Gender Move in the Social Spaces - Essay Example

Discuss some of the myriad ways in which gender influences how people move through social spaces. Introduction There is a basic difference in the waythe men move in the social spaces vis--vis the women. This difference is apparent in all of the minor activities that the person is undertaking. Starting from something as simple as throwing a stone to lifting an object the method of movement between the genders is different. In this paper, the different ways that the people employ to move in social spaces is taken into consideration and this has been presented here. By social spaces, all the following are meant: The movement between man and wife, man and woman in all contexts, woman and woman is also considered. In addition to this, the three motility factors are considered; ambiguous transcendence, inhibited intentionality and a discontinuous unity (Young, 1990), with respect to the feminine gender is also discussed. The effect is also seen in the major work that women and men undertake. Physiological Activities Women inherently have or at least they think they have a weaker body. More often this is written down as the weaker sex. This idea sinks in their mind and is reflected when ever they do a job that is physically challenging. Let it be to lift a heavy object or to move something heavy. The tendency is to maintain this tendency of the women to maintain the weakness attitude in their body (Alphonso Lingis, 1994). This idea is reflected when ever they move in the social space. Whether it is to get their luggage out of their cars or to change tires in their cars, they look for help from more 'able' men. This attitude of a physiological disadvantage is reflected in every one of the activities of the women. As a matter of fact, the same is also reflected in the activities that are carried out by men too. They treat women as if they are incapable of doing even the simplest of the jobs. Whether it is a question of lifting the kid while they are on a long walk or it is to check whether the depth of the pool is good enough for a dive if it is not announced; the risk is always taken by the men. This tendency to being risk averse is not some thing new to the women. They consistently stay out of risk. For instance, they do not try to be heroic with a robber normally. They expect the male to be the chauvinistic hero who will save the women in need. This is also a physiological condition where the women tend to show reluctance in shouldering responsibilities (Anton Mischewski, 2005). On most occasions, one would also notice that the women tend to display a personal safety measure that is normally higher than what men do. May be this also could be attributed to the risk averseness that the women generally display (Aileen Moreton-Robinson, 2000). But then, it is also personal safety motivation that is more prominent and the tendency to save their skin rather than to get themselves hurt. This is not present in the men; even if present it is so only for a lesser extent. Psychological Activities Most of the activities of the women and men are controlled by the tendencies created and cultured in their mind. This seems to reflect the paternal traits of our society much more than the maternal traits. The effect of the male supremacy is ingrained in the thought process of not just the male but also the female in our society (Jones HG & Dr Kirkman M, (eds.), 2007). This reflects heavily in everything that is written and said about the female and male behavior. Therefore, this also cultivates the same behavior in both the genders. The tendency to accept the male superiority with out question is common place among women as much as it is with men. Whether it is to provide the right action while playing a game and provide the physiological activity that is needed to the job or it is for the people to provide mathematical or scientific reasoning for a thought process, the way the women think is substantially different from what the male does. In most of the cases, the woman generally under estimates her capabilities whether it is for a physical activity or for a mental activity. In either of the cases, this makes them to undertake the mission but with a half hearted performance, according to Young (1990). This half hearted performance would on most cases lead to a failure of the job which would again reinforce the original concept the female had about not doing it properly. That is possibly the reason why they just could not carry out many of the jobs even though they are physically as capable as or sometimes even better than them. But this tendency to portray women as inferior to men is not only in the social structures but also in the scientific world so much so that all the sexual discussions seem to assert the male superiority to a greater level than what is done in the social level. As Emily Martin (1991) says, there are a number of cases where scientifically the female is under rated or at least wantonly written in a tone that is detrimental to her social standing. This being an accepted norm, the female is made to think that she is NOT the one who will act but will be the one who will be acted upon; whereas, most of the scientific evidences are to the contrary. Even if they are not superior to male status in biochemical