Gender as Alpha and Omega of Personal Identification - Essay Example

 One of the most promising aspects of sociological studies is in the realm of gender. Every other person is affected by this concept, whatever the gender of the person may be. Throughout the years, gender is a sensitive and controversial topic of discussion as it borders from its political correctness to the personal opinions of different people. Gender is part of everyone’s lives, it is an important concept that everyone can relate to. With this, gender has been associated with different aspects of differentiation within the society, whether it be on a micro-level, such as family responsibilities, to a more macro-level that impacts the society, like employment. This paper will explore the different relations of gender with the society. Gender plays an important role in the different aspects of the society. Gender, in fact, can direct changes to the norms of the society. Gender is not only significant in one’s personal identification but also an important aspect in one’s relation with the society, based mainly on cultural differences. Gender is related to the concept of sex although it is to be emphasized that they are not interchangeable with each other. Sex is more of a biological concept while gender is more of a social concept. The issue of gender identity has been more prominent nowadays as the world faces different social transformations. This can be seen through employment patterns and parenthood (Diaz-Andreu & Lucy, 10). Social identification and personal point of view on identity are important aspects of living. It becomes our mark on the world, and it becomes how we are known for. Although social identification is largely associated with the society, it has a bearing in one’s personal view of identity. Knowing one’s gender or being identified in such manner is important on how one lives his life. Social acceptance of gender identities is also significant in the personal and social growth of an individual. This is where identity starts, on how one sees himself as seen by his community. This is an important aspect of developing personal growth, and since one’s personal growth affects the society, then it becomes an important aspect in the growth (or stagnation) of the social views of the community. Gender is an important concept in the social world. It shapes identities, not only of the individual but of the society as well. Gender affects how one views himself and other people. It is an important aspect in social interaction. Gender, in fact, shapes social interaction, depending on how one individual sees other people and how one behaves towards another. Gender also impacts social institutions as it creates new concepts and new social rules and practices significant enough to change the society’s perspective. Society and gender cannot be discussed without one another as one concept affects the other. This is an important note to be remembered as the study of gender develops. As one understands gender, one needs to understand the social world and vice versa. Both concepts develop within one another’s changes. Unlike before, gender is related more on the cultural perceptions rather than biological setup of an individual. Sexuality has evolved to a socially constructed concept. Gender is defined to be the psychological, social and cultural aspect of maleness and femaleness (Wharton, 6). This implies that socialization has a big impact on gender identification. The concept of gender is a process, it changes between the years of its study. Prior to recent developments, gender is closely related to the biological and social concept of sexuality. This shows that gender is not a fixed concept. It varies from the cultural and social perspectives of its study. As it encompasses all individuals of all social structures, gender is a multilevel phenomenon (Wharton, 7). Social processes and social institutions both shape and are shaped by gender. The study of gender has opened the roads to the study of feminism. In fact, most gender studies are about females than males. But gender is not only about the feminism or masculinity, it is about identity. The structure of the society is based mainly on power. There’s the economic structure defining people as upper class, middle class and lower class. There’s the education level, graduates, undergraduates and those who weren’t even able to experience formal education. Because of the structuring of our society, gender is on the edge of becoming another source of power structuring. This has always been prevented by feminism and such, wherein gender is proposed to be a fair ground between different individuals. But then, society identifies individuals as males, females and the homosexuals (which includes gays and lesbians). This social identification alone is enough to create power plays within the concept Gender differences have affected both the social and political construct of gender. Withstanding the biological differences, the social differences of gender lies on how gender is seen and believed to be within the culture. The importance of the roles and responsibilities of gender impacts how society defines the importance of different genders. This is related to how gender impacts the different social and political sectors, mainly employment and the rights of different individuals based on their genders. In a sociological perspective, gender studies use three main frameworks. Each framework looks at gender differently, thus, showing different perspectives that can be related to the concept of gender. These are mainly generalized under individualist, interactional and institutional approaches. In the individualist approach, gender is constructed through socialization, by how various social practices produce different gender definitions. This emphasizes that gender is an innate trait within the individual along with his beliefs, personality and emotions. In the interactional approach, gender is created through social interaction rather than just mere social practices. This is more on socialization