Gender And Gender

1111 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Representation of gender in media

Gender: Male and Female
In life, all living things are classified as male or female, depending on their physiology and their psychology. Females are supposed to act as feminine as possible and males are supposed to act as masculine as possible; though most males and females act in between. Men sometimes cry and females sometimes hit. Humans are naturenurtural, so distinguishing biology from gender is difficult in many cases. Gender describes the male and female characteristics that a society puts forth. Gender emerges from the combination of our bodies, cultures and individual experiences. (Fuentes p.182). Media, parents, peers, and siblings, whether conscious or unconscious, help in the shaping of our gender. Though biological differences influence gender, many other factors have a greater influence on the person’s acquiring of gender.
Men and Women come from the same species “homo sapiens”, which means they are more similar than different. Physically, men and women look differently and have different chromosomes that define them. Males have the XY chromosomes, and the females have the XX chromosomes, which cause the major physical and physiological differences. “Bodily tissues do not always take the exact same shape” (Fuentes p.163). Even though cells are the same in all human beings they evolved into different organs like breasts in the females, ovaries… and testis in the male, penis… Males and females behavioral differences are not explained by the differences in their reproductive organs. However, some males tend to be stronger and taller than some females. Another difference between males and females is the amount of each hormone found in both the male and the female. Since both male and female developed in the same way, i...

... middle of paper ...

...he world around us shape who we are. Through siblings, parents, peers, and the media, people acquire gender consciously and unconsciously. Despite biological differences found between the two sexes, differences in other factors influence how the person acquires gender.

Reference:
Fuentes, Agustine. race monogamy and other lies they told you. London: University of
California, 2012.

Wikipedia, . Wikipedia, "Gender Typing." Last modified 2012. Accessed March 24,
2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_typing.

Wikipedia, . Wikipedia, "Gender Identity." Last modified 2012. Accessed March 24,
2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity

Anne Maree, Nobelius. Med monash, "what is the difference between sex and gender?."
Last modified june 23, 2004. Accessed March 24, 2014. http://www.med.monash.edu.au/gendermed/sexandgender.html. Word Count: 1312

Show More
Related

  • Family Gender Roles

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    Psychologist, Richard A. Lippa, takes on the challenge of proving the concept that an individual’s idea of gender is derived from their brain, an issue otherwise recognized as “nature vs. nurture” in his book, Gender, Nature, and Nurture. Francis Galton, defines nature and nurture, as, “Nature is all that a man brings with himself into the world; nurture is every influence from without that affects him after birth.” Galton emphasizes the fact that nature produces the infant, with direct influences, determining both “growth of body and mind” (Galton) while nurture is an alteration of the environment for the comfort of the infant. Lippa establishes that each gender displays different levels of hormones, and physical capabilities, which will contribute to “nature.” An intriguing study conducted by Henry F. Harlow, whether the gender of a monkey can be determined, with or without the aid of parental influence. Regardless of whether the monkeys had a parent, the behaviors that they demonstrated in their natural environment were the same. The fundamental principle behind this is due to the fact that males were “influenced by the exposure to testosterone.” (122) As human beings, we vary in physical attributes, which subconsciously come into play when it comes to our preferences. This explains why the things that we do are gender

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Gender Blur, By Deborah Blum

    1408 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we discuss gender, the first thing that pops into our minds is the physical dissimilarities between men and women. For the longest time, I never realized that there are a diverse variety of issues involving gender, which are examined in the essay “Gender Blur” written by Deborah Blum. I now understand some of the factors involved, such as biological development, gender identification and behaviors, influences on aggression, and how testosterone affects behaviors and career choice.

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotypes In Pleasantville Betty Parker

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    The human species is qualified as a man and women. Categorically, gender roles relative to the identifying role are characterized as being either masculine or feminine. In the article “Becoming Members Of Society: Learning The Social Meanings Of Gender by Aaron H. Devor, says that “children begin to settle into a gender identity between the age of eighteen months and two years (Devor 387). The intricate workings of the masculine and feminine gender roles are very multifaceted and at the same time, very delicate. They are intertwined into our personalities and give us our gender identities (Devor 390). Our society is maintained by social norms that as individuals, we are consciously unaware of but knowingly understand they are necessary to get along out in the public eye which is our “generalized other” and in our inner circle of family and friends which is our “significant others” (Devor 390). Our learned behaviors signify whether our gender

    Read More

  • Sexual Dimorphism and Human Evolution

    2397 Words  | 5 Pages

    However, many of our questions still remain. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the physical aspect of gender differences in humans, otherwise known as sexual dimorphism, it’s evolutionary history in our species, and some behavioral and societal trends that are associated with it. To accomplish this, I will begin by outlining the anatomical structures that are commonly used in measuring sexual dimorphism in our species. After establishing these criteria, I will expand upon the evolutionary history of sexual dimorphism in humans beginning with the anthropoids in the Oligocene and ending with present day trends.

