“Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology”-Judith Lorber
Equality by definition means: The state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities. (Oxford Dictionary) Both Deborah Tannen author of “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently” and Judith Lorber, author of “Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology” discuss equality issues between male and female gender in their pieces, and both agree there are distinguishable differences between males and females and that a lack of equality exists in education and social standings, Lorber makes a more compelling argument supporting her theory that behavior is not determined by biology but rather influenced by social pressures. Tannen supports her theory by explaining how gender roles are assigned thru the use of biology and disproving the biology selections thru her use of concrete examples involving traditional male roles assigned based on biology that can be completed successfully by women, her explanation of medical examples that are typically associated with either the male or female gender and rarely if ever associated with the opposite gender and her final example of inequality in a public environment which she calls the “bathroom problem”.
Equality between men and women would mean that both sexes are given adequate consideration based upon their needs and abilities. Lorber argues that roles and expectations of individuals are assigned using social ideals of what is or should be “male or female” according to the persons biological gender, and suggests that society should instead apply an egalitarianism approach and evaluate an individual’s capabilities before assigning roles. (Lorber, 728)
Male and Female genders are assigned to children at the time birth and children grow up being cast into the roles that are associated with the gender they were assigned based on the anatomy of their bodies. A person who is
Cited: “Equality.” Collins English Dictionary. 2012 Collins Reference Online Greene, Stuart and Lidinsky April, eds. From Inquiry to Academic Writing 2nd Edition 2012. Print Lorber, Judith. “Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology” Greene and Lidinsky 726-733 Tannen, Deborah “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently” Greene and Lidinsky 344-349