femininity is social constructed and maintained in everyday life (Clark and Page, 2005; Mackie, 1994). Gender identity is our innermost understanding of our self as ‘male’ or ‘female’. Most people develop a gender identity that matched their biological sex (their body). Gender identity can be affected by, and is different from one society to another, depending on the way the members of society evaluate the role of females and males. Our gender identity can be influenced from the ethnicity of the group, their cultural background, and family values. Gender like social class and race can be used to socially categorize people and even lead to prejudice and discrimination. From day –to-day, continuous production of gender has been called ‘doing gender’ (West and Zimmermann, 1987), meaning that gender is “made” by us in everyday lives in our interactions with others.

Radical changes in modern society have decreased the intense constraints gender stereotypes once had. Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of persons, in this case, gender roles fit under the stereotype branch as they are expectations based off of society’s views of either sex. Thus, forming social constructs; the generalization and expectations held by a group or person due to society. Gender is the traits one picks up based on what sex they are; for example, the social construct of masculinity and femininity are gender roles that are derived from the stereotypes passed down from society. In contrast, sex is the body parts one has that has the primary function of reproduction (Source A).

The authors suggest that gender identity transitions through various stages much like cognitive development. As children age from toddler toward more maturity into adolescence they move from less gender awareness towards a complete awareness of differences in sexual make up. Typically many of us have been socialized to participate in groups, dress and play with toys that are gender specific. Some examples that explain this is the way in which we bring babies home from the hospital. Girls are dressed in pink and boys are dressed in blue. This continues

Gender roles and stereotypes are forced upon individuals the moment they are brought into the world. If an individual is born with female genitalia, they are automatically labeled as “girl” and if they have male

When we speak about gender being socially constructed it means just because a person is conformed to what society thinks he or she should be involved in or surrounded by doesn’t depict their future. Children are taught when they are little that there are distinct expectations that have to fulfill based on what gender they are. Just because a parent gives their daughter nothing but dolls and sons trucks does not mean they will only play with those toys or even like them in the long run. When being feminine a woman is known to ‘act like a lady”. Be classy, respectful of yourself, seen not heard and all words that defines being nurturing and loving and maybe even whiny. The expectations of masculinity is someone who is strong, confident, status

Throughout history, we have seen that gender classifications, on gender roles have resulted in gender stereotypes. Despite that children were not initially classified by their gender, but by their age. Such as in the late nineteenth-century gender classification only existed for men, and women. Whereas in the early twentieth century, occurring social progression caused a demand for gender associations towards the identity of children. Gender stereotypes on children created a gender coalition with colors such as pink, and blue. The social personification on pink and blue established a pseudo-perception in children’s perspective on genders. In fact, the media also advertised classified gender toys for children to form expected gender stereotypes.

Even in today’s society, many individuals do not understand the vast distinctions between sex and gender. According to Dahl, Sex is defined as the physiological distinction of male and female based on their genitalia.1 Gender, however, consists of the socially constructed roles and behaviours that

Gender plays a signifigant roles in our every day lives. Gender determines whether or not we will dress as a male or female. Gender determines who we will have as friends. Also which role models we choose. While visiting my family in Louisiana my

Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender. Family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role.

Contrary to popular belief, gender and sex are completely different entities. Many people live their lives believing the gender and sex are tied to each other. This belief has brought specific gender roles into fruition. In western societies like that of the United States, this diversion can be examined in the nurseries of hospitals. Upon birth, babies do not necessarily have facial feature that define their but female babies are swaddled in pink blankets and males in blue. While many individuals believe that girls naturally and innately like pink and boys naturally and innately like blue this is far from the truth. The assignment of colors, gender roles and expectations are social constructs that have been created by societies that have nothing to do with a person’s biological sex.