Social Construction Of Gender

Gender is ascribed meaning something people are not born as or with, while sex is prescribed meaning something someone is born as or with such as race. Society assigns gender to each person and those children who are born with an ambiguous genitalia are often assigned a gender based on what doctors may think is easier to make, boy or girl. Why is it so wrong to leave these children as they are? Why must a gender be assigned to these children immediately?
We are constantly “doing gender” even when we are not aware. When people are born we assign roles, like buying pink clothes, dolls, and teapots for girls, and blue clothes, monsters, and cars for boys. Even when born we are given gender based names like Brittney or William but names like
Her accessories are flowery, scented, and she always gets her nails and hair done. Hair is a gender based socialized feature; when a girl has short hair or if she cuts her hair it is frowned upon. In the movie, Elle’s hair is long, bouncy, and is a big factor of her identity. In our society, hair characterizes femininity. If you have short hair, you are perceived less feminine than someone with longer hair. There is pressure on females to be accepted in society, to be liked and loved. Weight, popularity, and beauty are all factors that play in societal acceptability. People who are in the media such as models, actresses, and songstresses are known to have been anorexic in an attempt to be accepted. Another perception of gender was when her boyfriend broke up with her and she stayed locked up in a room eating chocolates, watching soap operas, and feeling sorry for herself. If a guy gets dumped most of them would not behave in the same manner as Elle and most other women in our society. The beauty parlor is also known as being feminine and when Elle had a bad day she took a trip there to make her day better, something females have been socialized to do and males have been deterred from seeking this kind of pampering. When her boyfriend broke up with her she felt ugly, disgusted, and worthless so to find another mate she went to replenish her beauty since beauty is suppose to be important and a key factor