Social Construction Of Gender

The Social Construction of Gender It is obvious boys and girls are different from the moment they are born. They have both genetic and biological differences, they are born a certain sex, either male or female (or sometimes a combination of both). Of course there are other differences between a boy and a girl but what are the influences? Are all the differences from the moment they are born or are there other factors that make us into who we are, into what gender we are. Sex is something you are assigned to at birth, but your gender is something that is socially made, everyone around you has an influence on your gender. Society plays a very large role in shaping someone into either boy or girl, male or female. The main influences of this are
School is another major influence when it comes to gender construction. There are cliques and bullies, popular kids and nerds, there are just so many factors in a school setting that divide people up. So many things that will influence a young impressionable female (or male). Young kids in school have specific things to play with, what area of the classroom they will play in. Usually this is influenced by them looking around and if they see a bunch of other girls in one area and then that is obviously the appropriate place for her to play. It is observed in the study that they did in the Becoming a Gendered Body article that the boys play in the block area while the girls are in the dress up area (Martin 15). As the kids grow up they eventually abandon the toys and are use their times in different ways. Outside, while the boys are playing soccer the girls are usually left to stand on the sidelines and just watch. In schools, there are far more organized sports for males than there are for females. Why should be divided by gender? Why not have coed teams? Well, obviously, it is not lady like for a girl to run around a dirty field and kick around the ball. That is just not her place. Teachers are a major influence, they may not do it consciously but they do help shape gender. The simplest thing like telling a student to behave like a “young lady” is just another push towards gender roles (Martin 14). Also in the things they teach there are always divisions between males and females. “The school library would have a list of recommended books for girls and a different list of recommended books for boys” (Gould 5). How is a book appropriate only for girls? Are books not supposed to be gender neutral? Apparently nothing