Gender over the years has been viewed as a social construct across a variety of cultures worldwide. In the past, gender has been used to differentiate between male and female sex. Gender is a way in which the society assumes different roles. The roles of the people that are described are deemed fit by the given society and hence are different across societies. Gender as a social construct is, therefore, the way the society views and establishes knowledge about gender, and how the people in the society reckon the idea. Gender is a way in which the man and the woman are held to behave in everyday activities in the society. However, the meaning of the word gender has been diverted over the years to many completely different assumptions. Gender has been deployed by feminists to refer to women generally and the way men dominate females (Cage 2013, N.P). The dominance is in terms of education, acquiring of jobs, domestic duties amongst many other factors bringing about gender issues. In this paper, we will look into social constructs of gender like feminism, class difference, race, gays, hegemonic masculinity, gender hierarchy, primary socialism, patriarchy, gender and power, and changing masculinities.
Feminism originated in the late 18th
century where women were looking more keenly on their roles as well as those of men in the society, their experiences, and even how men dominated over them in many aspects of the society (Fuss 2013, N.P). Women felt that men had an upper hand in everything while they were just dedicated to domestic duties. Women’s natural role of becoming mothers and raising up children was seen as a way while men were working was seen unfit by feminists. Feminism arose to fight for gender inequalities which were prevalent in the society.
Feminists wanted women to be more involved in the social structure of the society and hence not excluded. Gender issues continued to rise when women were used in porn industry where women were viewed publicly as sex objects. Women attractive nature suppressed them to lack power in social activities such as education and businesses. Feminists, therefore, centred gender on women empowerment in the society to curb gender inequality (Fenstermaker, and West 2013, N.P). The women advocated for equal voting rights, equal education opportunities as the male counterparts, equal employment opportunities and pay, women sexual rights amongst other regulations. Feminism in the media created a picture to the society which viewed gender as a term referring to females.
Feminism has described men and women to be unequal despite females being given some rights that they demanded (Hekman 2013, N.P). Gender inequality is mostly a natural phenomenon where women are entitled to give birth, look after their kids more than men, and perform household duties amongst other demands.
The role of feminists made gender look to become a feminine word. However, gender and social class are closely interrelated. Different social classes have their own gender disparities in them which are very evident in the society (Nicholson 2013, N.P). In the ruling class, where we have the government officials and key signatories, women are actually very few bringing in the issue of gender inequality. The society, in general, elects its leadership based on masculinity most of the time. For instance, even women themselves advocate for candidates who are males than preferably female.
In the class of the highly rich in the society, the gender imbalance is still evident in the way women are less involved in the social matters. Women are not largely involved in social development as men are and their scramble for opportunities in the current society is stiff which brings in gender issues. In the middle class, women are less due to low access to education which is contributed by their tendency to drop out due to issues such as pregnancies which are gender oriented.
The current society, regardless of various social classes, gender perception is more affected by the race of every individual. For example, in the United States, the gendered race is evident in the way there are disparities between feminine and masculinity. The black men are seen to be more masculine than the white men and even the Asian men who are considered feminine. The physical appearance of the black men and white men is more masculine and hence are more proffered for military deployment as opposed to Asian men. On aspects of dating, many women prefer black men than any other race due to masculinity. The gendered race also affects the people of colour in the United States. Once a criminal activity goes down, a black man will be more likely seen as the victim rather than men from any other race. The American society, therefore, views a black man as a violent person and a thief.
The gendered race also impacts on how interviews are conducted in the United States. A white man is more likely to grab an opportunity for a job over a black man in a white man’s enterprise. The race also affects the kind of exposure to schooling vicinity and eventually the type of social strata to fill in the society. Due to the dominance of the whites in the highly esteemed schools as compared to only a few blacks, the high social strata is thus filled out by many whites as compared to a considerably low number of blacks.
Races across the world also dictate on the issue of sports representation. Black men and women are more vibrant in athletics especially in events such as the marathon and even track events. Black men are dominating the American football game as they are more masculine than men from any other race hence gendered race is evident in the society.
Irrespective of the race of any person, gay and gender interrelate in a diverse manner in our society. From the society understanding, the gay people are seen to embrace some gender roles. Gay people, therefore, attribute to more feminine centred gender roles as opposed to male roles (Haraway 2013, N.P). Gay men are mostly comprised of fear just like women are, and are often bullied in school as they can hardly defend themselves. In addition, they prefer to wear more of feminine gender clothing where they put on shoes and accessories embraced by women.
However, gay counterparts can actively participate in sporting activities and even display their masculinity as well. Those who are able to participate in sports more vigorously are termed by the society to have assumed their male gender roles as they tend to be masculine than soft. Gay men tend to be more conversant with females as the gay people are soft spoken and do not sexually oppress women. The society terms the gay as those individuals who have neglected their gender roles as they do not marry women to help them with their chores but instead respect them by not involving them in their affairs.
