How Do Biological Factors Contribute To Social Divisions?
Social divisions are shown throughout the world’s population, particularly in regards to gender. Although, many differences between men and women are biological, the divisions caused by social construction surpasses them greatly. This is due to many factors such as differences in the workplace, different approaches to seeking healthcare and social expectations for both men and women ingrained in early childhood and adolescence. However, one must also consider biological factors which are innate such as the differences in the structure of the brains of each gender and sex differences for both male and females. This essay argues that although biological factors do contribute to social divisions due to gender, differences as a result of social
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construction plays a more significant part in socially dividing civilisation.
In the workplace, women have long been seen as inferior compared to their male counterparts.
In the United Kingdom men earn around 14.2% more than women when working full time according to the Fawcett Society. In regards to part time workers the pay gap is at 19.1% in favour of males. This shows that even though attitudes towards women are slowly changing, the view that women are as equal to men in the workplace is not strong enough to warrant the same pay for both genders. This could be due to the type of jobs that each gender typically works, for example men tend to be more likely to work driving taxis, in security firms, in IT, as lawyers and businessmen. This could be as men are traditionally seen as rational, physically strong and unemotional. Women, in comparison, are more likely to work in retail, nursing, as caretakers and in hospitality. This may be as women have been previously seen as emotional and caring. Educated women can be seen as more equal with men- especially if they have no children. Bailyn (2003), believes that progress on both equality and fairness has been made in regards to academic careers. However, she also notes that many young women are steering clear of academic careers as the many of the previous generation of female academics did not choose to have children to pursue their career without facing obstacles that may occur as a result of having a family. This shows that progress is still yet to be made with regards to legitimising and respecting the personal life of
employees.
When seeking medical care, it is well known that women tend to be more willing to visit healthcare professionals compared to their male counterparts. On face value this could be presumed to be the cause of biological factors as women tend to visit the doctor for conditions exclusively for women such as the menopause and routine screens for conditions such as cervical cancer, again exclusively for women. Also, women produce endogenous hormones which protect against circulatory diseases which is the primary cause for death in the present day. However, although biological factors certainly contribute to this issue, it would be naïve to believe that this was the only reason men do not regularly go to seek medical care when needed. It can also be caused by social factors which are a result of social construction.
construction plays a more significant part in socially dividing civilisation.
In the workplace, women have long been seen as inferior compared to their male counterparts.
In the United Kingdom men earn around 14.2% more than women when working full time according to the Fawcett Society. In regards to part time workers the pay gap is at 19.1% in favour of males. This shows that even though attitudes towards women are slowly changing, the view that women are as equal to men in the workplace is not strong enough to warrant the same pay for both genders. This could be due to the type of jobs that each gender typically works, for example men tend to be more likely to work driving taxis, in security firms, in IT, as lawyers and businessmen. This could be as men are traditionally seen as rational, physically strong and unemotional. Women, in comparison, are more likely to work in retail, nursing, as caretakers and in hospitality. This may be as women have been previously seen as emotional and caring. Educated women can be seen as more equal with men- especially if they have no children. Bailyn (2003), believes that progress on both equality and fairness has been made in regards to academic careers. However, she also notes that many young women are steering clear of academic careers as the many of the previous generation of female academics did not choose to have children to pursue their career without facing obstacles that may occur as a result of having a family. This shows that progress is still yet to be made with regards to legitimising and respecting the personal life of
employees.
When seeking medical care, it is well known that women tend to be more willing to visit healthcare professionals compared to their male counterparts. On face value this could be presumed to be the cause of biological factors as women tend to visit the doctor for conditions exclusively for women such as the menopause and routine screens for conditions such as cervical cancer, again exclusively for women. Also, women produce endogenous hormones which protect against circulatory diseases which is the primary cause for death in the present day. However, although biological factors certainly contribute to this issue, it would be naïve to believe that this was the only reason men do not regularly go to seek medical care when needed. It can also be caused by social factors which are a result of social construction.