The Sociological Theories Of Gender

Society has drilled an image into our minds as people of how the role of each gender should be played out. There are two recognized types of genders, a male and a female. Most people come to think that gender is just male or female. Yet it has become more complex then that. Today it is not just that if you have male parts, you are a man, the opposite goes for women. According to the authors Aaron Devor and Deborah Blum. Gender is much more complex then just male and female, it is more socially composed. We are taught to be male and female trough things like media, our parents, and role model figures. These

Gender is actually a set of rules, customs and traditions assigned to people of a particular sex. Gender is not biological but sex is. Rather, according to Lorber, it is influenced by our society and our culture. By proving this claim, Judith Lorber has put forth the example of the man and this example is efficient in distinguishing “gender” as a practice than as an innate attribute.

One theory that favors biology as being most influential is sociobiology. This theory is based on the idea that gender roles are at least partly inherited and can be affected by natural selection. (*) These theorists also believe that the inherited roles are necessary and instinctual for reproduction purposes. For example, the male brain’s enhanced reaction might be a product of natural selection, because early human males that were able to quickly recognize a sexually receptive female would have had a greater chance to mate and pass on their genes. (*)

When babies are born, they are expected to behave in a certain way because of their gender. When these babies enter childhood, they are exposed to many different influences

Gender defines people in society. People may utilize their gender as an advantage or disadvantage, depending upon the situation. Whether it be a female or male, people can and will exploit themselves in order to achieve ‘happiness’ and goals. There is also many societal gender based stereotypes, for example if you are a man you behave a certain way and if you are a woman you behave a certain way although, there will always be stragglers who deviate the norm. Nevertheless they are judged for it.

Today it is seen as more socially acceptable for women to assume roles that are defined as traditionally masculine than it is for men to assume roles that are defined as feminine. In my opinion, this is based on stereotypical roles that have been placed by parents when babies are born – stemming from their own parent’s stereotypical and traditional roles that have been modeled and observed by them personally. For example, at a very young age, children notice whether their mother will stay at home or work and viscera what their father does. Another example, for the majority I would say that once a couple finds out their baby’s gender the nursery room tends to painted in such a way based on whether the baby is male or female. Including, toys

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.

(Eisenchlas, 2013) Humans, being labelled by social creatures, are greatly influenced and shaped by society as well as social interactions, because of this gender roles are socially constructed rather than biologically

Particularly, the chapter fifty-four lecture which focused on behavioral biology. Here we first discussed biological genetics and the differences of nature and nurture. Nature relating to the genetically similarities while nurture is more environmental causes for behaviors. The chapter also discusses territorial behaviors as exemplified in the article. For instance, humans become more violent with societal pressures or threats to their territory. On the other hand, we have the idea of phylogenetic species (shared characteristics among populations) as discussed in chapter twenty-three lecture. Concluding that comparative biology is also demonstrated in this

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).

Gender Performance Gender Performance After studying the assigned reading, Sociology: The Social Construction of Gender, considering the concept of “gender as socially constructed,” answer the following questions and prompts. A) How does media create meanings about gender? B) Provide examples of how this is manifested in our everyday lives. C)

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

Between biological and behavioral approaches to understanding a person there are many other approaches that are not that radical in their explanations as to why one people behave differently from others. Freud’s theory, for example, is that all people are governed by innate drive of sex and aggression (nature). However, the way they externalize it depends on social upbringing and environment (nurture). As opposed to Freud’s approach, social learning theory says that aggression is learnt from the environment through observation and imitation and is not inherited (Davies).

In her paper on the biological differences in cognition between men and women, Doreen Kimura suggests that the social differences between genders arose out of biological necessity (Kimura 46). Even so, it is difficult to argue that social factors do play a large part in gender in society today. A closer look at both biological and social perspectives will reveal more about the processes that determine gender roles.

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