Reaction Paper About Gender Construction

How can the word ‘gender’ be defined? The American Psychological Association refers to gender as, “The attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex.” Gender is not to be confused with an individual’s sex, which is predicated solely on biological factors, such as genitalia and sex chromosomes. Gender has become a social construct, and society has absolute control in defining gender roles; stifling creativity and innovation. Gender construction is the distinction between the two sexes and attribution of traits and characteristics through gender roles. The culture within a society defines what is considered masculine or feminine. Femininity in most societies is characterized by traits such

Men are supposed to eat by “the sweat of their brows,” according to the book of Genesis. Jobs such as being a secretary or nurse are not laborious enough for men to undertake. The much more dainty and ditsy female is better suited for these positions. Heaven forbid a woman wanting to become a construction worker or garbage collector. We wouldn’t want her breaking a nail, or getting her high heels dirty. If you take a look at the elementary schools in the Bahamas, you will notice that the homeroom teachers are predominantly female. Male teachers usually teach specialty subjects such as Music, Spanish and Computer. Are the males not trustworthy enough to watch the children for the bulk of the day? Does it take maternal instincts to lay that sound foundation for the youth? Since the social construction of gender is mainly formed by the gender role and stereotype in our society, gender identity is constructed by the representation of gender norms in mass media productions, parental expectations about gender identity, and the beliefs of different religious traditions about gender. In today 's society, mass media production such as movies, video games, and magazines influenced so many young males and females and also some older people. For instance, men usually dominate the action genre in films. Whenever a woman is cast as the lead role in an action movie, she has to be oozing sex appeal. Then there are

Individuals’ daily life interactions, family influence, parental guidance and decision making, and role modeling create a constructed perception of gender. However, biological factors such as hormones, also play a role in how an individual acts and thinks. Males have some levels of estrogen, and females have some levels of testosterone. Without a doubt, men and women do have their differences. Biologically, men and women have physical, emotional and mental differences, but these differences do not make women the weaker sex or men the stronger. They are both subjected to the various complexities of individual upbringing and life experiences and they are strongly influenced by culture, environment, and society’s view of what is manly or womanly. The quintessential man or woman can only be theorized. Not all women are emotional, just as not all men are stoic. Each person should be taken as an individual, and the media has started to reflect these views in all areas. Even if cultural manipulation does not exist, there still would be differences between males and females. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate my assertion that the gender roles are a social construct. Gender roles are not innate. It’s almost as if Draco himself established these gender roles, and death was the penalty for opposing his law. When we attempt to attribute strengths and weaknesses to either gender, we are limiting our potential