Making Societies by William Roy, sheds some light on what it means to be born a man and what it means to be born a woman. Roy also writes about the social implications that follow. Roy says that "The biological differences do not explain social differences" when discussing why women and men have different roles in society. I think that this is a very important distinction he makes. If you are born with male genitalia you are of the male sex and your gender is classified as male by society. Roy makes another significant distinction between the meaning of sex and the meaning of gender. Roy states that sex is the biological differences between a male and a female and that gender is socially constructed and refers to the social relations and roles among men and women (112)
"Why is it that the kind of body people have becomes inscribed in their names, the clothes they are given, the toys they play with the friends they have, and eventually quite likely the jobs they have?" (111). When you are born, there is already a socially constructed notion of how you will behave and what role you will have in your future depending on whether or not you are born male or female, or in some other societies a third sex. Biologically, sex has no affect on your role in society because physical traits are all superficial. Socially, however, their is already a path carved out depending on which gender you are.
Sex is a very large and key part of someone's identity. Just because you are born a male with male genitalia does not mean you identity or "feel" like a male. You might consider yourself a woman or classify your gender as female. Roy argues that "biological differences are socially trivial, and that overwhelmingly the social differences between men and women are historically constructed" (111). I think he is right. There is nothing biologically that states if you are born a woman you will do what is considered feminine in the future and the same goes for males. Often times their are people like transgendered individuals that their gender belief of who they are is different than their biological or physical appearance. Their identity is a key part in who they are.
Social differences will always come into play when discussing gender and sex but like Roy says, it is important to know the difference between the two.
I think Sam has done a good job summarizing the main points of the reading and videos as well as inputing his own opinion.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with sam that "there is nothing biologically that states if you are born a woman you will do what is considered feminine in the future and the same goes for males" but I want to point out another reason which is touched upon which is the social pressure.
I think the idea that women and man still have these gender roles is still very prevalent in society today. The reading did mention this towards the end stating how the view and 'power' of women have come a long way, but are stil not on par with the men. People in society today still abide by these invisible rules in a very, almost religious basis.
I know far more stay at home moms then dads, more girls who can cook then guys, and many more cleaners who are women, rather then men. I Just want to point out that I do not think these distinguishing factors by gender is correct, just want to emphasize that I believe they are still extremely obvious and have a great effect to the way people view there almost life path today.
I also agree with most of Sam's explanation on William Roy's article. Specifically in the separation of distinguishing sex and gender. Essentially sex deals with the biological difference between men and women and does not play a large impact on social life. While gender on the other hand, "refers to the kinds of social relations commonly attributed to differences between males and females" (pg. 112). Gender is the reason for many of these common stereotypes that are seen consistently throughout society, as pointed out, for example, in commercials for tide depicting that laundry is a women's job. A drastic but very real solution to this problem could be by taking the principles the Tahitians used and apply them in our society today. There were virtually no differences on views of either sex because they didn't identify gender as a thing, to the point that there was no pronouns to show sex. Although obviously this method would not work today because we as a society already have built very solid views on sex and gender that will take a long time to change.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of the statements that you raised in your blog post. I definitely believe that the concept of gender is socially constructed and people are raised and taught to act a certain way pertaining to the specific genitalia that they have. Also the concept of gender depends heavily on geographic and historical contingency considering the fact that gender roles have been different throughout history and across the world depending on the country and or people who regulate and assign the gender roles. Also Sam stated that sex is a very large and key part to someones identity, which I very much agree with. One of the first things that I think of when talking about my social identity would be the fact that I am a female. However that doesn't mean that I conform to all of the ideologies that are within the spectrum of being considered a female that is supposed to be all around feminine. Since I am a feminist I believe that there should be equal rights for me and women and that includes transgender people along with any other type of person that people choose to identify themselves as.
ReplyDeleteI think that making the distinction between sex and gender is very important. It defines what our society considers to be within “normal” parameters. Roy asked why a person must fit into one sex to be perceived as “normal”. He writes, “Normal here is more than statistical; it is a moral imperative that one must conform to entirely”. It is a necessity to bring up transgendered individuals as well who find a difference between their biological sex and the gender with which they identity. Since gender is historically and socially constructed, it cannot possibly be linked with anatomy to create an “identity”. Society has constructed ideas about what clothes each gender should wear, what jobs they should attain, even the personality traits associated with being either male or female. I think that people in society need to realize that what we view as “normal” gender roles are not inherently part of our genetic makeup.
ReplyDeleteBased on Sam’s analysis, it would appear that the definition of race as a social phenomenon, “who is what and who gets what”, can also be applied to gender in the modern world.
ReplyDeleteA person’s identity as male or female determines not only what their expected contribution to society will be (i.e. working vs. raising children), but also what opportunities and restrictions they’ll face (especially in terms of economics and the job market), the acceptability of their interests, the assumptions others will make about their personality and decision-making capabilities, and many other factors not listed here.
As Michael Kimmel suggested, though, gender and the way it affects our lives is often invisible to those who aren’t forced to think about it—more specifically, males. It makes sense then that until men are made individually aware of the privileges history has afforded them and what it means to be a woman living without any of these advantages, there wouldn't be any real reason that they would work to intentionally give up their power.
The construction of gender roles in society has stemmed as far as to play a relatively large determining factor in the career that you can obtain. As seen in the Best Buy Superbowl commercial, all of the "phone innovators" depicted were white, male, and heterosexual and these three traits have given them an increased status and more opportunities. Women are stuck at a disadvantage from men because of society's view of them as caretakers and nurturers. An old riddle demonstrates how much we classify jobs into male/female roles.
ReplyDeleteA man is driving his son to school, they get into an accident and the man dies. The son is rushed to the hospital and when he arrives for emergency surgery the doctor says "I cant operate on this boy, he's my son!"
How is this possible?
If you didn't know the answer beforehand, then this is a relatively tough riddle. (The doctor is his mother.) Even today, it is harder to think of women having traditionally white, male positions of power, such as being doctors, lawyers, in the STEM field, and even astronauts, which was what made the joke difficult. This stigma is reversed on males as well--nurses, stay at home parents, and elementary school teachers would be thought of as typically feminine.
I agree with the statements you made in your blogpost; I definitely agree that gender is socially constructed and historically and geographically contingent. Before reading William Roy's article, I didn't realize how much of our identity was gender based, NOT sex based. From a very young age, we are dressed, treated, and given toys based on our gender. We watch Disney movies which clearly shows the gender stereotypes--princesses being feminine and waiting to be rescued, while the strong princes fight with swords. This influences us to start growing into the gender roles of our society.
ReplyDeleteThis also made me think, how about transgendered children? I watched a youtube video of a little boy who said he hated his genitals and how he wanted to be a female. He went on to explain that he liked dresses, playing with barbies, and doing "girl things." When I heard him talk about how he wanted to be a girl, I realized that he hated his sex because he hated the gender roles that come with it; he identified with the female gender role.