Social reprodection of gender - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The paper will then present an overview from the analysis of the different readings (Jackson, 2002). Doing Gender and Norms From the book, there is an interesting introduction into the categorization of the gender system (44). According to these authors, there is a difference between sex, sex categorization, and gender. From the example of Agnes, a transgender individual born naturally as a boy, the authors explore the assumptions that the gender binary system makes. Agnes studied the cultural and societal expectations of a woman and managed to project feminine characteristics without suspicions that she was born male. However, she underwent a genital reassignment that qualified her to become a woman. The book has described the meaning of the term they coined ‘doing gender’. In their view, ‘doing gender’ prevails in everything that human beings partake. It is most evident in daily interactions, and behavior codes. According to the book, assessing of the behavior code to determine whether one projects masculinity and feminism occurs purely on the social norms for each gender (43-44). The author elaborated that sex category depends on choice of an individual. Therefore, one may choose to follow and fulfill the societal conceptions and expectations of a certain sex even when in real sense they do not belong to that sex. The author places emphasis that the aspect of gender applies to every interaction in life. In addition, how society makes assessments based on gender is well highlighted. A crucial issue rises in this context. When an individual does not conform to societal norms, the individual bears all the blame for lack of competence to project masculinity and femininity. One wonders why society never seeks to readjust the roles that define each gender in society (2). The fact that some individuals in society do not conform to the pre-existing gender roles and are able to take up roles associated with the other gender is an indication that the binary gender system is too rigid maybe society needs to readjust the norms. Other authors challenge the binary gender system (19). According to some feminists, the gender system is responsible for the inferiority among women today. Some argue that the gender system should not hold a place in society any more. Feminists accuse the gender system as a major setback in achieving equality. Although it is evident, that society will always have some form of classification they argue against the binary classification. These feminists realize that some form of classification is necessary. Most of the feminists argue against the hierarchy of gender roles. This hierarchy results to the inferiority in women hindering them from advancing to attain a similar status with men. Institutionalization An understanding of the hierarchy that exists in accordance to gender is essential. During the early times, all people in society performed similar roles. However, the emergence of capitalism brought about the institutionalization that resulted to hierarchical division of labor (98). Initially, men only assumed the roles of supervisors of work. With time, the ideology of free markets under capitalism emerged. This came along with the notion that equality was a possibility in the market while in the production means, a hierarchical division of labor would ensure that production was efficient. In the production sector, men assumed the leading role while women took the lower ...Download file to see next pagesRead More