studies, they are at least on par and there is no such differentiation nature has done to the male and the female. All these attitudes towards male-female differentiation in the social spaces build out of this basic view that men and women have of themselves and of the opposite sex (Christine Helliwell, Spring 2000). This in turn ensures that the females behave in a way that is detrimental to them and reinforces the same concept that they have in their mind; and the males are ever present to reinforce the same. However, as Ruth Hubbard (1983) says, the women show a higher tendency towards parental care than men because they have invested more time in making the one egg that is made every month rather than the millions that is produced by the male who does it every day. This tendency of the women to show greater parental care because of the larger energy level that has been spent by the women is supported by Donna Haraway (1990) too. All these interpretations point to a differing social behavior of the women in their own social space. This is also reflected in the way they behave in the Ann Deslandes (2008) thesis on 'Global Justice Movement'. The women in the MST show great restraint in their behavior even though the movement is really calling for a freedom of the women as well as the freedom for the Agrarian. This is not only specific of the women in the Western world but also of the women in the Eastern world too. As pointed out by Emily Martin (1991), the male sperms are most wasted away than the female eggs. However, the tendency to pose the female wastage more abominably is greater than that on the males. This is possibly arising out of the many tendencies that the people really psychologically cultivate themselves to be, in this male supreme world. Conclusion There are a number of indications that bring out the fact that both men and women are equal. But some are more equal than the others! How does this work A number of arguments have been presented to show case the possibility that the man - women behavior in social space is more to do with their psychological and physiological make up, there could be others too. Based on the work that has been done in the earlier sections, the following conclusions are therefore, drawn: 1. There are clearly different social behavioral patterns displayed by males and females in their own social space. As a matter of fact, the behavioral patterns are uniform or at least similar to what is happening all over the world and irrespective of the cultures to a great extent. 2. Secondly, there are also differences in behavior with the cultures. The eastern men and women behave differently compared to their counterparts in the west (Stewart FJ, Mischewski A, Smith AMA, Dec 2000). This also means and indicates that the differences are also culturally dependent. 3. Thirdly, in my opinion, there is also a possibility that the women take up their ideas and opinions based on the behavior of other women and men whom they see in their close quarters. Women identify themselves with mostly their mothers and find the boys behaving closely to their father. They also take the behavioral patterns from their peers. These influences certainly ensure that the girls behave the way they are expected too or as the other girls do. The same way men too behave the same way as their counter parts do. If they do not they do not have the same machismo that other men have! Though there are inherently certain behavioral tendencies like safety and fear that is shown by the women more than the men, there are other qualities and behavioral patterns exhibited by women and men depending upon what their parents and the others in their social space do. Therefore, it is concluded, that the behavior of the people is influenced by the gender in their own social spaces. They are influenced by biological, chemical and social reasons to do the same. And the social space they are in has the greatest immediate influence in their movement. Reference 1. Aileen Moreton-Robinson, 2000, "Telling it Straight: Self Presentation within Indigenous Women's Life Writings" in Talkin' Up to the White Woman, St Lucia, University of Queensland Press. 2. Alphonso Lingis, 1994, "Orchids and Muscles", Foreign Bodies, New York, Routledge. 3. Ann Deslandes, 2008, "Moving Encounters", Forthcoming Cultural Studies Review. 4. Anton Mischewski, 2005, "Making your Hair stand on end: The meaning of Sperm" in Sperm Wars: the Rights and Wrongs of Reproduction, Ed Heather Grace Jones and Maggie Kirkman, ABC Books Sydney, pp 6-17 5. Christine Helliwell, Spring 2000, "It's Only a Penis: Rape, Feminism and Difference" Signs 25, No.3. 6. Emily Martin, Spring 1991, "The Egg and the Sperm: How Science has constructed a romance based on stereotypical male-female roles" Signs, Vol 16, No. 3, pp 485-501 7. Young IM, 1990, "Throwing Like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment, Motility, and Spatiality", Throwing Like a Girl and Other Essays in Philosophy and Social Theory, Bloomington, Indiana University Press. 8. Stewart FJ, Mischewski A, Smith AMA, Dec 2000, "I want to do what I want to do: Young adults resisting sexual identities", Critical Public Health, Vol 10, No 4, pp 409 - 422. 9. Jones HG & Dr Kirkman M, (eds.), 2007, "Sperm Wars: program one", ABC Books. Read More