What Does It Mean To Say Gender Is Socially Constructed?
1. What does it mean to say gender is socially constructed? Give at least one example from Lorber's article.
Saying gender is socially constructed means there are widely-shared and deeply-rooted social expectations on how men and women suppose to behave. Such expectations build a clear division between men’ and women’ roles in the society and enforce them to adjust their behaviors to suit the assigned gender roles. For example, as Lorber points out in her article “The Social Construction of Gender” (1991), parenting is gendered and mothers are generally expected to spend time taking care of children while fathers are expected to burden more financial responsibilities (65). The way gender is socially constructed limits people’s options and imposes certain stereotypes on people’s worldview. Most people …show more content…
Different kinds of discriminations are not operating separately. In many circumstances, a single person has to endure multiple discriminations at the same time. One example Crenshaw illustrates in her article “Why intersectionality can’t wait” (2015), black women have to face racism and gender discrimination synchronously and this results in a very difficult situation for them to find jobs (1). If people consider gender discrimination and racism separately, the dilemma black women are facing can never be fully understood or solved. Therefore, it’s essential to consider social problems from an intersectional point of view because this can help us to understand the problem more exhaustively and make sure the vulnerable’ needs are not neglected. Crenshaw described intersectionality as “analytic sensibility” (2) that can be used to address people with complex identities that cannot be represented by a single
Saying gender is socially constructed means there are widely-shared and deeply-rooted social expectations on how men and women suppose to behave. Such expectations build a clear division between men’ and women’ roles in the society and enforce them to adjust their behaviors to suit the assigned gender roles. For example, as Lorber points out in her article “The Social Construction of Gender” (1991), parenting is gendered and mothers are generally expected to spend time taking care of children while fathers are expected to burden more financial responsibilities (65). The way gender is socially constructed limits people’s options and imposes certain stereotypes on people’s worldview. Most people …show more content…
Different kinds of discriminations are not operating separately. In many circumstances, a single person has to endure multiple discriminations at the same time. One example Crenshaw illustrates in her article “Why intersectionality can’t wait” (2015), black women have to face racism and gender discrimination synchronously and this results in a very difficult situation for them to find jobs (1). If people consider gender discrimination and racism separately, the dilemma black women are facing can never be fully understood or solved. Therefore, it’s essential to consider social problems from an intersectional point of view because this can help us to understand the problem more exhaustively and make sure the vulnerable’ needs are not neglected. Crenshaw described intersectionality as “analytic sensibility” (2) that can be used to address people with complex identities that cannot be represented by a single