In order to discuss the question “Is gender a social construct” the meaning of gender needs to be clear and explained. By describing the difference between sex and gender this paper can then look to provide an understanding of how society and sociologists, through time and cultures, define and develop beliefs on whether gender is a socially constructed philosophy or not. Using two empirical examples, Margaret Lock’s analysis of the menopause and Chase’s study of students in a New York boarding school, this essay sets out to contend that gender is socially constructed.
Gender socialisations begin from the moment a person is born and influences how males and females are treated. These expectations can begin before birth as parents pick out pink or blue clothes and toys and decorate baby’s room in stereotyped gender colours. An experiment reported in Brewer (2001) detailed the findings when the same baby, firstly dressed in pink and then in blue, was handled and spoken to in distinctly different ways. While dressed in pink adults responded far more gently to the baby using softly spoken words such as “beautiful” and “so pretty” but when dressed in blue they spoke more forcefully of the “big strong boy” (Sociology, p159). While gender construction …show more content…
Her time at the school was spent witnessing the social interaction of both male groups and female groups and in mixed sex groups to determine how social exchanges in each setting differed. The behaviours of each group revealed how their social standards appear to have been shaped through American values and social expectations. Through first hand witness of student culture and the intricacies of peer group interaction provided her with a picture of extreme masculine and feminine behaviour of the
Gender socialisations begin from the moment a person is born and influences how males and females are treated. These expectations can begin before birth as parents pick out pink or blue clothes and toys and decorate baby’s room in stereotyped gender colours. An experiment reported in Brewer (2001) detailed the findings when the same baby, firstly dressed in pink and then in blue, was handled and spoken to in distinctly different ways. While dressed in pink adults responded far more gently to the baby using softly spoken words such as “beautiful” and “so pretty” but when dressed in blue they spoke more forcefully of the “big strong boy” (Sociology, p159). While gender construction …show more content…
Her time at the school was spent witnessing the social interaction of both male groups and female groups and in mixed sex groups to determine how social exchanges in each setting differed. The behaviours of each group revealed how their social standards appear to have been shaped through American values and social expectations. Through first hand witness of student culture and the intricacies of peer group interaction provided her with a picture of extreme masculine and feminine behaviour of the