Gender Across Cultures - Essay Example

Gender across Cultures Table of Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 3 Conclusion 9 References 11 Introduction As economics has become globalised in the modern world, the issues related to gender roles, such as economical, social and political understanding remains centralized. With respect to the Western historical tradition, the concept about gender including the social, cultural, behavioural and psychological characteristics associated with being a male or a female has been traditionally considered as unalterable. Since males were found to be stronger and bigger of the sexes therefore they were taught to be biologically imperative in order to protect the species and propagate it. The historical beliefs about the males of the human species were motivated to be independent, aggressive, achieving and dominant in the society. Females on the other hand were restricted from participating in the social and political activities and they were taught to be limited by their reproductive biology. Women were traditionally limited to the rights to childbirth, pregnancy, menstruation and lactation due to their biological developments. These biological and physical constraints of women induced the belief in the mind of the society that they were the inferior and weak group of the human race. Women from an early age were taught to be sensitive, nurturing, passive and emotional members of the human society. There have been several exceptions to the gender stereotypes throughout the history and significant examples have been set in the world about women and men who bypassed the acceptance of gender roles and made their own ways. In order to understand cross-cultural differences related to gender, it is essential to develop pivotal research instruments for better understanding about the nature, contribution and place of gender roles to society and culture. Discussion The nature of biological difference between men and women has been significant in the history of human society. It has been recorded that women were identified broadly based on the physical nature and abilities. Sex is the basic difference that discriminates between a male and a female. Gender is an identity that is possessed by every individual and it culturally constructs the traits and characteristics of men and women. The chromosome construction of males and females are different. According to biological analysis XX-type chromosomes are found in females and XY-type of chromosomes are found in males. However, there are various effects of society, ethnicity and culture that complete the behaviour and identity of men and women based on the difference in the gender group (Zevin, 2014, p.57). The impact of ethnicity and culture over sex and gender can be clearly illustrated with the help of the research of Margaret Mead. Margaret explained about different cultures with wide variety of examples. According to Margaret’s research it has been observed that the native people of New Guinea have completely different approach towards the two major genders that represent the human society. For example, the people of Tchambuli culture in New Guinea have represented women to be the leading members in their society (Wetherell, 2001, p.88). Females have the ultimate control of economic life and they work towards the betterment of people. According to the research it has been observed that the women participate in different type of professions to earn their living. The males of the society generally participate in arts and theatres. The males of the society do-not have any direct control over the regulation of economy of the Tchambuli society. The Tchambuli women have been found to be engaging themselves in manufacturing of products and food. The initiations of sexual relations are also taken by the females of the society. Several other societies of New Guinea have also been inspired by the lifestyle of the people and they have been able to implement some changes in their society related to gender differences (Rodriguez, 2007, p.18). This explains that the cultural difference of sex and gender exists profoundly in the world. There are different countries with different approaches towards gender issues. People of different cultures and ethnicities have difference in their attitude and perception related to gender issues. It has been observed that most of the females desire to enjoy equal rights, respect and recognition as males however males have the tendency to maintain their dominancy over females (Offerman, 2009, p.28). Based on an experiment conduct in the University of North Carolina it has been observed that the Chinese women preferred masculine dominancy over them however the American women preferred to enjoy their life with men but be independent. This shows that the culture and practice of different nations are not similar regarding gender and sex and people have difference in their motives about the social responsibilities performed by the two groups. The cultural differences of different nations do not signify that one practice is superior to other practice or the reason for development. It is essential to understand that a human genital has its own characteristics and as it develops and forms a child the society is responsible for the thoughts and values that are gained by the child (Oberhauser, 2014, p.32). The social constructions point of view there is a major distinction between the categories gender and sex. Sex is regarded as the two biological categories of the world i.e. male and female. However, gender is an institution or a social organization that structures social relationships, reproduces rules and upholds pattern of expectations. Most of the people in the world learn to observe the rules and regulations that exist about sex and gender as a