Gender Roles as Social Construction Essay Example

dimensions on which status differences are based.

Unlike sex, which is a biological concept, gender is a social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow” (http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/gender.html).SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION AND CULTURE“Social constructs are institutionalized entity or artifacts in a social system, invented or constructed by participants in a particular culture or society that exist because people agree to behave as if it exist, or agree to follow certain conventional rules, or behave as if such agreement or rules existed” (wikipedia.org).

Social constructs are perceived maxims of people that were put into convention to be transformed into social beliefs that will influence people with their actions. Some of social constructs that greatly influenced people’s lives are religion, morality, sexuality and social class.As having great influence to people’s daily lives, social constructs became an integral part of people’s lives. The lives of people became always intertwined with these sets of beliefs. Social constructs dictate the lives of people.

How people act depend on the set of social beliefs they have. Social constructs also evolve. It changes from time to time. This is due to the fact that people’s mind are so rich and full of possibilities.

It is capable of conceptualizing new innovative ideas for what they perceived as for the betterment of a society. Social constructs are dynamic because the minds of people are also dynamic.As commonly defined, “culture is a shared, learned, symbolic system of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes, molds, and influences the perception and behavior of people ”(http://www2.eou.

edu/~kdahl/cultdef.html). Culture influences people and it shapes people in manifesting a particular identity. When people see a man and

the way he is living his life, he can easily be identified as part of a particular culture because his actions are clearly coming from a particular context. People from a particular place are always entangled with a particular culture as seen in their pattern of actions and beliefs and way of life in general. Culture is at the same time a social construct.

The way a particular culture manifests itself is primarily a socially constructed manifestation.THE BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MEN AND WOMENBasically, men and women do have their own unique biological make up. As we can see, men are bigger and heavier than women. Men have denser muscle build up than women and men are built as stronger human beings. “In sports, men tend to outperform women in strength and speed.

Women seem to have greater endurance” (http://www.gender.org.uk/about/00_diffs.

htm). These are the points in which sports are separated for men and women. Men are perceived to be more aggressive and violent than women. Men committed more crimes of any means than women. Hence, men and women have different biological make up.

GOING BEYOND BIOLOGICAL MAKE UPLooking deep at the world where people live, we can see a great deal of differences on how men and women play their role. Every particular place in a particular culture seems to have a unique way of perceiving men and women. The way people view men and women’s roles is largely dependent on the context in which a particular person is standing. This is very evident in our world which is made up of diverse cultures and thus with diverse beliefs and norms. It is of great truth that gender

roles goes beyond the biological make up of people and are greatly influenced by culture.

To further illustrate the claim, we will tackle gender roles from different contexts. This will substantiate more the claim that gender roles are going beyond biological make up and are products of social constructs manifested in cultures.The Dinkas are found In Southern Sudan. It is the largest ethnic group region in the Nile Basin. The Dinkas have the population of 3-4 million people that comprises approximately 45% of the population of the whole country.

This tribe at the Nile River is known of marrying people within their communities and even families. “The Dinkas believed that maintaining their culture amidst the changing world is the road and means to the next generation’s success”(http://www.madingbor.com/page/page/2064097.htm). This is the reason why even in the influences of many diverse cultures, the Dinkas still maintained and treasured the richness of their culture.

In a Dinka family, the husband is the provider in the family. He brings something to eat for the family. The wife is the one who cooks for the family, the one in charge for preparing food for the whole house and in taking care of the children in the family. The wives in the Dinka communities are obedient and respectful women for their husbands. Despite the growing influences of other cultures in women empowerment, they remain in this family devotion of women.The Amhara people of Ethiopia are one o the most dominant cultural and political group in Africa.

Their population is at 15,000,000. The tribe can be traced back from Menelik I who is a child born of the King Solomon and Queen

Sheba. “The Amhara appear to be descended from the same people group as the Tigray-Tigrinya people.  Their Sabaean ancestors came to the highlands of what is now Eritrea and Ethiopia from the Arabian Peninsula”(http://endor.

hsutx.edu/~obiwan/profiles/amhara.html). As early as the age of five and six, the children are trained to watch their family animals such as sheep and goats. The boys are in charge in watching over the animals and the girls are in charge in accompanying their mother in gathering firewood to use in cooking. Girls of the tribe are allowed to get married in an average age of 14.

The boys to be grooms are normally 3-5 years older of the bride. “Most marriages are negotiated by the two families and with a civil ceremony sealing the contract. The woman is paid housekeeper's wages, and is not eligible for inheritance, but the children of the marriage are legally recognized and accordingly qualify for inheritance.” (http://www.

africaguide.com/culture/tribes/amhara.htm).The Dinkas and Amhara people’s view on gender role goes beyond biological make up.

This is evident in men’s duty of providing for the family and the women’s duty of preparing food for the family. In Amhara and Dinka culture, there are specific roles associated with being a man and a woman. If we will connect this to the biological make up of men and women, men can certainly do the chores of the women and the women can also do the chores of the men even in taking care of live stocks. Dinkas and Amhara people’s gender roles were primarily mandated by culture- social constructs.

In the study by Nanda in 1990 about the Hijras which are also known as Aravanis

that are located in Tamil Nadu, South India, it was learned that Aravanis dress like women. Aravanis are men. It was also learned that these men are indulge in works such as being cooks and dancers. In addition to such discovery, these Aravanis also gives services of homosexuality to men of other places or culture. They render and give services that only women in most cultures give to men-sexual pleasure. They act as women and acting like one is the fulfillment of their being human.

It has been reported that there are an estimated 500,000 Hijras in India. Hijras are men that made themselves castrated to some extent. “Most of them do not finish high school because they are constantly teased by their peers. They dress in saris, give themselves feminine names, and refer to each other in female kinship terms” (Mahalingam, 2003). Hijras live as one in a community.

They leave their parents’ houses to be with other Hijras. “In Indian culture, the belief in goddess worship is linked to an essential representation of female identity as pure, strong, and powerful” (Mahalingam, 2003). Many had even gone through an operation to transform their sex as female. Aravanis are also invited to bless young children for good luck.

Aravanis in India are somewhat perceived to bring good lick for young children. Being a female is the essence of gender in India. Being a woman is of great importance to many people and they strongly believe that it means purity, strength and power. It is of religion that many Indian men became Aravanis.

The gender concept in India is different from the gender concept in the United States.

To further substantiate the claim, according to Fienman in 1981, Americans accept feminine gender role transgressions. It was also stated that Americans do not accept masculine gender role transgressions. The people in Aravanis in India certainly went beyond the biological make up of men and women in their gender perception.

For them, women are associated with strength and power. As a result, Aravanis portrayed roles of women which are not normal to many other cultures and this made them controversial in the eyes of many people.CONCLUSIONGiven the reality of differences in contexts that gave birth to differences in cultures, people around the world differ from their perception of being men and women. No place or context is exactly alike in their perception on gender roles and responsibilities. Some may have similarities but not 100% matched.

Such perceptions even went beyond the biological characteristics of men and women as seen in the live of Dinkas in Southern Sudan, the Amhara people of Ethiopia and the Aravanis of Southern India. Gender roles are therefore socially constructed. It only evolves in the culture of a particular context.Therefore, “gender is one of the universal dimensions on which status differences are based. Unlike sex, which is a biological concept, gender is a social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow” (http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/gender.html).