Whenever you are born, you are identified as one of two things, and that is either male or female. From that moment on you have a set expectation of what you’re going to be like and who you are based on your appearance. A famous quote from a social and political activist, Gloria Steinem said “ A gender-equal society would be one where ‘gender’ does not exist: where everyone can be themselves.” Gender is a concept that describes how societies determine and attach men and women to certain roles in their society. “Gender involves social norms, attitudes, and activities that society deems more appropriate for one sex over the other.” (Boundless.com) And that is what I want to talk about today. Society today plays a huge role in molding the
…show more content…
An easy way to differentiate the two is to remember that sex is something we are inborn with and gender is something we learn. One of the most authoritive ways in which we learn things, is through our parents. Social construction of gender could further be seen by the way parents behave to their children. An example of this is, you boys in here probably weren’t born wanting to play with trucks and wanting to watch football, and if you were then good for you. And you girls most likely weren’t born being obsessed with Barbie dolls. You came to like these types of things because your parents exposed you to what they thought were norms for your specific sex, whether it being male or female. Aside from learning from your parents, you also learn through school. When is comes to playing and interacting with other kids your age at school, kids become more and more aware of their gender identity. As kids tend to grow more stereotypes go along with which subjects are more favorable and suitable for a certain gender. At some elementary schools classrooms have different areas to play, such as a kitchen with cooking supplies for the girls, and tool kits and trucks for the boys. This goes on to high school as well. A lot of you have probably heard the saying that boys are better at history than girls. Thus, being another example how social influences can influence gender roles and identities. Another major influence that
An easy way to differentiate the two is to remember that sex is something we are inborn with and gender is something we learn. One of the most authoritive ways in which we learn things, is through our parents. Social construction of gender could further be seen by the way parents behave to their children. An example of this is, you boys in here probably weren’t born wanting to play with trucks and wanting to watch football, and if you were then good for you. And you girls most likely weren’t born being obsessed with Barbie dolls. You came to like these types of things because your parents exposed you to what they thought were norms for your specific sex, whether it being male or female. Aside from learning from your parents, you also learn through school. When is comes to playing and interacting with other kids your age at school, kids become more and more aware of their gender identity. As kids tend to grow more stereotypes go along with which subjects are more favorable and suitable for a certain gender. At some elementary schools classrooms have different areas to play, such as a kitchen with cooking supplies for the girls, and tool kits and trucks for the boys. This goes on to high school as well. A lot of you have probably heard the saying that boys are better at history than girls. Thus, being another example how social influences can influence gender roles and identities. Another major influence that