Social Construction of Gender
When speaking of social construction, we are referring to the way society defines and develops ideas and characteristics on issues that vary throughout certain time periods and certain cultures. There are many theories that suggest the development of the differences when dealing with the variations between men and women in society. Some social scientists propose biological differences, citing the distinct brain structures and the hormonal differences between the sexes. Others credit society, arguing that the process of socialization begins with early infancy and produces an acculturated being within a few years. Most find some middle ground between the two. An abundance of conflicting information continues to fuel the debate today. There are countless arguments and much supportive evidence sustaining the view that gender is socially constructed. Gender differences are apparent beginning just a few months after birth. Whether they are the result of biology, cultural socialization, or some amalgamation of the two, has been debated by social scientists for decades, but no final conclusions have been drawn. In Anderson's writings, the debate is between nature and nurture. "Nature" refers to the biological differences betwe
In the economy today, there is much segregation between men and women. It is a known fact that men often earn more than women for the same jobs. In The Economics of Gender, Joyce Jacobsen states that even though there has been a rise in women's earnings recently, it has "still only brought female earnings to approximately 74 cents to every dollar a man makes among year-round full-time workers" (p 59). And there is, of course, the advent of the glass ceiling. Anderson uses examples of the education job market. In 1995, men held almost all of the administrative positions, as well most of the faculty positions. Yet women held more than half of the instructors' positions and nearly half of the lecturing positions. Also, in 1996, there were still more than 15% more men than women in the labor force (Jacobsen 38). Women are still expected to have children and give up or put on hold their careers in order to raise the children at home. Even though there have been radical changes in the roles of women in society, the dominance of men is still prevalent. Along with the social construction of gender, Anderson also focuses on the sociology of knowledge, the study of the social construction of ideas. Anderson states that it "begins with the premise that ideas emerge from particular social and historical settings and that this social structural context shapes...human consciousness and interpretations of reality" (p 63). A great advocate of this theory was Karl Marx. He perceived that the ruling class of society had the power and held the dominant ideas about almost everything. Throughout Western societies' histories, the "ruling class" has been the males. Marx states that, "the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas..." (p 64). Therefore, the men have run our countries and determined what goes and what does not. Women have been held under this rule unfairly and have been subordinate to men. Karl Mannheim further developed
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Approximate Word count = 1327
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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