How Sexually Dimorphic Are We - Admission/Application Essay Example

Gender and Sexual Studies College: Gender and Sexual Studies Week The first week comprised of an introduction to gender and sexual studies. On the first day my friends and I took time to discuss the difference between gender and sexuality as defined from a scholarly point of view. In the first lecture of the week, we learnt the great difference between gender and sex as applied in sociological ideologies. While sex is a biological difference that includes the physical difference between males and females, the gender describes the characteristics behaviors that people associate with being male or female. Hence, sex is biological fact while is embedded in the culture and origin of a person, and at times may vary from one culture to another. This was an important lesson for me especially having an origin of the Muslim community. In the Muslim culture, there are many other factors that influence the issue of being male or female. There is a clear cut line between the behaviors of males and females. For instance, while females are expected to be very shy to the public, the males are expected to stand bold in public and to be part of the public social circle. This is quite different from the way other cultures behave. For instance, women and men have almost equal rights to publicity in the states such as America. On this note, this lesson was crucial as it helped me to understand the great difference between gender and sex, terms that are commonly used interchangeably. Week 2 In the second week, we organized a class discussion on the history of cultural transformation that has shaped the issues of gender in the society today. The issue of gender has been a sensitive topic since the beginning of social assertiveness. In the history of even the most developed nations, the issue of gender gap has been historical and women have always been the victim of circumstances. To begin with, there was the belief that women are inferior beings that need that could only be limited to domestic activities. Women were supposed to dominate and become the breadwinners in the society. They played major roles such as herding, working in the formal sector and fending for the family. Through the discussion, I learnt how some of the communities had different believes that I was not used to in my culture. While some saw it as a negative culture, our culture sees the history on gender as something to be conserved. The learning of the week was quite relevant for me as a Muslim, where these historical stereotypes are still held close to the heart of the community and female activism is yet to achieve female assertion. In my community, women are still fighting against male chauvinism. For many years, the females have suffered from domestic wars as they try to rise up for their rights. As a Muslim student, understanding that the issue of female oppression is unethical is part of understanding the background of the problem and identifying ways that this problem can be solved. Therefore, I feel that lesson satisfied my curiosity to understand the history of the problem and how this problem is now reducing in some regions of the world such as United States. Week 3 The third week of the semester was quite educative as we had lectures discussing various economical perspectives of gender gap within the modern society. The class learning linked the issue of gender gap and the economic development within many countries. One point to note is the way male superiority has adversely affected economic development in many countries. The belief that women are inferior explains why most communities in the rural areas do not educate their females. In Muslim communities, the gender education gap is very wide as most female children remain at home while the male children attend school. In our course readings, we focused on the research of Morris (2008) that reflects on the idea stereotypic idea that girls are “too cool for school” which explains the wide education gender gap. In Oregon, I noted that females are treated equally as men and they have the same rights to education. From a critical point of view, it is evident that most societies suffer from economic backwardness due to this gender discrimination in education. In countries where there is deficiency of employee in areas such as health sector, failing to educate female constrains the labour force. From personal experience, female discrimination in some countries explains why many people are poor. For instance, when single parent mothers have little education, they have little income to educate their children, hence making the family even poorer. Therefore, education is crucial for all, and the economic development of a country is dependent on the ability of the government to close the gender education gap. Week 4 In this week, we focused on gender wage gap, as continuation to the economic perspective of gender discrimination. I took personal time to research in the Library in order to have a clear understanding of the issue. I learnt that the gender wage gap in countries such as Ontario has been a controversial issue since early 1980s when this difference was noted. Research shows that women salary for equal position in Ontario is 29% below that of women indicating a wide salary gap across the gender boundaries. A close look at the wage gap trends indicates that there has only been slight improvement in the last 25 years despite the numerous efforts to close this gap. In 1987, before the emergence of wage gap activists, the wage gap was approximately 37% in Ontario. These trends indicate that the efforts to bring down the gap have been undermined and the gap remains wide. This trend in the Ontario employment sector is a matter that has attracted a lot of attention not only from the public but also to the women right activists as many feel that there is a need for equal pay across all gender as part of diversity management. The discussion of the week was an interesting topic that attracted various opinions from the class. As we discussed the issue, there were those who debated that it was wise to fight gender wage gaps as part of the war against discrimination of females. However, there are those who felt that there is need for males to be paid more as the bread winners. From this interaction with my classmates, I understood that the gender problems are still persistent today within the community. This explains just how much there is to fight before gender liberalism is attained in the society today. Week 5 On this week, I got