Essay On Two Major Issues Related To Gender Selection

In the excerpt “Why Do We Make So Much of Gender?”, from his 1997 book The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy, Allan Johnson argues gender through identity and culture. Johnson starts out by expressing opposition on how women are looked at through a patriarchal society and not the biology from which they came. He mentions the feminist argument that women in a patriarchal society are “oppressed” and that this comes from social order (545). He goes on to point out, the focus should be on raising children to adulthood rather than worrying about reproduction. Although, I agree with Johnson’s arguments, there are things in this world that cannot and should not be changed.

Although men and women have significant biological differences, the question whether gender-specific labels stems from these biological differences or are gender constructed remains a polarised nature versus nurture debate. Whether it is through the process of socialisation or genetic make-up, “gender identity” is given from a person’s birth, determining how a person culturally interacts and the expectations society places on them. Along with a “gender identity” comes a whole set of “norms”, “values” and so-called “gender characteristics”, which are supposed to define the differences between a male and a female. According to the World Health Organisation (n.d.), the term “sex” is often used to define the biological and physiological

Sexual selection was an idea proposed by Darwin and refers to the process in which males and females attempt to maximize their chances of reproductive success. Within a species there are certain characteristics that make individuals attractive to potential mates. An example of this is in peacocks, female peacocks are attracted to males with long brightly colored tails, even though this makes them easier to be spotted by predators. This characteristic then evolves within the species due to how males with this characteristic have a higher chance of reproductive success and their characteristics being passed on to surviving offspring.

The morality alone of picking the gender of the fetuses, all other details aside is immoral based on gender bias. If the process of picking gender is always allowed,

Study on gender role stereotypes has shown that there are several negative effects of stereotyping. The study on how gender role stereotyping effects children is not as prevalent because most believe that it doesn’t matter, since children are just forming their stereotype so children do not care. However, some psychologists have done some research on it, and from their research found out that children used a mixture of moral and social conventional reasoning

Now generally speaking humans would prefer boys as seen in the study made by Princeton University “- If Americans could have only one child, they would prefer that it be a boy rather than a girl, by a 40% to 28%”. In source B it states “ACOG advocates prohibiting sex selection because of its potential to lead to sex discrimination against women in society.” This would largely damage our ecosystem as we would have an issue as we already do in China, where we would have more males to females. This would produce a large decrease in children and would result in many men dying without marriage or even a

Sociologists reject the idea that behavioural differences between men and women are biologically determined. Outline the key grounds for this rejection and discuss what this means for a sociological understanding of gender.

AbstractIn this paper will discuss the sexual selection theory and gender role theory. Then, what are the main principles of each theory? Additionally, what position is taken by each theory on the origins, development, and causal mechanisms of aggression? Moreover, give an example of aggressive behavior that may be explained from the perspective of sexual selection and from the perspective of social role theory that is not covered in the reading. Furthermore, discuss at least on psychological phenomenon that may influence displays of aggressive behavior as explained by the sexual selection theory and the social role theory.

Medical professionals today can screen for certain genetic traits (genetic diseases and sex) with in vitro fertilization and preimplantation genetic diagnosis to obtain a healthy child, and reproductive technology continues to improve. With this in mind, the question arises whether sex selection is ethical. Julian Savulescu, Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics at Oxford University, argues that sex selection is moral, based on his ethical principle of Procreative Beneficence: that “couples (or single reproducers) should select the child, of the possible children they could have, who is expected to have the best life, or at least as good a life as the others, based on the relevant, available information” [Savulescu 1]. Savulescu claims

The WHO states that there are three core motivations for engaging in sex determination and sex selection which include “medical reasons such as preventing the birth of children affected or at risk of X-linked disorders; family balancing reasons where couples choose to have a child of one sex because they already have one or more children of the other sex; and gender preference reason often in favor of male offspring stemming from cultural, social, and economic bias in favor of male children and as a result of policies requiring couples to limit reproduction to one child, as in China.” In countries such as India and China, it is apparent that women can be harmed by sex selection

Due to social conformity, along with the advancement of technology and surgical procedure intersexed persons are aimed to be "fixed" at birth.  Although otherwise healthy, there is a need to perform surgery on the baby in order to remove certain sexual organs that don't fit with the perfect idea of what a girl or boy should look like.  This often leaves scars, and the psychological and emotional confusion along with it.

The society has regulations in which people have to obey making social life be structured. Society has expectations for people to live by. People tend to live up to the norms in order to feel part of the world. Individuals do not want to be judged and labeled, so unconsciously live by the roles that they believe their gender has to follow. Gender is socially constructed concept in which society acts upon. The family is the first to influence individuals to this idea. Gender has roles in which boys and girls are supposed to follow. Depending on one’s gender, they are expected to dress, behave, and act accordingly to either portray a masculine or feminine personality. These gender roles are implied by society and if individuals do not follow are seen as outcast. It is difficult for people to comply to these characteristics and roles because they might have different life experiences and situations that might influence to act other than their gender roles imply.

With new technologies available everyday, it seems almost as if we can customize our children. Reproduction is no longer an outcome of random and inherited genes, but now it’s a process of creating the child that we want to have. Fertility clinics are in debate as to whether or not it is ethical to be able to determine the sex of our children. Some view this as a valid option, while others see it as another step down the road to designer babies. But how far is too far? That is a question that we can only answer for ourselves. While this article remains unbiased, we are able to form our own opinion after seeing the pros and cons of both sides.

Gender refers to the concepts o masculine and feminine whereas sex is the biological fact of being a male or female. According to the evolutionary approach, gender differences are neither deliberate nor conscious; they exist because they enhanced or helped men and women perform particular types of roles in the past. Therefore, the role differences we observe are more a product of our biological inheritance than acquired through socialisation.

Although some people believe that the sex role theory or the socialization model of gender as a process, in which we absorb instructions prescribed by the social institutions to act in the acceptable way to our biological sex, is a trivial issue, it is in fact crucial in terms of today’s concern over the gender formation. This significance is accurately noticed by Raewyn Connell, a renown sociologist who proclaimed her views in the essay “Gender in Personal Life” published in Gender: in World Perspective. In her work, the author reveals the flaws of the socialization model, states that psychoanalysis provides a moderately better clarification for the contradictory character of human development and offers a solution that people should actively learn through the dynamic character of gender formation. According to Connell, therefore, the definition of how we acquire gender should not be represented by the socialization model of gender but rather through the emotional contradiction as a part of psychoanalysis and, more importantly, thorough the active and dynamic character of gender formation.