Much of what people think today as absolute, unchangeable, and naturally occurring is in reality, the exact opposite. One of the most intricately weaved examples of this state of mind is gender. In the following text, I plan to demonstrate what exactly social construction is, and with the help of author George Ritzer, will establish that the concept of gender is entirely man-made. Additionally, I will also differentiate gender from that of its naturally occurring counterpart, sex.
To fully understand how socially fabricated gender is, one must first grasp what exactly social construction is. The social construction of reality is defined as “the continuous process of individual creation of structural realities and the constraint and coercion exercised by those structures” (Ritzer & Guppy, 2013). Social construction can be viewed as an example of the Thomas Principle, which speaks about how actions that are defined as real, are real in their consequences (Ritzer & Guppy, 2013). Both these concepts have two components that allow them to happen; the spectrum of micro and macro level factors. Individuals who comprise a society are the micro ends of the spectrum. It is thanks to these people that social construction and the Thomas Principle exist. Through thoughts and actions, small micro-level occurrences become large …show more content…
As with the idea of any type of language, gendered language is due to social production and reproduction; it will not survive if people stop using it. This is one of the best ways of testing if something is socially constructed; if people stop believing in it, will it continue to exist? Even if a person decided that an individual’s sex was unnatural, that will not stop a male baby from being born with a penis; sex is not socially constructed, gender
To fully understand how socially fabricated gender is, one must first grasp what exactly social construction is. The social construction of reality is defined as “the continuous process of individual creation of structural realities and the constraint and coercion exercised by those structures” (Ritzer & Guppy, 2013). Social construction can be viewed as an example of the Thomas Principle, which speaks about how actions that are defined as real, are real in their consequences (Ritzer & Guppy, 2013). Both these concepts have two components that allow them to happen; the spectrum of micro and macro level factors. Individuals who comprise a society are the micro ends of the spectrum. It is thanks to these people that social construction and the Thomas Principle exist. Through thoughts and actions, small micro-level occurrences become large …show more content…
As with the idea of any type of language, gendered language is due to social production and reproduction; it will not survive if people stop using it. This is one of the best ways of testing if something is socially constructed; if people stop believing in it, will it continue to exist? Even if a person decided that an individual’s sex was unnatural, that will not stop a male baby from being born with a penis; sex is not socially constructed, gender