I believe to understand the relationship between biological sex and gender communication we must first understand what each of these are. Biological sex is a designation based on biology, whereas gender is socially and psychologically constructed according to Gendered lives chapter 1. Sex and Gender are paired so that most men are masculine and most women are feminine. A person is designated male or female based on external and internal sex organs. The physical forms such as ovaries, penis, clitoris and prostates make up sex in a person. Sexual development is also influenced by hormones. This occurs even when we are still in our mothers ' wombs. Biology also doesn 't determine the meaning the members of a culture assign to particular behaviors which ones are values, which ones devalues. But this mainly depends on how we treat these differences.
We also must understand gender. According to gendered live chapter 1 gender is a complete concept than sex. When I looked up the definition of gender in the dictionary it stated, the state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones). The focus of the word states exactly what gender means. Our sex makes up our biology(putting aside those who have more than one part or hormones. By definition, gender is learned and this is typically learned through social views of what is masculine and what is feminine. As Julia wood stated from infancy on we are
According to the articles, sex is assigned at birth and refers to the biological status of a person such as male or female. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles such as behaviors, activities, and attributes that a society considers appropriate for boys, men, girls, and women.
Devor starts by be explaining how gender identity starts between eighteen months and two years. Children then start to understand which specific group the fall into when it comes to gender. Culture also plays a large role in this because different cultures have different thoughts as to how gender is perceived. Masculine and feminine characteristics are usually believed to be opposites of each other. Masculine attributes consist of being competitive, aggressive, and territorial. On the other hand, females are maternal, caring, and sensitive. Gender identity can also be seen through the way individuals speak, their body posture, and personal goals. Society plays a big role in the definitions of masculinity and femininity since children learn values based on the settings around them.I agree with Devor when it comes to the belief that society shapes how individuals understand gender.Gender role characteristics reflect the conceptions that our society sees
When I saw this, I knew we had to take a moment and think about it, sex is biological, gender is a man created social construction. It tends to start at birth when a child is called either a male or female. It happens when we give a child a name according to their gender. For example, a girl would be named Jennifer and a boy would be named Adrian. As growing we are influenced by what’s around us. As children our parents and our community taught us how we are supposed to dress, how we should appear to other people and our actions according to our “genders”. Gender construction is assigning roles, characteristics, jobs, and names to our sexes. We are not born men and women, yet we become
The concept of gender is not as cut and dry as you might think. The term gender is often used incorrectly as a synonym for our biological sex. Gender is more of a predetermined set of ideas and characteristics used in identifying socially acceptable behaviors and appearances for the sexes. It is not determined by the biological sex of the person. From an early age we begin to develop ideas of what it means to be male or female by observing others. Gender falls on a spectrum from masculine to feminine with many combinations in between. Gender expression and gender identity are also not the same thing. Gender expression is not related directly to how a person perceives their gender,
First of all I am going to begin with defining sex and gender. Sex in a sociological perspective is defined as the biological and physiological differences between men and women which are contrasted in terms of reproductive function(Abercrombie et al 2000 :313). On the other hand gender is sociologically conceived as the social roles allocated to men and women in society that is to say gender is learned not innate. However previously it was believed that sex determined gender thus the differences between men and
We are taught Gender by our family members from a very young age. For example, girls receive pink gifts and boys receive blue gifts. Shaw & Lee said, “Gender is embedded in culture and the various forms of knowledge associated with a given community.” (Shaw&Lee, p.116.) For example, in one community it might be acceptable for a girl to play football, and in another community the members believe, girl
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.
Gender is a social construct which is regarded as a sociolinguistic variable that affects language use in society. This contributed to characterizing many different aspects of life that were thought to be understood to be of social construct rather than of biological origin. Language as a crucial communication tool, not only reflects the reality of the society, but also has various functions to strengthen and maintain social existence. Males and females use different ways of thinking, processing, perceiving and behaving. In addition, language mirrors the gendered perspectives and can also contribute to forming and changing people 's perception of gender over time. Sociolinguists have shown a great interest in studying the differences in language use between women and men, such as differences ascribed to the gender cultural factors. They have also investigated how different social status entailed to gender affect language use, and how sexist language reflect not only sexism but also ideas and expectations about gender roles. This topic is important because it helps us solve miscommunication problems between men and women; it helps alleviate/mitigate gender discrimination; it matters if/when men and women change roles in home or work.
In what ways is the male gender superior to the female gender in relation to “The Homeric Hymn to Demeter”? It tells the story of Persephone, goddess of spring, taken against her will by Hades. Her grieving mother, Demeter, goes through great lengths to be reunited with her beloved daughter. The hymn portrays a great divide in authority between both genders. The male gods use their authority without consequence. They assert their power on others without taking into account who it affects. Zeus and Hades interpret authority as power’s equal; however, true authority requires one to have a sense of community and be able to take responsibility for their actions. The females shown in the hymn provide a model for community that the males learn from. Through Demeter’s defiance, woman are able to free themselves from the imbalance of authority.
Doing gender is always justified by religion, science, law and society’s believes in morals and values. This proves the truth that in our society gender is very much prevalent. Both sex and gender are very much embedded in each other. But these two are very closely related that most of the time; both words are taken as synonym of each other. But in reality, sex and gender are two very different words having a different meaning and interpretation. We cannot inherit gender as it is not a natural phenomenon but it is created by our society. Gender is a created by a continuous process of teaching, learning and enforcement by generations over generations (Lorber). Some people believe that gender comes from physiological differences. Most commonly known as the differences in men and female genitalia and reproductive organ. But that is not true because both sex and gender are two different things. Sex is mostly about the physical differences in the
“Gender” is a social construct that is developed solely by our society and the early developmental stages of an adolescent’s life. By introducing youths to the roles, behaviors, expectations and activities that correspond with males or females we give a clear guideline of what is accepted from a young male or female. An individual however can identify his or her gender based on their own system of beliefs without corresponding to their natural biological sex. Our lives are shaped by our true biological identities but the influence of the world and society is enough to define what a male and what a female truly is to an individual.
Gender is a topic that not many people are educated on. When people think of gender, they think of boy and girl, people usually think of a girl having a vagina, and a boy having a penis. Many people have their thoughts on how each sex should behave which would be giving people gender roles, girls should play with Barbie dolls, and boys should play with trucks. There is more to gender than just the vagina and penis, In “Understanding The Complexities of Gender”, Sam Killermann talks about the distinct pieces that also comes with gender, like gender identity, gender expression, and biological sex. When people think of gender, the only part people think of is the biological sex.
Betsy Lucal (1999) and Anne Fausto-Sterling (2000) brought up the discussion of those who physical appearance does not coincide with the common gender binary. In a society that is obsessed with maintaining the gender binary, anything less than what is considered normal is dangerous and cannot be allowed. Because of these set ideas within our society it is difficult for those who do not quite fit within the binary to feel fully comfortable and must constantly find a way to validate themselves among others in order to possibly be accepted.
Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male
The words ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are commonly confused with each other in regular, everyday conversations when the two have very different meanings. The term ‘sex’ refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of a person, such as male or female; ‘gender’ is a social construction that refers to masculine or feminine roles in society ( Nordqvist). For