Gender and Ethnicity in Relation to Childhood Inequality - Essay Example

Gender and Ethni in relation to Childhood Inequality By Gender Introduction The term gender has often been misunderstood to mean sex. Gender is however not related to an individual’s physical anatomy. Sex is the biological aspect related to an individual’s genetic makeup. Sex is characterised by chromosomes, sexual organs, reproductive structures located in an individual’s body and the external part of the genitalia. The concept of gender is, however relatively complex (Krook & Childs, 2010). Gender goes beyond an individual’s physical characteristics. It attempts to define the relationship that exists between the physical outlook of the individual and inner being. Sex is therefore the biological and physical characters that help to distinguish between male and female. Gender though has a very close relationship to sex, is refers to how the society has constructed different roles for men and women. This is in relation to the behaviour, activities, and duties and attributes that a society specifically considers for men or women. Physical indicators of sex are always uniform across the entire globe, men have similar biological characteristics in relation to sex and so do females. The roles set aside by every society for their men or women however vary significantly from one place to the other. The relationships between male and female as well as the opportunities available to both are often taught to individuals through the socialization process (Krook & Childs, 2010). Individuals are socialized by the society to both behave carryout duties and responsibilities and live like either males or females. This segregation based on gender however causes massive cases of unequal treatment among males and females. This discrimination is because of the roles that the society has specifically constructed for either gender. These equalities are experiences in a variety of aspects within life. These include massive income disparities among workers, preference of males for positions of leadership, and employing only females’ job descriptions (Colebrook, 2004). These disparities however do not begin to manifest during adulthood, the society begins to treat male and female children differently from the onset childhood. Young children based on their sex, begin to be cultured by the society to conform to what the social order considers to be the roles, responsibilities and duties set aside for members of either gender. This socialization of the children results in numerous inequalities. In most societies the male gender is considered to be more superior and important that the female. Based on this children begin to face constant unequal treatment from very early in life (Colebrook, 2004). Education In certain societies around the world, unequal treatment of children has been quite rampant. This is because of the how the society views members of either gender. The society from time immemorial has often considered the girl child to be of lesser value than their male counterparts. On matters of education, the male child is thus always given the priority. When a family is faced with a hard choice to determine who between the boy child and the girl child should pursue education (Bercaw & Ownby, 2009). Most of the societies around the world would prefer the male child. This is because these societies do not value the level of education that a woman should have. Women are considered more suited to carry out other tasks like household chores. In this society, culturally women have been relegated to lesser roles as compared to their male counterparts. The society considers that women will be married of at a certain stage in their lives and hence education was not a priority. This is a serious chase of childhood inequality brought upon a certain society by the predefined gender roles that exist in that particular culture. This kind of society discriminates against women based on their gender. Occupation Most children often begin to make career choices from a very young age. Young children always have their minds set on which career they would like to pursue once they get older. However, some societies bring up their children with a specific view (Bradley, 2007). This is in relation to what career a male child should pursue as opposed to the female gender. The society makes the children believe that technical careers like medicine and engineering are only the preserve of the male gender and females should take up less engaging careers like nursing or becoming homemakers (Connell, 2009). The society and all its members to reason along these lines. There is no room for serious evaluation of academic capability even though some females may so greater potential for success as opposed to the males (Bradley, 2007). The males here also face unequal treatment because they are not given an opportunity to select a career based on their ability (Nain et al. 2003).The society around them has cultured them to believe that all males should take up the technical careers. The female gender however faces a different form of inequality in the sense that the decision on what career would be most appropriate has been made for them well in advance (Nelson, 2006). A girl child who has the potential of becoming a medical doctor may thus end up being and ordinary homemaker (Bercaw & Ownby, 2009). Domestic chores During childhood children are supposed to assist their parents in doing domestic chores. In an ideal situation, children of either gender should take part in these activities without discrimination (Connell, 2002).The society in some areas has however cultured its members to believe that certain chores within the house are specifically a preserve of the female children. Members of the female gender are therefore continuously burdened with these chores while their male counterparts take time to engage in other activities. In this case, the females are being overworked because the society has cultivated in the young individuals that males are superior and should not take part in household chores. On the other hand, the male children are also receiving unequal treatment. They therefore grow up without this important aspect of life (Hines, 2007). Sports During childhood, the male child id often encouraged to pursue various passions like taking part in sporting activities. The females on the other hand remain indoors to take care of the housekeeping activities. Individuals of both genders can attain success in the sporting world. The society however encourages the boys to be sporty and adventurous while limiting the opportunities to the girl child. Inequality in the treatment of young children, this is done based on their gender (Chant, 2010). Genders refer to how the society has segregated roles, responsibilities and expectations that are expected from members of a society based on their sex. A specific society operates in a way that when a young child is born. Once the sex has been determined, the society begins to culture the individual so that they can conform to the expectations of the society. Male children are made to take up chore that require technical ability and in addition to this, they are cultured to be able to take on the responsibilities of being a provider. The female gender are made to take on less involving roles like housekeeping, education to them was not emphasised. The society has a belief that the girl child is being prepared for childbirth. A massive investment in a girl Childs education would be a waste of resources (Chant, 2010). Ethnicity Introduction Ethnicity is closely related to biological and sociological factors. Ethnicity is