Social Constructs: Genderism, Binary, Liberal Feminist

Throughout our history, there has been the idea that there is only two types of gender, male and female. However as the earth and population evolves, our opinions and ideas of gender typically have changed therefore creating drastic change among the socially accepted views of solely having a choice between male and female. Although, we still are seeing patterns among judgements being made of what gender the person will identify is which is called the gender binary, which defines as “the classification of sex and gender into two distinct, opposite and disconnected forms of masculine and feminine. It is one general type of a gender system.” ( Wikipedia, n.d.).

A person’s sex is determined on the basis of three fundamental human physiognomies, chromosomes (XX for a female and XY for a male), gonads (ovaries for females and testes for males) and the obvious being genitals (vagina for a females and a penis for males). However socially, gender identity is formulated on the grounds of stereotypical roles from both

We tend to put everyone in one of two categories when in actuality there should be many more because someone's gender identity could differ from their sex, but the common belief is that gender identity pairs in accordance with one's sex.

The stereotypical labeling of genders can determine one person’s outlook on life. The judgment can make one feel like there is a set rubric to follow in order to remain in the lines regarding which gender they belong to. Such influences from peers or partners can alter

In Western contexts, sex socialization works as a double, or an idea that is only included two sections. People are associated into thinking about their sex as either manly or feminine. Identities are accordingly normatively developed along this single parameter.

Throughout this course, we have discussed how the differences in the social construction of gender, race, class, and sexuality have led to discrimination and inequality of those classified under a variety of these categories. Through understanding the significance of these social constructs on society it becomes apparent the intersectionality they have when it comes to understanding why certain groups may face discrimination or inequality. This paper examines gender inequality and how the social construction of gender makes it difficult for the pursuit of equality amongst genders.

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,

Gender and gender roles. Feminists, in particular, have relied on distinctions between sex as biological and gender as intellectual to argue that women 's domination is historical and not anticipated. Yet at the beginning of the twenty-first century, in both feminist speculation and popular discussion, "gender" has come to replace "sex" as a term referring to sexual difference in a biological sense. This shifting definition is a result, at least in part, of gender 's introduction into modern conversation as a medical concept used to explain a person 's felt sense of his or her lived identity as a sex. Because Western society seeks biological explanations of almost all social behaviors, distinction between sex and gender are difficult to maintain. The definition of gender refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex. Behavior that is compatible with cultural expectations is referred to as gender-normative; behaviors that are viewed as incompatible with these expectations constitute gender eccentricity.

The concept of gender has a strong social impact on me. When I was born, I was immediately assigned to a biological sex as a female with two X chromosomes. I was then socially classified as a girl in the society with feminine gender roles. Gender is defined as a social principle which attribute to the roles and expectations of males and females through the years of different societies (Phillips, 2005). Gender can be considered as behavioural, cultural and psychological traits

Because bodies are gendered, or encouraged to participate in gender conformity, the bodies that we see and interact with on an everyday basis are not natural or innate but, rather, are a product of a lifetime of gendered practices, relations, and ideologies (Berkowitz, 2017, p. 13).” Berkowitz’s statement relates to ideas that are found in chapter 2 of Gender: Ideas, interactions, institutions (Wade & Ferree, 2015) such as the term, binary, that refers to a system that has two, and only two parts to it. Therefore, the phrase gender binary, is the idea that there are only two types of people. These two types of people are male-bodied and female-bodied. These ideas would be considered an ideology, which is a set of ideas that are shared by members in a certain group that guides identities, behaviors, and institutions. Gender binaries or gender conformity are set by ideologies. In other words, the idea that a

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.

Sociologists study the idea of gender as something that people practice, or “do” as well as something that people “are.” This means that all people are socialized into institutions and roles based on gender and how they portray their gender. It is a fact that women’s work in the United States is used by the patriarchal regime, meaning, and a male dominated system of institutions; and yet it is unrecognized as beneficial and the patriarchy’s refusal to grant women’s work its due appreciation keeps it trivial and unimportant to most of the rest of the world. It seems that instead, the patriarchal system has worked to divide women, and to accentuate the division of race and class. When studying women’s work, it is easy to begin to see this division

As evident from the generalized patterns found in differences in behaviour and outlook observed between the sexes, it may be tempting, as has been done in the past, to conclude that gender is an unavoidable aspect of human existence as determined purely from one 's genes. Indeed, human physiology is subject to sexual dimorphism; statistically significant differences in brain size and rate of maturation of specific substructures in the brain exist between males and females (Giedd, Castellanos, Rajapakese, Vaituzis, & Rapoport, 1997), yet these physical differences fail to explain how individuals form their concept of their own gender, and why they tend to conform to their perceived gender roles as defined by the society in which they live, when these roles are ever-changing. Thus, it is important to differentiate between the physical and nonphysical traits, and how the labels of femininity and masculinity should not confuse the two aspects. As defined by Unger (1979), “sex” would be used to refer to the biological differences in males and females, while “gender” describes socioculturally determined, nonphysiological traits which are arbitrarily designated as being appropriate for either females or males. With more recent awareness and interest in matters of gender nonconformity and individual gender identity, new research now explains how these concepts of gender are shaped by social influences (Perry

Social and institutional contexts for sex discrimination in American life have included the workplace, occupations, wages, income, housing, banking, health care, toys, school, education, employment, consumer marketplace, military, media, religious organizations, and home. Despite a century of social change stimulated by the feminist movement, gender inequality persists.

In society, the biological difference between men and women is used as a justification for aligning them with different social roles which restrict and mold their attitudes and behavior. Merriam-Webster defines gender as the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex. Narrow minded society of today is not satisfied with the natural difference of sex, but each insist on adding a cultural difference of gender to it. The unsophisticated, ideal physical facts always become associated with the complex psychological qualities (Holter). It is not enough for a male to be a man; he must also be masculine. A woman, in addition to being a female, must be feminine (Magner). In a more evolved and accepting society,