Despite being gay, Hegemonic masculinity has further shaped the way the society describes gender roles. Hegemonic masculinity describes how men in the society are more dominant than women, and why women are entitled to the duties they carry out. Hegemonic masculinity gives us the societal picture of how men are the breadwinner, stronger and just how women are to carry their duties as laid down by the society. In education, men study more complex concepts as compared to women. In the past, women were less involved in education and were uptight with house chores (Walby 2005, p.331). Education was deemed as a manly thing as females were lesser in the social interactions. Due to the natural way of women to give birth, and feeling lesser in the society, women have been unable to grow professionally with only a few of them finishing further education after bachelor’s degree.
Hegemonic masculinity has been applied in the military where men are more preferred to go to war than women. Men power is said to be ruthless in the event of war as opposed to women who are said to be easily scared and filled with emotions hence they cannot perform well in battle. Military embraces hegemonic masculinity where men are not to portray any feminine characteristics of being emotional and soft.
Hegemonic masculinity highly affects how men respond to various health issues (Morrell, Jewkes, Lindegger, and Hamlall, 2013, p. 17). Due to the capacity of men to be unable to get depressed emotionally, they are limited to the access of such professionals as psychiatrists. Men are very hard to get noticed of any mental illnesses due to hegemonic masculinity as they are tough and less admitted into mental institutions. In relation to women, due to their emotional lifestyle, they are more likely to be taken in for counselling, and in mental institutions.
Crime across the world both in the past and today has greatly been caused by men. In the United States, crime is highly triggered by men particularly the black men are more viewed as victims (Roberts 2013, p. 680). Robbery with violence has been attributed to hegemonic masculinity where men feel that they can take what they want with all the ruthlessness. Rape cases have been reported where men feel it’s their right to oppress women in the society due to masculinity. Popular magazines have embraced front page publication of masculine men. Consequently, women in the modern society pose for magazines cover pictures which discredit feminism at large.
Gender hierarchy and hegemonic masculinity have some similarities in them. Gender hierarchy is a phenomenon which has existed over a long period up to date. Due to the cooperative relationships between a man and a woman, where each one has a specific role to play, there exists a hierarchical relationship (Tyler, and Fairbrother 2013, p. 114). The term gender hierarchy simply means that man and woman are not equals, and that just like in a job there is a boss then the man is the head of the family. Even after the evolution of feminism, the man is still the one who approves key decisions of the family.
Primary socialism goes further to show that gender hierarchy exists. Primary socialism introduction into the economy suggested how the society generally viewed the people. Primary socialism encouraged capitalism where everyone was awarded as per the fruits of their labour (Santacreu-Vasut, Shoham, and Gay 2013, p. 496). Women were highly disadvantaged by the policy as they could not exert a lot of workloads as men would. The policy thus discouraged women as they could grasp lesser pay as compared to men who were more energetic to work. Due to the policy demand on high labour output, opportunities for women to work in various firms were low.
The society has its picture set on the idea whereby females don’t make the best leaders. Man dominance is seen in leadership and is evident across many states of the world even today. For instance, the presidency of the United States has been dominated by men up to date despite legal changes to include women in the voting exercise and other laws favouring women in administration (Connell 2014, are N.P). Men are seen as a symbol of strength in leadership as opposed to women who are seen as a sign of weakness.
In given organizations, the hierarchy of employees is headed at the top by mostly men. Male gender is taken as more aggressive when it comes to doing duties of the office and even more accurate. Women, on the other hand, are seen as people who can easily lose focus due to emotions and hence such feelings affect work and they are not favourable candidates to lead.
In the same way, that hierarchy of power is evident in business organizations, different societies of the world practice patriarch policy of governance, and gender inequality is very evident. Patriarch society oppressed women of their rights to choose when to give birth and also the freedom to express their sexual desires. Women in such a society are objects of giving birth and do not own any property whatsoever (McClintock 2013, N.P). Societies practising patriarch government include Cuba and North Korea where no elections are held and power is dominated by a single family. The family in power dictates what to be done which must be obeyed irrespective of gender.
Apart from patriarch societies, the current situation is changing on the view of masculinity. In modern days, women and men are engaging in aesthetic masculinity where both men and women have taken the initiative to look good as a sign of health (Nayak, and Kehily 2013, N.P). The perspective of masculinity as a male thing is no more as women are engaging in the gym to work out. Women have engaged in athletic activities which were seen as male-dominated like weight lifting of deadlifts which has changed the aspect of gender.
The society has its norms which over the years have regulated the way gender has been viewed. Feminists have described gender as being female as they mainly advocated for women only. Race, on the other hand, distinguished gender types and character among different races (McNay 2013, N.P). However, according to today's society, gender issues are still being addressed in the society but the problem is that a woman will never be like a man.
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