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Gender Studies
Social Construction of Gender
1. Historicizing Constructionism
a. What does it mean to historicize constructivism? Historicizing means when one presents something as a product of historical development. Constructionism means that we view the world through certain self made constructs (or ideas about reality).^1
Historicizing Constructionism hence means that over the course of history certain ideas have been constructed about gender. These ideas have been enforced and reinforced throughout time. So in today’s world they are not presented as constructs but as essential truths which have been established through historical development of man.
b. What is social constructionism? It means that our realities are based on our experiences and interactions with other people. We experience the world through our own opinions. These opinions are constructed through a number of things such as culture, mores, tradition, beliefs and values. So one person might^2 consider a dishwasher a necessity and the other might consider it a luxury. This will be discussed in subsection 3 when we consider whether sex is socially constructed or not.
(^1) These are our ideas or modes of what is real (^2) These are collectively called a social agreement
2. Problematizing the category of “Sex”: Queer
Theory
Queer theory developed in mid 1980s. The term was coined by Teresa de Lauretis.
- Historical and a mostly political Context:
In the late 1970s and 1980s problems regarding the recognition of homosexuality led to
widespread activism. The Gay Liberation Front was born in 1970 in Britain and it, along
with other campaigns such as Campaign for Homosexual Equality, began to work for
law reform.
Public policies in the mid 1980’s were selectively blind to the plight of gay men who had
contracted AIDS. It is estimated that 20,000 men died by 1987. This led to setting up of
in-formal and non governmental health centres by civilians. Like the women of the
second wave, these gay individuals were incensed by the casual attitude shown by the
government.
In such an atmosphere the idea of fluidity of gender was created. It led to the idea that
gay individuals were no different than others and that their sexuality did not mean
something was wrong with them. It was rather the heterosexual men and women who
were acting according to social constructs.
- What is queer theory?
It is a set of ideas based around the fact that identities are not fixed and do not
determine who we are. It suggests that it is meaningless to talk in general about
'women' or any other group, as identities consist of many different elements. It is wrong
to think that people can be seen collectively on the basis of one shared characteristic
such as men, gay, lesbian. Queer theory proposes that we should deliberately challenge
all notions of fixed identity, in unconventional ways. It denies that heterosexuality is
normal or ‘natural’. Embodied in popular culture by Madonna.
○ Our identity is made up of a pile of (social and cultural) things which we have previously expressed, or which have been said about us. IT is made of certain expectations from us. ○ There is not really an ‘inner self’. ○ Gender, like other aspects of identity, is a performance. If you perform the requirements of one gender than you are assigned that gender ○ People can therefore change if they perform the characteristics of another gender. (If a heterosexual female starts performing activities and adopts characteristics of a heterosexual male then her identity changes.) ○ The binary divide between masculinity and femininity is a^5 social construct built on the binary divide between men and women – which is also a social construction. ○ We should challenge the traditional views of masculinity, femininity and sexuality by causing gender trouble
4. Critics: i. Judith Butler's followers ignore real-life oppression and instead support their optimistic worldview by gazing at gender-blending movies and photography.
3. Is “Sex” socially determined, too?
S/No Sex Gender
- Sex is defined as the biological^ gender is the fashion in which society
(^5) It is the classification of gender in to two opposite and distinct forms of masculine and feminine.
differences between men and women highlights the sexual differences among both species
- Anatomical characteristics are considered. They have the following six components; chromosome make-up, external genitalia, internal genitalia, gonads hormonal states and secondary sex characteristics. The addition of all of these qualities forms the basis of which sex category most people fall under; female or male
masculine and feminine qualities, behaviour patterns, related roles and responsibility, etc are considered.
- Refers to male or female Refers to Masculinity and femininity
- It is a universal term It is variable it changes under the influence of time, geographical and socio-cultural settings
Is Sex also socially determined?
It can be said that to an extent sex is also socially constructed. It is true that the distinctions between the sexes depend on 6 anatomical features, however let’s look at all these in detail.
- Chromosome make-up: XY (M) OR XX (F) (XXY Chromosomal variations = Klinefelter Syndrome, XO Chromosomal variations = Turner Syndrome)
- External genitals: Penis(M) OR Vagina (F) (Some people are born with ambiguous genitalia and they are classified as intersex)
- Internal genitalia: testes(M) OR Ovaries (F) (Internal genitalia of certain individuals may not match their internal genitalia)
- Gonads
- Hormonal states [estrogen (F) and Testosterone (M)]
- Secondary sex characteristics
Who determines when the size of the genitalia is sufficient for male? Not every genitalia is of the same size. When is a male genitalia small enough to be categorised as a female genitalia?^6
5. Masculinities and Femininity
(^6) Phall-o-meters are used to classify children with ambiguous genitalia. Doctors make decisions regarding such children and whether they should be classified as male or female. So sex is also socially determined in such instances.
birth of the baby. Two studies conducted by William Reiner, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and urologist, have confirmed that the amount of exposure to male hormones and androgens in utero almost exclusively decides whether the child identifies as masculine or feminine.
Reiner followed 14 children whose testicles and male hormone levels were completely normal at birth, but who were born without a penis — 12 of the children were surgically reconstructed to appear female. Today, all 12 of the children raised as females are strongly male a-typical in their behaviors, attitudes, friends and play. This re-iterates that perhaps gender may not totally be culturally constructed and certain aspects are a result of nature.
However we can also argue that traits of masculinity or femininity may rest on cultural factors.
Other natural differences between binary genders are;
● Females attain puberty earlier than males ● There is difference in bone development and structure between both ● There is research to suggest that males are better math and females are better at multitasking and speaking.
