Essay On Gender Construction

1384 Words6 Pages

Author of Confessions of a Sociopath, M. Thomas, states that “When you grow up as a girl, it is like there are faint chalk lines traced approximately three inches around your entire body at all times, drawn by society, particularly other women, who somehow feel invested in how you behave, as if your actions reflect directly on all womanhood” (Thomas 150). This statement exemplifies the influence and manifest of social construct in society. Construct is the basis for all social structures with gender having the strongest influence over social construction and roles. Within the scope of Gender Construction, society and culture create gender roles, which are defined as ideal or appropriate behavior for a person of that specific gender. The World …show more content…

What it means to “act like a man” in the Bahamas may be quite different from what it means to act like a man in Malaysia or Brazil. Indeed, what it means to be a man in church is different from what it means to be a man on the Basketball court or in a corner bar” (Gaskins 2). One’s culture, history, social environment and conditions influence the performance of masculinity or femininity. Thus, Gender Construction has a significant impact on male-female relationships and behavior in The Bahamas in many different ways such as the assumption of specific gender roles of males and females in romantic, domestic relationships due to Gender construction, which often dictate the direction of the relationship. Gender construction greatly impacts male female relationships and behavior in terms of determining gender identity, sexuality and self image. Furthermore, Gender construction also impacts gender behavior and relationships by effecting gender performance in an academic atmosphere & behavior in different competitive