Social constructions are categories or mechanisms that people develop through society. They are perceptions or assigned meanings that society “constructs” towards certain groups of people or culture, and have real consequences and effects. The reason that sociologists define gender and race as social constructs is because both are categories that are shaped by society and because there are no absolutes in both constructs. Gender is the characteristics and expectations of a certain biological sex based off of what society perceives them as and not what biologically defines them. Males are viewed to be macho, or strong in order to protect the family. Masculinity is associated with strength, assertion, and dominance. If men are not the masculine