of the individual, how the individual reacts to his environment and how is socialized with regards to gender identity. In the institutional approach, gender is defined as something that is embedded in the social structure and institutions. One’s gender is believed to be how the society deems the person to be. With the institutional approach, gender is identified as a concept created by the society. What the society believes as femaleness or maleness, then that is how an individual is categorized as such. This is slightly similar to interactional than individualist as individualist believes that gender is defined by the person himself. Although the three frameworks play along different perspectives, they can be integrated to understand better how gender is defined and how gender is affected by the different social concepts related to it, such as socialization, employment and gender roles. Looking back to history, gender has played a very significant role in humanity and society. Gender is one of the main aspects on how people gauge an individual’s importance in a group or community. During the time of discrimination towards gender, men were more favored than women, simply because they can do harder labor compared to women. It was written in the books of history that the main producers of food for the family are the men, and all the house work are left for the women, such as doing the laundry, taking care of the kids, cooking and more. However, as the years went by, industrialization and technology played a very big role in the change of how people see gender. Nowadays, every individual plays a special role that contributes to the community they belong to. In the modern days, we can still see that gender is one of the main factors that are to be considered in our everyday life. For instance, everyday you can see managers that may be male or females, these managers are selected to lead a team of individuals to achieve a certain goal. One of the major aspects is that the individual that is made manager is capable and knowledgeable of the task and possible problems that may lie ahead. In this scenario, gender is not a big factor, but in a case to case basis gender is still considered. In a fast food environment, there you can see male and female managers, serving food and providing customer service is something everyone could learn and master given proper training and time. But in a kindergarten school, there are more female teachers than male teachers. Females are known to be more patient compared to male teachers. They have a special touch that could actually reach out to the younger generation. Men, on the other hand, are somehow dominant and bossy so to say. Men would want their rules and regulations followed, and we know that these kids are not the best of followers yet. In another scenario, a construction site has more male managers compared to female managers. This environment requires people or individuals who are also capable to do actual task of carrying heavy equipment that may be needed, and the male manager can also fill in the slot of someone who can’t come in to work for some reason. These are everyday scenario has been presented in this case, and we can see that gender is still a very important factor to our modern-day lives. Gender is also a factor in the world of competition even in games. Say for instance battle of the sexes. During the early years of education, boys and girls were, most of the time, separated, like when we fall in line when we go to the classroom, the way the sitting arrangement was setup, and of course, chores. This separation between genders is very visible. There also some instances that students are grouped according to gender and have them all compete over a science project or game. Because of the traditional trend of men being favored over women, the fight or pursue for equity has been more vigilant over the years from the time of struggle against gender discrimination. Worldwide feminist scholars and other independent women rights organizations have been seeking for gender equity, so to say the right to have the same opportunities and privilege as of men (Crocco, 173). This so called struggle has been handed down from one generation to another till this very time. Difference physiological behavior and attitude between genders can also be greatly influenced by factors such as, demographic differences, age bracket and social class (Eagly, 10). The factors on research that was stated are strong considering factors why behavioral patterns differ from males and females. Demographic differences in relation to gender are also influenced by their traditions. A certain community, cult or religious group would have the same founding traditions that shape and strengthen their beliefs, however, this factor may differ from one age bracket from another. As a young individual, a child is fed information by adults or their parents who guide them and teach them what they need to know for a start or more commonly known as the basics of life and their culture. But as the years go by, this young individual would actually be interacting with different people within and outside their community and culture, depending on the new information that this individual gathers. His or her mental state starts to change in a way. The individual starts to realize things and have a different point of view about everything, depending on the environment that individual is more exposed to, like family, school or friends can affect the way her physiological output and input would be. Gender differentiation can be seen even in studying gender. For feminists, feminist theories are the answer to gender division, although these studies show how gender differentiation affects even theoretical perspectives. Recent developments show that gender studies have been focused on the changing environment, culture and perspective of the society. Recent years show that although gender roles and stratification are still visible within the society, it does not hamper personal development such as how it was before. Gender