Candice West And Zimmerman's Concept Of Doing Gender

In everyday life, individuals make distinctions between sex and gender. Sex refers to “a determination made through the application of agreed upon biological criteria for classifying persons as females or males” (West & Zimmerman, 1987: 127). Gender describes the acquisition of masculinity and femininity (West & Zimmerman, 1987). Sex is assumed to be natural, pre-given and located in the body (genitals, chromosomes, etc.), where individuals can be categorised as either ‘male’ or ‘female’ (West & Zimmerman, 1987). However, in The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir argues that men and women are made not born, in the sense that their awareness of manliness and womanliness is a product culture rather nature, and thus, one becomes masculine or feminine
Sexuality, which refers to sexual practice, sexual desire and sexual orientation, is an important interrelated aspect of gender (McLennan, Manus & Spoonley, 2010). Candice West and Don H. Zimmerman’s (1987) concept of “doing” gender is the idea that gender is imbedded in everyday interaction, where individuals are socialised to perform gendered tasks. Likewise, the concept of “doing” sexuality argues that individuals are always doing sexuality, because people will be perceived as either heterosexual or homosexual in any given interaction (West & Zimmerman, 1987). “Doing” gender reproduces heteronormativity and “doing” sexuality reinforces gender norms. Thus, “doing” sexuality is inseparable from “doing” gender (West & Zimmerman, 1987). West & Zimmerman (1987) describes that the concepts of “doing” gender and “doing” sexuality are not that straightforward, as norms regarding gender and sexuality vary across cultures. While sexual behaviour is a cultural universal, interpretations of sexuality and sexual activity will differ in each society. The goal of this paper is to address sexuality as a significant gender issue from a sociological perspective, by drawing from the works of West and Zimmerman (1987), Jeffery Weeks (1986), Judith Butler (2004), Michel Foucault (2012), Rubin Gayle (1992) and more. The nature of the topic dictates the use of
Identities are fundamentally shaped by socio-cultural norms around gender, where “normal” men and women should be sexually attracted and have sex with someone of the other sex (West & Zimmerman, 1987). This is rooted in the cultural phenomenon of heteronormativity. Sexuality is socially constructed in heteronormative cultures, where heteronormative ideologies are imposed to value heterosexuality as the preferred sexual orientation above all other forms (Weeks 1986). This is because “the West still defines the norms of sex in relationships to one of the possible results -- reproduction” (Weeks, 1986: 26). Therefore, sexual normality is produced where heterosexuality between male and female is “normal”, and conversely, homosexuality and other gender identities, such as transgender is “alternative” or “deviant” and does not fit in the range of culturally acceptable behaviours and practices (Weeks, 1986). Consequently, anthropologist Gayle Rubin presents that a hierarchy is created, which determines the social values of sexual identities (Rubin, 1992). The erotic pyramid or the “stratification of sexuality”, describes that heterosexuality is the norm of sexual behaviour, relationship and identity, and are considered