engaged in a social seminar in which we focused on the way sex of a person shapes their behaviour. Overtime, there has been a belief that there is absolute sexual dimorphism among the Homo sapiens. This implies that human beings are sexually differentiated by their morphological make up that involves hormonal differences and formation of their organs. Research by Lee et al (2013) shows that there has evidence of sexual dimorphism in human beings and that this to some extent influences the way males and females behave. Research by Udry (2000) shows that there are many similarities between the two sexes and that this is the reason why some women have equal potential to men while some men have behaviour close to those exhibited by women. To me this seems to describe the Islamic communities. In Oregon, there was little difference between females and males. Most of my female friends in Oregon dressed in trousers same as men, which was quite new to me. In the Islamic community in Dubai, it is forbidden for females to wear trousers and this can even lead to rejection. The scientific understanding of the influence of sex on people’s behaviour is an issue that draws great controversy. Many people have little understanding on the biological perspective of sexuality and its influence on the gender behaviour. One great understanding is that to some extent there is a lot of sex influence on the behaviour of human beings, and this is why there is need to support women as part of the appreciating the diversity of human beings. The week was informative and provided me with an opportunity to understand the science behind human behaviour. Week six This is a week that changed my views regarding the prevalence of child sexual abuse in the society today. In this week, we attended a mentor session on the issue of child abuse that now prevails across the world. The main objective of the session was to provide an in-depth analysis of the problem from both social and psychological perspectives. Contrary to the belief that child abuse is a result of increase in criminal activities in the society, I learnt that majority of the perpetrators of child sexual violence are those people that are close to the children. Since this group knows the vulnerabilities of these children, they are able to take advantage. Secondly, increase in family distress has aggravated the problem of sexual abuse. Before this research, I felt that the government failure to launch preventive strategies has resulted to the increase in prevalence of such problems in the society. However, it is clear that the government efforts have failed to work because the society has failed to cooperate to installed programs by reporting the cases of offense in the society. This research has increased my understanding on the prevalence of child sexual violence in the society today. From my review, I feel that the war against sexual child abuse is a war that must gain ground beginning from the community. Since the perpetrators of this vice come from the society, then it is indisputable that the war against violence must include those people close to the child. Week 7 In the seventh week, we focused on the contemporary sexual issues that are trending today especially in the era of technology. The media influence on social behaviour has been a topic of discussion for a long time. The social-cognitive theories have linked the social structures of the society with the social influence of the media. The argument of these theories is that the people, especially young adults, are likely to imitate those behaviours that they see often. As such, the youths are likely to imitate the actions that are portrayed in the media and the society as this is their immediate environment. After my social interaction with my friends, I came to agree that the media shapes the society in all its aspects. Most of my friends competed with the fashion trends that they observed on Facebook and Twitter. As we went out for shopping in Town, I felt a little bit odd since I could not keep up with this kind of trendy lifestyle. The media provides the society with new dressing life styles, new eating habits, new sexual behaviour and even new tastes of their social behaviours. On this ground, it is true that the media portrayal of sexual content plays a great role in contributing to sexual titillation in the society. Hence, it is indisputable that the media has played a great role in defining the new sexual behaviours in the contemporary society. From a close look, it is indisputable that the social media has become an avenue for sexual education and moral corruptness at the same time. This is the main reason why these behaviours are unappreciated in the Muslim community and majority of parents hinder the youths from watching erotic programs or videos. Week 8 In the eighth week, we focussed majorly on the controversial debate of homosexuality and its proliferation in the world today. The teacher engaged us in a mentor session that focused on the theories revolving around the issue of same gender sex. The theories suggest that homosexuality is a psychological behaviour that may result from many factors. For instance, many people who are exposed to domestic violence may fear marriage and end up in homosexuality. In the mentor session, the counsellor provided the statistics of the development of the problem and how family constraints and loss of cultural traditions have influenced its spread. This session also gave me ample time to socialize with most of my friends and share on this subject. Most of my colleagues in this university are friendly and very helpful in all perspectives. As we shared, I learnt that homosexuality is common in their places unlike in my culture. Reflecting on my cultural background, the issue of homosexuality is treated as a crime and is completely unacceptable. From a personal point of view, I do not support homosexuality as I feel that this against my cultural beliefs. In the Muslim community especially in Dubai, the issue of homosexuality is not even discussed and as a person I feel uncomfortable speaking about the topic. References Blackless, M., Charuvastra, A., Derryck, A., Fausto-Sterling, A., Lauzanne, K., & Lee, E. (2000). How Sexually Dimorphic Are We? Review And Synthesis. American Journal Of Human Biology, (2), 151. Morris, E. W. (2008). Rednecks, Rutters, And Rithmetic: Social Class, Masculinity, And Schooling In A Rural Context. Gender & Society, (6), 728. Udry, J. (2000). Biological Limits Of Gender Construction. American Sociological Review, 65(3), 443-457 Read More