Doing gender as opposed to being a gender - Essay Example

Doing Gender Number In the article Doing Gender by West and Zimmerman, gender is presented as a strong ideological tool that is used in daily interaction to build and strengthen differences between sexes. So what is the meaning of doing gender? And how does it vary from being gender? The authors have advanced their arguments by critically examining what sociology means by the phrase gender, which includes its dealing as a role performance in the conservative sense and a display according to Goffman’s terms.

Goffman shows the importance of the writers’ main argument of gender as a routine accomplishment in daily interaction. In his definition of gender, he brings it out as “interactional portrayals of what individuals would like to convey about sexual natures, via the use of conservative gestures” (West & Zimmerman, 1987, p. 22). This depicts the pursuit of gender as unreasonable. It means that individuals behave according to what they want understood on their sexual types. According to sociology, both gender role and gender display pay attention to the behavioral elements of being either man or woman as opposed to the biological variance between the two.

According to West and Zimmerman, the idea of gender as a role makes it unclear concerning the work that is required in producing gender in daily activities, while the idea of display demotes it to the edge of interaction. They argue that “Participants in interaction organize their various and manifold activities to express or reflect on gender, and are disposed to perceive the behavior of others in a similar light” (West & Zimmerman, 1987, p. 75). This means that gender is about controlling one’s actions according to the behavioral guidelines for one’s selected sex type and seeing others in the same perspective.

This may not be applicable to individuals who are intersexual, having a biological makeup that is ambiguous. Instead, such persons could be assigned sex types according to the way they effectively discharge their gender-specific roles. Transgender could also be taken to belong to their chosen sex type without the essential biological standards as long as they follow the guidelines of the performance of gender. In the West, the cultural view on gender sees both men and women as naturally and indisputably defined types of having psychological and behavioral susceptibility that can be foretold from their reproductive functions.

This can be termed as gender since one functions according to his sex. In contrast, gender can be defined as the act of controlling situated behaviors in light of normative notions of attitudes and activities that are considered right for one’s sex type. Gender activities come up from the sustained claims to memberships in a sex type. West and Zimmerman argue that, “Gender is not a set of traits, or a viable role but the product of social doings of some sort” (West & Zimmerman, 1987, p. 75). This means that it is what an individual does that defines his or her gender.

West and Zimmerman’s claim is that gender in itself is given meaning through interaction. This is exploring how gender can be displayed by interaction and be viewed as natural whereas it is being created as an achievement that is socially organized.ReferenceWest, C. & Zimmerman, D. (1987). Doing Gender. Gender and society, 1, 2, 125-151.