In today 's world, gender roles are being shattered on a daily basis. Women are supporting their families, becoming involved in STEM field, and proving themselves to be more than just their gender. Similarly, men are becoming stay at home dads, participating in household activities like cooking, and also proving themselves to me more than just their gender. Respect for either gender is growing day by day; however, this isn’t always the case and hasn’t always been the case. As seen in the play Fences written in 1985 by August Wilson and in the painting American Gothic created by Grant Wood in 1930, Gender makes people act in demeaning or conforming ways simply because of it’s implied societal meanings.
In recent years, gender has become a hot topic of discussion. Gender is defined as “the state of being male or female”, however, some gender theorists suggest that gender is a social construction that was not founded on sex. According to gender theory, the term gender is not expressing the state of being feminine or masculine. Many suggest that the separation between gender and sex has to deal with dominance being associated with gender as opposed to physical characteristics being associated with sex. Until the rise of industry in the West, the strong divide of gender was not prevalent.
The very nature of SF allows gender identities to be challenged and redefined. The authors, Octavia Butler and James Tiptree Jr. have created texts, which accomplish this. Butler’s Bloodchild, reverses male and female reproductive roles in order to bring light to current gender roles
Traditionally structured gender roles place both men and women into very strict categories. However, as we move into the future this way of thinking becomes increasingly archaic. Thinking of such things in such black and white terms gives one a narrow point of view and places people in categories which they do not fit. In Octavia Butler’s Dawn and William Gibson’s Neuromancer the ideas of the feminine gender role are redefined.
That being said, the social constructs of gender and the gender norms that we will learn in sociology interlock with Shane Ortega’s ideas. He reinforces the idea that gender-segregated facilities should be eliminated, and that it leads to objectification. Gender is fluid and is also categorized into masculinity and femininity, a concept that Shane believes should be integrated and flexible. In all, experiencing Shane Ortega speak humorously and openly about
Jonathan Zimmerman is saying that while many people believe as technology evolves and advances that it will make education better and better. Students claim there is nothing wrong with being on social media while doing school work is not detrimental to their education but instead claim they are simply, "mutitasking". Students now believe that everything in education can be done easier and more efficient through using their computers and cellular devices. But when it comes down to the facts, studies that have been conducted over and over again have shown that those who claim to be "mutitaskers" preform worse than the average person in just about every skill tested. Other studies show that just by reading something off a computer screen or a phone screen causes you to retain and comprehend less of what you are reading.
“Doing gender,” according to Judith Lorber, is a phrase that means to categorize people based on gender norms in order to get rid of ambiguity and make it easier to identify people. Some examples of “doing gender” would include mothers who are the primary caretakers of their children, men who act strong and confident in order to impress women, women who wear dresses and heels every day in order to look pretty, and men who work the typical 9-5 job and are the primary financial providers for their families. In order to observe “doing gender” in my community, I sat in the Hemmingson Center at a table at Starbucks. I sat there for an hour, from noon until one in the afternoon, which happens to be a super busy time for the Hemmingson Center.
this is an example of Butler’s theory that social construction of gender and gender identity can change over
1. In chapter two Judith Lorber argues how gender is human production and it is created and re-create by people in society who follow “gender doing”. In addition, Lorber explains how gender is taught at birth when a child is given a gender status. Parents use “gender markers” such as a child’s name and clothing to distinguish if they’re a boy or girl.
“Whatever a “women” has to be “female” and man has to be “male”.” (Lorber) She also includes how one’s gender gives them characteristics that are feminine or masculine. This ties into Millers article because the girls are negatively biased of their science and math skills because in society it is a masculine dominant area. Lynn Webber also wrote A Conceptual Framework For Understanding Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality.
Doing gender is the idea whereby gender isn’t a biological feature but rather a social construct that has been built into our natural mindsets; and is conveyed in everyday social interactions. Examples of facilitating the concept of “doing gender” include Public toilets, organized sport and the division of labour in the work place. Another way of defining the concept of ‘doing gender’ is to describe it as the “development of ‘gender identity’” (1). This is the process in which one feels as though they fit into a specified gender class.
This week, we talked about the social construction of gender and sexuality. Much like all of our beliefs in society, they are defined by society as a whole. Gender is a very peculiar subject because it goes much deeper than what people believe. It includes norms about the sexes, and ideas about what a typical man and woman should look like. “Sexism refers to a system of beliefs that asserts the inferiority of one sex and justifies discrimination based on gender— that is, on feminine or masculine roles and behaviors” (Newman 184).
Social conditioning and expectation of genders to act a certain way creates space for inequality to thrive. It is a cause for concern when most of today’s culture still believes that sex and gender are interchangeable and masculinity and femininity are not. Labels can be helpful in identifying and bringing awareness to
This thought has never crossed my mind before because I, myself, took ‘gender’ as a natural phenomenon. Gender is a product of socialization. It is cultural roles and personality characteristics that are labeled appropriate for men and women (lecture). Gender facilitates normative accountability: “structures that are in place to “correct” people’s gender non-conforming behaviours” (Johnson). Normative accountability and gender expectations were big issues children in the film faced.
Relating this further, cultural identities are marked by a number of factors including gender, with a very locus of sustaining and projecting a difference (Clarke, 2011). Hence, taking note of the dramaturgy, Clarke (2011) further explained that “identity is…projected at the target audience in a theatrical performance that conveys self to others.” This shows that gender is also a projection to the public based on the disposition they want other people to see from the person. Gender is seen as a situated performance (Anderson et al., 2009), and gender is connected to performativity (Butler, 1990; Langellier, 1999). Performativity as explained by Langellier (1999 in Krolokke & Sorensen, 2006) “articulates a display of differences that challenges