roles are still visible, although there are now males and females transcending the walls that the society has built years before. Controversial examples of these are paternity leaves for fathers and women being accepted in the army to serve in combat. Gender discrimination roots from these gender roles, as the society is stratified between being a real man or a real lady. When an individual is not conforming to the traditional view of being a man or a woman, based on the behavior or the actions he is doing, then gender discrimination is at risk. Our social structure indicates how gender stratification is deeply ingrained in our lives. Organizations, from the family to universities to corporations, show deep-seated gender differentiation. Gender stratification can be seen in all forms within different social organizations, this shows that gender stratification is not merely based on individual gender roles (Kornblum, 337). Childhood socialization has been one of the main factors in gender stratification. Human societies have the tendency to conform to traditional socially accepted values and norms (Kornblum, 339). As the child moves to a bigger world, from the family to a school setting, segregation is more visible. Even though in the family, boys and girls live and work together, as children are exposed to a bigger social environment, more gendered roles are applied to them and they are directed, or even manipulated to follow these socially accepted norms. As a student goes out of the university setting, they are still bombarded with gender roles in the workplace as women generally are in a lower income level than men. These patterns are more visible in advanced industrial nations than in the less advanced nations. This may be related to the social structure of industrialized nations, which shows more power levels than in the less advanced nations. Moreso, advanced industrial nations have a tendency to create several power levels in comparison to just a high and low level in less advanced nations. Biological differences between male and female anatomy has an impact in gender roles, stratification and differentiation. Women have a natural tendency to have a smaller body built than men. With this, men with a smaller stature are compared to women, pushing more gender stratification. It emphasizes the differences between men and women. Every individual must learn how to interact and communicate with other individuals as far as communication and interaction is concerned, gender plays a very big role. It has been discussed that or mentioned earlier how male and female would differ in a physiological manner and thinking. Demographics, age and social status or level were just the few mentioned. Gender is acting the part of attitude or behaving as feminine or masculine (Holmes, 54). If we are able to study and understand how to interact and communicate with all sorts of individuals coming from two different genders, age bracket, social level and others determining factors like work environment, social environment and level of relationship between two individuals, a person would be able to communicate and interact well. Traditionally people would see gender as a biological status in which individuals are categorized as male and female, or more commonly known as sex category. When in fact gender refers to how male and females would socially interact and communicate, making a statement with their ideas and concepts behaving and thinking in a way that would state their sex category which male or female. Knowing the difference of sex category and gender will actually help people understand an individual and help them interact and communicate according to that individual’s behavior and physiological level. Many historians have written facts and studies about gender, they have also come to study the physiological pattern difference between both sexes. In their study they have taken into consideration race and class. If an individual from a certain sex category that was raised in a certain community with traditional beliefs and ways, would definitely have a different perspective from another individual from another race or culture. For instance, there are some countries and cultures that allow and would believe that abortion is a good thing because of the population control and of course welfare control, if the parents is not ready to have a baby then the baby would only have a hard and difficult future ahead of him, the countries that allow abortion are the following, Mexico, United States, France, Hungary are just a few to mention. Abortion is significant to women’s reproductive lives, in countries that allow abortion the proportion of women having abortion in their lives is ranging from 1 to 3 (United Nations, 78). This example shows that majority of these countries has culture that would accept abortion, however there are some countries and culture that won’t allow abortion because of the majority of beliefs that their cultures have. In the given example, it is clear that gender between two different cultures would actually be different in so many ways, traditional beliefs of different cultures, their way of living, social level, education and religion are actually the contributing factors on how an individual hones and establishes he’s or her gender. Gender, is a very important factor in life, in not only involves communication, interaction, relationships (work or personal) and more. It is very important for us to understand that gender is not only categorizing an individual as part of the male or female sex category. In this modern age gender has evolve to be diverse and to a different level. The third sex is considered to be the people or individuals that belong to a specific sex category but would act in a different manner. These are people that would have different orientation in life, preference, environmental influence and more. Experts have been trying to answer one specific question through research, Is sexual orientation inborn or is it learned or acquired from environmental influences? Many individuals