Section 2 Gender Studies

Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 18

Section 2

Social Construction of Gender


By : Dr. Laiba Zia
Basic terms and concepts
• Patriarchy:
a system of society in which men hold the powers and women are largely
excluded from it.
• Matriarchy :
a system of society in which women hold the powers and men are largely excluded
from it.
• Sex:
Assigned biologically – genital organs and chromosomal make up.
(Male , female , intersex)
• Gender :
the repeated stylization of the body in a rigid regulatory framework.
• Gender Roles :
Behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable , appropriate or
desirable for people based on their biological sex. They are prescribed by the society
, varying from culture to culture , society to society.
• Gender Identity:
It is how one feels on the inside and expresses his / her gender through
clothing , behavior and personal appearance.
• Gender Socialization:
Transformation into Gender roles.
Boys are conformed to male gender roles , girls are raised to conform to female
gender roles. ( Men don’t cry , blue for boy- pink for girl , toys)
• Objectification :
Involves viewing or treating a person as an object devoid of
thought or feelings .

• Feminism :
Movement for the advocacy of Women rights on the ground of
the equality of sexes.
Nature vs Nurture Debate
• Involves the extent to which particular aspects of behavior are a
product of either inherited (genetic) or acquired (learned) influences.
• Nature :
Nature is what we think of as previewing and is influenced by
genetic inheritance and other biological factors .
studies show that we inherit genes that are related to certain
personality traits.
• Nurture :
generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception
e.g the product of exposure , life experiences and learning on the
individual .

• Konard Lorenz’s Experiment


• Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment
Fundamental Premise
• Society and culture create gender roles .
• These roles are prescribed as ideal or appropriate behavior.
• Philosophers , sociologists argue that the differences in behavior of
men and women are entirely social conventions.
• Biological factors also play some part .
Theories Of Social Construction of Gender
1) Historicism:
a) Gerda Lerner , The Creation of Patriarchy
b) Levi Straus , Exchange of Women
2) Ethnomethodology and symbolic Interaction :
a) Judith Butler , Gender Trouble
b) Simone de Beauvoir , The Second Sex
c) Nancy Chodorow
3) Theory of Material Dependence:
1) Historicism
Assigns major significance to specific historical events in tge
development of certain systems.
a) Gerda Lerner ,The Creation of Patriarchy:
System of male dominance was created at a specific time in the
history out of many complex processes involving many factors :
• Demographics
• Ecological
• Cultural
• Historical
• Early division of labor in Hunter gatherer societies.
• Men in herder tribes – domesticated animals (Neolithic era)
• They realized importance of women in producing offsprings.
• The notion of ‘Private Property’ developed – ownership of herds.
• Wanted to pass their herds to their own blood progeny.
• Enforced chastity of woman – emphasized on virginity of women.
b)Levi Straus , Exchange of Women
• Women started being treated as a commodity.
a. Marriage alliances between tribes .
b. Forcing women to participate in festivals.
c. Enforced prostitution / sex slavery.
• In Agrarian Era , Woman’s reproductive ability became an important
economic asset – more children meant more people to manage the
ever expanding farmland.
• This ‘domesticated’ women and fixed their roles as ‘child-givers’ and
‘child-rearers’.
Consequently ,
• Legal codes subsequently differentiated between respectable and non
respectable women , from the eyes of men.
• Male historians , emperors , scribes and scholars have created most of the ;
a) Belief systems
b) Legal codes
c) Political systems
d) Stories
e) Heroes
• Hence gender roles became fixated slowly and patriarchy became deeply
engraved within the social fabric.
2) Ethnomethodology and Symbolic
Interaction
• How does social life , individual identities and interpersonal relationships that
characterize it , were achieved or accomplished through interaction and language ?
• Men and women learn their roles in societies.
• Socialization plays the most important role :
a. Parenting : names , toys , labels
b. Schooling : curriculum , sports and other activities.
c. Peer groups : pressure to conform.
d. Media portrayals : Heroes , politicians , ‘ideal gender roles’.
e. Societal expectations : appropriate social behavior . (appreciation and
condemnation)
a) Judith Butler – Gender Trouble
“Nobody is born one gender or the other . We act , walk , speak and talk in ways that
consolidate an impression of being a man or woman .”
-Judith Butler
b) Simone de Beauvoir – The Second Sex :
Civilization as a whole ‘produces’ women .
• Men define themselves with respect to characteristics of power : strong , influential , leaders ,
authoritative .
• Women defined in opposition to these traits : fail , Fragile , submissive.
• Social institutions reinforce these behaviors and expectations.

“One is not born but rather becomes a woman “- Simone de Beauvoir.


c) Nancy Chodorow , The Reproduction of Mothering:
• Differentiated experiences in infancy orient girls and boys towards
different development paths.
a) Boys identify with father’s power .
b) Girls developing their sense of self relation to mother .
3) The Theory of Material Dependence
• Men and women exist in a class like relationship – women’s selfhood
and labor are appropriated for the benefit of men .
• Due to material dependence of women upon men , men have
historically been able to control and dominate women , exclude them
from power corridors and defined their role for them in ways that
benefitted men .
• Household is the fundamental site for such appropriation where
women do unpaid manual labor and men control capital over men.
Symbols for the Genders
• The Venus symbol for women.
• Venus : Roman goddess of love ,
beauty , fertility .
• Depicts hand mirror of Venus ,
hence , beauty as a symbol for
women .
• The Mars symbol for Men.
• Mars – Roman god of war.
• Depicts shield and spear of
Mars , hence , strength and
authority as a symbol for men.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy