First, what is gender? What does it mean to say that gender is a social construction? Gender refers to the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male. (Macionis 2015:308) The society in which we live produces our views of what women and men are and what they are supposed to be. However, many people say that gender is “socially constructed”. Basically meaning it is constructed by society. For many decades, it has been what gender should represent…

Question 3 In the reading “The social Construction of Gender” by Judith Lorber she describes how gender is socially constructed. Sex is the biological difference while gender is the social and cultural meanings attached to femininity and masculinity (lecture). From the time that a child is born the doctor assigns it a gender, girl or boy, depending on its genitalia. In the reading “Naming All the Parts” it focused on how when doctors view genitalia to decide the gender they say there is a penis or…

In the United States, our concept of gender, and the differences between men and women, have deep traditional roots. Men are supposed to be strong individuals, who support and defend their families. Women are seen as nurturing, and motherly, more gentle and tame. We believe so strongly that the two genders are entirely separate, with such completely different traits, that it almost seems that men and women are just born with different qualities. But is this really the case? Are girls really born…

Gender roles have influenced our society our whole lives, without us realizing it. They determine the way in which we, as members of society, behave among others and what is deemed socially acceptable and what is not, all based on our gender. From the moment children take their first breaths, they are exposed to the gender roles society has set. This is all part of a social construction to categorize the two genders into believing that they should act in a particular matter, using toys as an advertising…

exactly is “Gender” and what a “Social Construct” means. GENDER In a layman’s language, Gender is simply the distinction between male and female. However, if we look deeper in well, we will notice the gender construction starts with the association of sex category at the time of birth. Sex is the biological distinction between a man and a woman and gender is based on sex. A sex category becomes a gender status through naming, dress and the use of other gender marks…

While observing interactions between people of both different and the same genders in the park at Orange Circle, it becomes evident how the social construction of gender and standard gender roles may or may not follow archetypal manner and can be applied differently depending on the individuals. Some of the observations recorded during this period have provided evidence that gender roles and gender stereotypes may be followed or applied in an archetypal way. However, what is most interesting is…

‘Gender’ is a category used by all human beings to describe the state of being either male or female. Gender is often described as socially constructed which implies that it is something individuals may not be aware of. Through the social construction of a concept, meanings are created. These meanings and understandings are developed in coordination with other individuals rather than within individuals themselves. Because all societies are different, the social construction and therefore definitions…

Gender is a very strange topic in today's society. Many people don't know what to do with people who are transvestites or transsexuals and they often times hate them because they are different. People always think that there can only be two types of gender: masculine and feminine. People also feel that these genders most always correspond to a person's sex. So if the person is a male, then most people wouldn't accept that person into society if they acted feminine. 'For human beings there is no essential…

Sociologist Peter Berger wrote in his “Invitation to Sociology” book that “social reality has layers of meaning, and the discovery of each new layer changes the perception of the whole.” (Berger 1963). Berger, as a sociologist responsible for helping create the social constructionism theory, is not just extending an invitation to sociology. He is already explaining how the world can be viewed by people who already are actively participating in society. This consciousness allows the layer of how people…

ownership of their bodies. The first article is “The Social Construction of Gender” by Judith Lorber. In this essay she states that sex and gender is constructed through the society in which we live and that, “Gender is so pervasive that in our society we assume it is bred into our genes” (Lorber, 64). Lorber’s article takes the standpoint that physical gender expression is such an important topic to individuals because when the conventions of gender are shifted, “we feel socially dislocated” (65). An…