believe that homosexuals or the third sex choose their sexual orientation (Mooney, et. al., 440). If this is the case, then it is all physiological. An individual has the capability to choose their gender or sexual orientation, but the decisions that they make are influenced by a lot of factors in their environment, if there is a third sex then definitely these people have their own gender and have their own beliefs. One of these important factors is their experience in life and based on those experiences are the things and situations that make them happy and a complete human being. The so called third sex also went through a very tough time. They have been discriminated, disliked or disowned and embarrassed over and over again. Evan Dando of the Lemon Heads made a statement on one of his interviews with the Advocate dated January 25, 1994, he said that gay people get beaten up and killed just because they’re gay and that pisses me off (The Advocate, 92). This is the harsh reality that the so called third sex had to go through. It was just like the time when women struggled to fight for their equal rights. Based on all the facts and information gathered and documented through study and research it is safe to say that gender is can be a role of how an individual see him or herself, variable identities (Sunderland and Litosseliti, 31). Gender studies have been associated more on the lines of protecting the third sex or females but this is just tip of the iceberg. While Butler (1990) and Letherby (1999) discuss about feminism and how the social structure has a tendency to manipulate one’s identity, Connell (1990) threads through the study of how masculinity is impacted by the difference feminist movements, as well as different social and environmental movements. This shows that gender studies create an impact in all genders. Part of the sphere tries to protect women while the other protects men, some protect those of the homosexual category. This clearly suggests that gender studies cannot be separated from the power structure of the society. Even the studies themselves tend to present one gender’s need and important over the other, mostly regarding on the gender stratification level. Unwittingly, the studies themselves indicate that gender stratification is deeply embedded in the social structure of the society as even the studies themselves speak of fairness and equality based on a certain gender. Gender will always speak about power as a part of its stratification. Gender is an important part of one’s identity. Without gender, one’s identity will not be complete. This is one of the prime reasons why there are studies about gender. As one’s identity is created and shaped by gender, one’s social identification is also created and shaped. As it can be concluded, gender cannot be studied without understanding the underlying social structure and the impact of the social and culture world on gender. It is like a chain reaction. Set one on the other, it will affect the situation both ways. One’s behavior is dependent on his identity, personality and traits. One’s identity is dependent on how his social and cultural environment shaped him. And the society and culture changes depending on the direction of its people. There is a truth to the old adage, change is the only constant thing in this world. While there are three main sociological frameworks on how gender is studied, it is important that these frameworks can be combined in order to get a clearer picture of how gender and society impacts each other. Our society cannot be understood without gender studies, as this is part of the social structure. Without gender studies, we won’t be able to understand the impact of one’s actions and behaviors on the social world. Gender studies intersect with all other studies as it is part of our everyday living. Employment, school, family, these are just but few institutions that clearly indicate gender differences. This indicates that gender encompasses all levels and sublevels of the society, and with this, it shows that it is one of the most important and complicated area of study. Future studies on gender should be on how gender studies could be used to create reforms on our social behavior, as it both dictates and is dictated by the social world. Works Cited Butler, J. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. NY: Routledge, 1990. Connell, R. “A Whole New World: Remaking Masculinity in the Context of the Environmental Movement.” Gender and Society 4: 452 – 477, 1990. Crocco, M. “Gender and Social Education: What’s the Problem?” ed. Ross, W. The Social Studies Curriculum: Purposes, Problems and Possibilities, 3rd ed. NY: State University of New York Press, 2006. Diaz-Andreu, M. and Lucy, S. “Introduction.” Diaz-Andreu, M., et. al. The Archaeology of Identity: Approaches to Gender, Age, Status, Ethnicity and Religion. NY: Routledge, 2005. Eagly, A. Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Social-Role Interpretation. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers, 1987. Holmes, M. What is Gender? Sociological Approaches. London: Sage Publications, Ltd., 2007. Kornblum, W. Sociology in a Changing World, 8th ed. CA: Thomas Wadsworth, 2008. Letherby, G. “Other than mother and mothers as others: the experience of motherhood and non-motherhood in relation to infertility and involuntary childlessness.” Women’s Studies International Forum 22(3): 223 – 224, 1999. Mooney, L. et. al. Understanding Social Problems, 6th ed. CA: Cengage Learning, 2009. Sunderland, J. and Litosseliti, L. “Gender identity and discourse analysis: Theoretical and empirical considerations.” Eds. Sunderland, J. and Litosseliti, L. Gender Identity and Discourse Analysis: Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture. PA: John Benjamins Publishing Co., 2002. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Monitoring: Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health. United Nations Publication, 2004. Wharton, A. The Sociology of Gender: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. Read More