Gender has been a core aspect of human life since time immemorial. Gender is the social categorization that is used to elaborate on the biological sex of an individual. Gender has led human beings to adopt a diversity of practices and personae that can be practiced by respective genders with impunity (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 2018). These diversities include food preference, dressing, socio-economic status, and politics, among others. These aspects have defined each gender's place in society, be it male, female, transgender, or other gender identities. This essay will highlight while giving examples, the role of the social construction of gender in real life, and explain the difference that this topic has become while comparing to how it was 50 years ago.
According to Simone de Beauvoir, men are not born men; neither are women born women. Both are made and nurtured to become what their biological sex identifies them as. Gender construction and growth is a lifelong process that begins immediately after someone birth and ends when people die. After delivery, an individual will be given a name that is ender-sensitive. It is rare to find that a girl is named James while a boy child is named Mary. There are exceptions to such occurrences, though very rare (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 2018). Going ahead to name children with opposite gender names is socially unacceptable. Some religious and state institutions have gone a notch higher to ban the use of gender-ambiguous names. For example, the name Finland has no gender affiliation and thus would be discouraged that some close associates to the family where a child is born will not accept the name. The reason for this staunch belief is that naming launches the learning process of a child being a boy or a girl. Nurses will identify baby boys with blue caps, even in hospitals, while gilds will be identified with pink caps. This act is meant to make everyone else understand that gender identity is critical in life. The name comes to certify this initial identity, and straying from the practice norms is almost a taboo.
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As children grow, they will learn to emulate their respective gender counterparts, starting in the house. At a tender age, a boy will be dressed in male clothes, but he knows how to dress as his father does as he grows up. When he becomes a teenager, he will learn how to trim his beard like the male figures in his life do, including friends. On the other hand, young girls will be dressed in feminine clothes at a tender age. AS they grow up, they come to understand that ladies wear dresses or tight pants. Eventually, they begin to learn from their friends or mothers how to apply makeup, do manicure and pedicure, apply feminine hairstyles, among other aspects. Like the naming process, it is unacceptable for these gender personalities to crave or practice what the opposite gender does, like teenage boys wearing dresses.
Fifty years before now, the social construction of gender was well-defined and followed a specific rubric that daring to defect was punishable. Five decades ago, females were taught their feminine responsibilities at a tender age, likewise to males who were trained in their duties early in life. For example, a young girl was acquainted with how to cook, wash clothes, take care of the baby, among other feminine jobs, while boys were taught how to hunt, herd livestock, to mention a few. It was unacceptable for these individuals to double in their roles or prefer to do the jobs specifically defined to be undertaken by the opposite gender (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 2018). A boy or man was not allowed to cook, wear female clothes, among others. This way of life and gender construction is different from the present age, where you will encounter some men cooking for their wives, doing the dishes and laundry, and what have you. Women are allowed to put on trousers, which was an attire designed only for men. Conclusively, the present-day era still appreciates gender construction but not as strict as it was fifty years ago.
In conclusion, social gender construction plays a vital role in determining the lifestyle of people. This lifestyle that follows gender affiliations defines how different men and women dress, eat, perform their responsibilities, as highlighted in the body. The nature of the social construction of gender has also taken a shift from how it was done fifty years ago. The strictness of following set procedures in nurturing either a man or a woman has been lessened in the present era, contrary to how it was five decades ago.
Reference
Eckert, P., & McConnell-Ginet, S. (2018). Constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing gender. In Language and gender (pp. 9-51). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