ritual. Both the male and the female population of the human society do-not understand the difference between their beliefs and their attitude towards their particular sex or the opposite sex (Moyles, 2012, p.64). It is significant that both the sex attracts to each other because of the anxiety that they attain after knowing about the difference in the biological constructions. Several studies about masculinity suggest that the gender roles vary significantly across different cultures. For example, the gender roles in Sweden have great differences as compared to other cultures or societies. The European government has implanted important laws to reduce the inequality among the two basic genders. After the birth of a child both the parents are allowed parental leaves in order to ensure childrearing successfully. In most of the countries maternal leave policies are common among the public as well as the private organizations (Mazama, 2007, p.82). However, in Sweden the male partners are allowed long leaves for about two months which has reduced the discrimination between men and women in the society. In contrast to the European law, the gender roles in Chile do not allow equal roles and responsibilities for women. Based on a study done by United Nations Development Programme it has been recorded that 62 percent of the population of the country are opposed to complete gender equality (Kertzer, 2007, p.78). The women of Chile have limited role to perform for their nation. First of all the women are not allowed to participate in the economic development of the nation. Most of the women do-not perform work because they are not allowed by their domestic partners. Moreover, the society and the culture are against the women who engage themselves in job roles outside their house (Jaung, 2007, p.79). The Chileans have a belief that women should only limit themselves to the role of mother and wife. They should not participate in any work activities other than household. This belief and culture of the country has resulted in the lack of participation of women in the economic and political developments. There are many countries wherein women empowerment is significant and they have allowed the development of the position of the women in their countries. It is believed by the theorists and researchers of gender studies that maintaining gender equality is an essential parameter that helps to enhance the living standard of a society. The cultural and social values also enhances with the improvement of the position of women in male dominating countries (Hunter, 2006, p.12). Similarly the improvement of males in the female dominating countries is also essential for the enrichment of the society. Since there is a wide variety in the difference between the cultures of different society therefore, the understanding of gender and sex in the cultures are not similar. It is difficult to change the perception and behaviour of people belonging from different ethnicities thus gender issues still persists in the world. Discrimination between the male and the female members of a community has been existence from the beginning of the human civilization. Though there have been some dramatic changes in the position of the women regarding their control over the social and economic developments. However, the consequences of the changes have been very violent as experienced by the people. The dominance of males in the human society has been talked about by many researchers in the past and several studies have provided the instances that show the dominance of men in the society. However, it is also important to understand that women also do not allow men to interfere in their own space. For example, a research conducted on the women of Zimbabwe show that the women do not allow their male partners to use the household belongings such as wooden spoon, mortar, broom etc. The culture of the women of Zimbabwe also does not allow them to let their children especially young boys to enter the kitchen while they cook food (Freeman, 2010, p.31). This kind of attitude among the women shows the traditional culture of the society. There are many beliefs that let them continue their actions happily because they do not want the young boys to be very close to females or attain their characteristics. As discussed earlier the male and the female chromosomes make the genital and the male and female characteristics occur after a certain age due to social and cultural motivation. However, the biological characteristics develop among children from the beginning. There are some combinations of chromosomes that do not allow the genital to form a normal male or female physic. There might be some changes in the physical characteristics of a male child due to non secretion of male hormones accurately. For example, the female breasts also tend to develop in those individuals as they grow which make them look like women. These females have been referred as travesty by other people of the society (Drewes, 2011, p.9). Due to difference in the physical and biological characteristics these individuals have been isolated from the general community of humans and left them to find their own identity. Most of the travesties have jumped into the prostitution business along with other woman prostitutes due to their female looks and isolation from the society. In order to develop their feminine looks the travesties have implemented several remedies such as injecting silicon to develop their breasts and using artificial tools to look like women. The travesties have been in the prostitution business from a very long time and men have gained interest on them because of their desperate nature. Since the travesties are not afraid of men to force them or kill them therefore, they try to attract men by wearing short clothes and enhance