The social construction of gender refers to the assumed patterns of behavior that are expected to follow from a person’s sex. Today’s society plays a very significant role in the construction of gender. The issue on gender has raised numerous concerns over the past years in defining as well as debating whether male and female are equal. Expectations regarding sexual behavior and gender role characteristics have evolved throughout history, especially for women. Today, gender is constructed in three different ways. The family in which the child is born and raised is the first way in which gender is defined. The second way is the society in which the child interacts. The board of education as well as the school system is the third way. All the ways mentioned above have a unique way of helping and molding a person define or construct his/her gender.
Let’s begin with the first perspective. In defining our gender, the family is a very significant factor. This is because our gender is defined immediately we are born. Family members tend to buy toys that inspire male behavior such as monster trucks, action hero, and race cars if a boy is born (Schaefer, 2013). On the other hand, a family member would buy stuffed bears, cute dresses, and dolls if a girl is born (Schaefer, 2013). The family member inspire them to behave like a female should behave; behave soft and kind. In the family, the way both genders are treated are different. Parents is a little more liberal on their sons and can allow staying out late, but when it comes to girls, they are very strict. Additionally, the father would expect his son to help in the farm, garage or other projects whereas moms mostly want their daughters to assist them in the kitchen.
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The society can also mold an individual and define his gender. This includes the way you interact with friends, co-workers, mentors, enemies, and others. Boys usually hang around with guys playing sports that are performed by boys such as football and basketball. Girls usually hang around their fellow girls and mostly play indoor games, go shopping, and watch soaps. Typically, society expects a boy to be the family’s solid figure. The man is supposed to be the breadwinner of the family while women are expected to take care of house and kids. Additionally, the jobs that are in a society defines gender. Jobs such as electricians and factory workers are meant for men while jobs that are to do with house chores are meant for women.
Every institution such as schools and religious institutions plays a very significant role in shaping our understanding of sexuality. Through the activities, talks, interactions, and resources used within the institutions, sexual meaning, behaviors, and identities are produced and reproduced (Schaefer, 2013). Social actors tend to normalize heterosexuality through this practices and process. Institutions have an impact on the development of sexuality as they are mostly the first place where students learn about sexuality. Additionally, sexuality is infused in schools in numerous ways; through the curriculum, through the playground, and also through student-teacher relationship.
Compare and Contrast the Conflict Perspective and the Functionalist Perspective on Gender
The sociological functionalist perspective labels a society as a structure composed of interconnected parts linked together to create a society that is harmonious and stable (Schaefer, 2013). All the systems, family, religion, learning institutions, and economics contribute to the stability of the whole system. Also, there may be a dysfunction within the functionalist social system. A primary feature of the functionalist perspective is that a dysfunction system, like crime, can also be useful because it can enhance awareness of shared values as well as shared bonds within society. The functions of the sociological functionalist perspective may be of two types, manifest and latent, as identified by sociologists. Manifest functions refer to those functions that are planned and unintended while latent functions are unplanned and often hidden.
The conflict perspective opposes the functionalist perspective in that it labels a society as a framework in which numerous sectors compete for resources as well as power, with a set of group dominating over the other (Schaefer, 2013). A general clarification of society’s competing conflict describes the set or group that has the male hierarchy of rule as being dominant over women, both in politics and in the economy. This sociological conflict perspective was developed by Karl Max who saw the critical, financial phases a society goes through as leading to deepening divisions between employers and employees.
Conflict perspective and functional perspective on gender differ from each other. A functional perspective on gender looks for harmony as well as equilibrium in society while conflict perspective on gender see conflict, inequality and domination, i.e., an individual with functionalist perspective believes that the society is composed of a complicated system that seeks a balance of all of its elements. On the other hand, a person with a conflict perspective believes that society exists as a single entity and is always changing as well as driven by conflict.
References
Schaefer, R. (2013). Sociology: A Brief Introduction. New York: New York. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
