Most people believe gender is only based on being male or female. People believe gender is based on the physical and biological differences between women and men. Over the last few years, the term gender has changed. When some people believe gender is being male or female. Most people associate gender with gender roles and how people are supposed to function or perform based on society’s expectations. In other words, people believe males and females have to behave according to their gender or gender roles to be socially accepted. For instance, it is socially accepted for women to be housewives while men work. However, gender is based upon how people are viewed and accepted. In other words, gender is based on how men and women feel about themselves, what is expected from them based on their roles, and how they are socially accepted.
Gender is the “normal” or average way male and females are supposed to act or function. Men and women have to perform a certain way to be considered average. According to Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler authors and researchers of “Keywords for American Cultural Studies” Judith Halberstam believes gender is “a bodily performance of normativity” (118). In other words, gender is a roles that men and women are expected to portray to be considered normal. For instance, being athletic is a normal gender trait for men while being nurturing is a normal trait for women. Men usually perform in sports, while women are usually helping and caring for others.
In many shops, there seems to be an obvious separation between boys and girls items, for example, the birthday cards, books, clothes, and toys. This is shown in a variety of ways the boy's items are mainly the color blue and the books have pictures of either action figures, superheroes or tools. Whereas the girl's items are mainly the color pink. The books show pictures of fairies, princess, and Bratz. The cards also have the theme of the color pink for girls and blue for boys. The girl's cards have a lot of sparkles and pretty pictures whereas the boy's cards are covered in camo kind of illustrations and also have action figures on the covers. The children's clothes are separated into sections where there are labels for the boy's clothes and labels for the girl's clothes. The girl's clothing is all pretty and pink, it is covered in sparkles. Whereas boys clothing has camo patterns, blue colors, and pictures of action figures.
The gender of a person is the masculine or feminine attributes of that individual with respect to the psychological and biological role in society. (Magar, 2009) A gender role can be defined as the way that a person lives in society with respect to its lifestyle. It can be argued that over time the major differences between men and women’s gender roles have faded. In the past traditional roles have been based in their society by their biological orientation. (Magar, 2009) Gender roles can also be described as the behavior and attitudes that are expected of men and women in a society. (Faqs.org, 2011) Although different cultures impose different expectations, many cultures have the same basic gender roles.
Gender or sex roles are the expected patterns of behavior assumed to follow from a person's sex. Gender roles are not natural. They are formed by and vary within society, culture, geographic location, politics and time. There is a strong relationship between the social construction of gender and compulsory heterosexuality. People are programmed into certain gender roles and social categories through socialization and interaction with others.
Argument/Conclusion: Gender is a social construction or a process in which human beings are brought up to believe that only two genders (male or female) were normal and that based on your sex you are classified to a specific gender.
The gender describes how our understandings and perception of differences between masculinity (what society deems appropriate behaviour a “man” and femininity (what society deems appropriate behaviour for a “woman”) are influenced.
Gender is socially constructed, signifying processes and practices of conduct ("doing", "undoing" and "re-doing" gender) (West & Zimmerman, 1987; Deutsch, 2007; West & Zimmerman, 2007) based on an assigned sex category (Hird, 2000; Risman, 2004; Connell, 2010). Sex, in contrast, refers to the biological differences between men and women (chromosomes, hormones and genitalia) (Harding, 1996; Hird, 2000).
Gender is defined as whatever behaviors and attitudes a group considers proper for its males and females. Unlike sex, gender is something that we learn from the day we are born. “Young children begin to acquire gender role stereotypes at about the same time they develop gender identity and by the age of 3 or 4 most children” (Amanda Youmans). Peers, community, media, religion and our upbringing all play a role in the understanding of our culture and what is considered acceptable for males and females. When the sex of a child is revealed, they are automatically placed into a gender specific role with certain expectations. There are things in this world such as colors, toys, media depiction and taught behaviors that play into these gender roles.
First let me define gender. Gender is composed of three parts: biology, gender roles, and sexuality. Gender roles are the behaviors, attitudes, appearance, and etcetera that a specific culture has deemed appropriate for a specific sex. May I note that gender roles can and do vary between cultures. Some cultures even include a third gender category because not everyone fits within
Gender roles can be described as the characteristics and attitudes projected of a male and female follower of a culture by that culture. Dissimilar to sexuality, be that as it may, gender roles are forced, through an assortment of social impacts. Shaped amid the socialization periods of youth and adolescence, sex part issues impact individuals for the duration of their lives; struggle can emerge when somebody doesn 't feel at ease with his or her sexual orientation part.
Gender socialization often begins early once parents are shown the sex of their child; from then on, baby showers are planned according to gender “appropriate” colors, which are often pink for girls and blue for boys. Even differences in how children are spoke to can be picked up easily in Western cultures. Girls are called pretty and sweet, whereas boys are handsome and strong. Ultimately, the way children learn to identify with their gender culture is in part due to not only family and friends, media, schools, and religion, but also from the toys that may inexplicitly advertise gender expectations. Gender-typed toys may be bought for children as a way for parents to encourage and reinforce gender-appropriate behaviors. However, recent debates have engulfed toy manufacturers and major retailers, which has brought about changes in toy design and marketing in an effort to make reflect more realistic and gender neutral options.
In this day and age, people are quick to come to a judgment about the way others live without knowing their reasons why. Gender role refers to values, characteristics, and meanings that people use to describe different sexes. Sex is a biological concept based on the determination of an individual’s primary sex characteristics. So often people confuse the two and automatically classify people because of their masculinity, or femininity look. It is time to start realizing there are more to people than just their outside appearance.
Gender is considered a socially constructed idea that is infused in individuals during their childhood and it encapsulates a social code of behaviour that will facilitate their later integration in a social group. Additionally, it
Gender is the social roles based on the sex of the person; “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
Society makes us who we are today. However, Gender strongly impacts our society. It shapes the ideas of an individual. Gender is a social classification based on one's identity, presentation of self, behavior, and interaction with others. The learned behavior is activities, attitudes and norms that society seems appropriate to one. Gender is the masculinity and femininity of an individual. People learn the gender through socialization. Someone may say you “walk like a man” or “throw like a girl”. No one is really taught, it is what they see around them. Basically, this is how we define gender in the world today.
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,