often confused r mean the same as race. Race is concerned with the physical appearance of an individual. This includes skin colour, the colour of hair and eyes, and the jawbone structure. Ethnicity is however related to other aspects, these aspects do not involve the physical appearance of an individual (Berman, 2005).These aspects include an individual’s nationality, the culture in which the person lives, the ancestry of the individuals, and cultural beliefs. The most oustanding feature of different ethnic groups is however the ability to communicate in different languages (Berman, 2005). All members of the Caucasian race show very similar outward characteristics; they all posses a light skin tone, have hair that is wavy and have light eyes with a narrow nose. One is not clearly able to distinguish between numerous Caucasian, they may all look the same. The only clear aspect that would show clear distinction is however, the language they speak. The language spoken will clearly enable a person to tell if an individual is French or English. Then we can clearly be able to see that these two groups have different beliefs, culture, traditions and rituals (Fischer & Mueller, 2003). Many characteristics can be used to distinguish the members of a particular ethnic group from the other. The precise definition of ethnicity is a population of people whose members hail from a shared ancestry and have a common genetic makeup. The members share a common language and have similar cultural beliefs and religious traits. (Koigi, 2003).Groups of people around the world often integrates ethnicity as part of their identity. Ethnicity is cultivated into the identity of peoples that form an ethnic group. An ethnic group has a well set out way of going about their duties. They take part in similar social, cultural and religious activities. This results in the development of a feeling of people hood. Ethnicity establishes a series of relationships within a given society, these relationships clearly defined what roles one has to play, and how much the individual can achieve within the particular society (Berman, 2005). Other groups of people can forcibly be categorized as members of a particular ethnic group. Without considering if, they are originally from the same ethnicity. The people may not even posses any similar cultural of religious belief but since the society that they live in view them to be from a particular ethnicity there level of achievement will be limited by those of the perceived ethnic group (Brett, 2002). On coming to America, the slaves did not consider themselves as Africans. They had all originated from different ethnic backgrounds. Each one had a different language; they all had varying religious beliefs and cultural practices. The operators of the slave trade however characterised all of these people as slaves irrespective of their various ethnic identities. They were thus all referred to as Americans from African. This was not a specific ethnic group. However, as time went by they managed to develop a source of ethnic identity. They began to speak a similar language, listen to the same music and have similar religious beliefs. This was because of the shared problems they faced as slaves; they slowly became an ethnic group. There are numerous inequalities that Take place in childhood due to the ethnicity that a child belongs to (Hall, 2002). Education In the early 1990’s, Africans were taken to America to work as slaves. The Africans were from various locations and did not belong to any particular ethnic group. Their mastered however classified them as Americans of African origin; this slowly became their ethnic identity. Various white people had also immigrated from all over Europe. They also had different ethic identities but with time, all came to be known as white. This lead to massive inequalities among the various racial groups. The white people from early childhood told their children that they were superior to their black counterparts (Fenton, 2010). The white children were then encouraged to attend school and acquire education so that they continue to become the master (McGoldrick et al. 2005).The African children on the other had the society they lived in had brought them up to think that they were only meant to serve their masters. The children therefore were not encouraged to pursue any education. This serious inequality took places because of ethnicity. The Africans due to the beliefs that they now shared in the new communities they had formed, did not see the need to educate a child. They thought that they were inferior and thus had ever-becoming masters. This was irrespective of the level of academic ability that a child possessed (Fenton, 2010). Occupation The members of the Americans from Africa ethnic group had cultured their children to believe that they were only meant to work that had no serious technical requirements like a quality education. The children were brought with the notion that they could only work in plantations or as house cleaners in their master’s houses. They did not consider whether the child had the ability to be a doctor of an engineer (Eriksen, 2002). The whites on the other hand had made their children to develop a belief in themselves. This belief enabled them to pursue occupations of their choice. This is a form of inequality that takes place during childhood because of ethnicity. Ethnicity is a feeling of belonging that is developed among a given group of people. They people share common religious and cultural beliefs and are bonded by speaking one language. Ethnicity can clearly be distinguished from race. The people a particular race are thought to share similar outward physical appearance like skin colour, colour of the eyes, colour if the hair and the nature of bone structure. Therefore, we can conclude that within a given race there exist numerous ethnic groups (Eriksen, 2002). Individuals can sometime be forced by the society to become members of a particular ethnic group. This is a result of pressure from various aspects of the society or when the individuals are united by a common course. This case happened to all the Africans who were moved to America during the slave trade. They were consolidated under the banner of Americans of African origin and eventually it developed into an ethnic group. These ethnic groups have similar religious and cultural beliefs. These beliefs are responsible for controlling the behaviour of the members of the ethnic group. The extent to which a member can make individual achievement in this society is thus limited by societal expectations. The society can influence a child positively from the expectations they have of cause a child to have a low level of achievement. This is usually based on how that society responds to particular issues (Brubaker, 2006). Bibliography Bercaw, N., & Ownby, T. (2009). Gender. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Berman, B. J. (2005). Ethnicity & democracy in Africa. Oxford: Currey [u.a.. Brubaker, R. (2006). Ethnicity without groups. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: Harvard Univ. Press. Brett, M. G. (2002). Ethnicity and the Bible. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers. Bradley, H. (2007). Gender. Cambridge: Polity Press. Colebrook, C. (2004). Gender. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Connell, R. W. (2002). Gender. Cambridge, UK: Polity ;. Chant, S. (2010). The International Handbook of Gender and Poverty. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. Connell, R. (2009). Gender: In world perspective. Cambridge: Polity. Eriksen, T. H. (2002). 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