their feminine looks. In some cultures travesties have been cursed by women because they adopt artificial techniques to attain feminine characteristics (Dilg, 2010, p.45). The females on the other hand are natural and they do-not formulate artificial techniques. Thus travesties have been in controversies since a prolonged period. There have been many changes in the human society in different period of time related to gender and sex. Initially women were given a respected position in the society. In the barbarian age the women were treated inhumanly due to their weakness. The males started to dominate the female counter partners and torture them or even forced them for prostitution. There have been significant developments in the status of women in many cultures and societies but some of the cultures still hold back to the historical evidences and dominate women drastically. The women of Malaysia or Afghanistan have been experiencing such dominance from a long period and their social status has not been improved up to the international benchmark which is not ethical (Deutsch, 2009, p.18). The distinction between forced prostitution and free prostitution has been recognized implicitly by the international community. However there is a lack of active laws and regulations to stop forced prostitution at an international level. The societies and cultures that have regarded such activities as illegal have a different perspective behind such actions and the countries supporting such actions have their own motives. Males and females both are essential in the world because they have significant role to play for the development of the human society. However, the women had to face several criticisms due to the cultural beliefs that existed in the society. There have been many reforms that improved the life of females in the society. For example, in the year 2008, a cross-cultural training programme was organized for people in Europe (Brett, 2004, p.11). This program emphasized on maintaining equality in the society and spreading awareness in the world. Previously some parents of children tried to change the sex organs with the help of surgical methods in order to avoid birth of travesties. However, the government has banned such surgical experiments and made it as mandate to conduct surgical procedures on an individual with his/her wish. Several reforms for women have also emerged in the world for the betterment of the position of the women in the society. There are several laws that have been incorporated to reduce domestic violence and maintain peace and equality in the world. These factors show that significant reforms have been conducted by people in order to mitigate the gender issues from the society (Blazina, 2011, p.19). The active participation of the political bodies in women empowerment programs has enhanced the liberty of women. Conclusion Based on the above discussion it is possible to state that sex and gender issues have been existed in different cultures of the society. The evidences provided in the assignment illustrates that culture is not separate from biology. There have been some important researches conducted regarding the gender issues however some analytical tools are required to be implemented in order to reduce the challenges associated with sex and gender. As discussed earlier gender is an institution that describes the significance of male and female in the society. In the modern world most of the cultures and ethnicities have adopted strategies to enhance equality between the male and females. However, some issues still exists that are required to be taken care of. Forced prostitution should be given special attention because it has degraded the values of human society. The emergence of travesties as prostitutes has been as a result of social degradation. The isolation of individuals with different abilities including physical or mental should have been discarded by the different cultures. The gender issues are different in different cultures. The Tchambuli society of New Guinea has female dominance as they have control of the regulation of economy as well as the manufacturing. The males in this society participate in entertainment features of the society. On the other hand the European and the American societies had male dominance in the history which proves that the conception of male and female as distinct is based upon the cultural values of different societies. This signifies that cross cultural perspectives are the main reasons behind the distinction of gender rather than biological occurrences. References Blazina, C., 2011. An international psychology of men. London: Sage. Brett, J., 2004. The Handbook of Negotiation and Culture. New York: Oxford University Press. Deutsch, R., 2009. Perspectives: Anthropology. New Jersey: Pearson. Dilg, M., 2010. Our words in our words. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Drewes, A., 2011. Supervision can be playful. London: Routledge. Freeman, K., 2010. Race, Ethnicity and Gender. London: Routledge. Hunter, R., 2006. Technology and Education. London: Sage. Juang, L., 2007. Culture and Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson. Kertzer, D., 2007. Anthropological democracy. London: Kogan Page. Mazama, A., 2007. Africa in the 21st Century. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Moyles, J., 2012. Cross-Cultural perspectives. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Oberhauser, A., 2014. Global perspectives on gender and pace. New York: Springer. Offerman, J., 2009. Gender in Transition. London: Cambridge University Press. Rodriguez, H., 2007. Latinas in the United States. New York: McGraw-Hill. Wetherell, M., 2001. Discourse theory and practice. London: Rowman and Littlefield. Zevin, J., 2014. Young citizens of the world. London: Sage. Read More