    Read More

  • Gender Femininity And Masculinity

    1477 Words  | 3 Pages

    All around the world society has created an ideological perspective for the basis of gender roles. Gender and sex are often times misused and believed to be interchangeable. This is not the case. There are two broad generalization of sexes; female and male, yet there is a vast number of gender roles that each sex should more or less abide by. The routinely cycle of socially acceptable behaviors and practices is what forms the framework of femininity and masculinity. The assigned sex categories given at birth have little to do with the roles that a person takes on. Biological differences within females and males should not be used to construe stereotypes or discriminate within different groups. Social variables such as playing with dolls or

    Read More

  • Learning Gender In a Diverse Society

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    This article was written to bring attention to the way men and women act because of how they were thought to think of themselves. Shaw and Lee explain how biology determines what sex a person is but a persons cultures determines how that person should act according to their gender(Shaw, Lee 124). The article brings up the point that, “a persons gender is something that a person performs daily, it is what we do rather than what we have” (Shaw, Lee 126). They ...

    Read More

  • Sex and Gender

    2188 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sex and Gender Arianna Stassinopoulos wrote in the 1973 book The Female Woman: "It would be futile to attempt to fit women into a masculine pattern of attitudes, skills and abilities and disastrous to force them to suppress their specifically female characteristics and abilities by keeping up the pretense that there are no differences between the sexes" (Microsoft Bookshelf). In her statement, we see a cultural feminist response to the dominant liberal feminism of the 1970s. Liberal feminism de-emphasized gender differences, claiming that women were the equals of men and that this would be obvious if only they were offered the same opportunities as men with no special privileges necessary. On the other hand, cultural feminists such as Stassinopoulos claimed that women's unique perspective and talents must be valued, intentionally emphasizing the differences between men and women. A third type of feminism, post-modernism, is represented in Sexing the Body by Anne Fausto-Sterling.

    Read More

  • Interpersonal Communication in Social Network

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender refers to psychological and emotional characteristics that cause people to assume, masculine, feminine or androgynous (having a combination of both feminine and masculine traits) roles. Your gender is learned and socially reinforced by others, as well as by your life experiences and g...

    Read More

  • Gender and Sexuality

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender has been around throughout history; however, within recent years, gender has separated itself from the traditional view of sex, e.i., male or female, and has become centered on ones masculinity or femininity. Of course gender is more than just ones masculinity or femininity, gender has become a way for one to describe, he or she, in a way in which they are different from everyone else. Gender has turned into a sense of identity, a way for one to feel different and fulfilled among all of those around them. Of course gender’s sense of freedom would seem outside of structure and only affected by one’s own agency, however, structure is a key component in establishing gender. We can look into both ethnic Mexican’s culture practices regarding sexuality, children songs and games, and see that cultural traditions still heavily influence gender, creating what is masculine and what is feminine and what is the role of each gender, as well as challenging the notions that gender is solely based on agency.

    Read More

  • The Social Construction Of Gender

    3360 Words  | 7 Pages

    Gender is such a ubiquitous notion that humans assume gender is biological. However, gender is a notion that is made up in order to organize human life. It is created and recreated giving power to the dominant gender, creating an inferior gender and producing gender roles. There are many questionable perspectives such as how two genders are learned, how humans learn their own gender and others genders, how they learn to appropriately perform their gender and how gender roles are produced. In order to understand these perspectives, we must view gender as a social institution. Society bases gender on sex and applies a sex category to people in daily life by recognizing gender markers. Sex is the foundation to which gender is created. We must understand the difference between anatomical sex and gender in order to grasp the development of gender. First, I will be assessing existing perspectives on the social construction of gender. Next, I will analyze three case studies and explain how gender construction is applied in order to provide a clearer understanding of gender construction. Lastly, I will develop my own case study by analyzing the movie Mrs. Doubtfire and apply gender construction.

    Read More

  • Sociological Perspective On Gender Roles

    959 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is no doubt that men and women are influenced by biological factors. The question is are gender roles based on nature, nurture or both? When discussing human sexuality, drives and desires hormones play a substantial role in our behaviors. The physiological differences externally in males and females are obvious. For example, when aroused, males become erect, whereas females become lubricated instead of a clitoral erection. In the article, “Biological Aspects of Sexual Orientation and Identity” Milton Diamond Ph.D. claims “These differences obviously pertain to copulation, but many other mechanisms exist that are less related to coitus but very much related to sexual expression and childbearing. Muscle mass, body and skeletal articulation, enzyme and endocrine production, and other physiological features and reflexes are additional distinctions. The endocrine system of males is relatively tonic in operation, while the female system is basically cyclic during the reproductive years.” Some of these biological factors are thought to shape gender differences due to hormones and brain function. According to “Biological Theories of Gender” Saul McLeod claims that, “The biological approach suggests that there is no distinction between sex and gender, thus biological sex creates gendered behavior.” This theory

    Read More

  • Gender Socialization And Gender Roles

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    As we grow, we learn how to behave from those around us. Gender socialization occurs through family, education, peer groups, and mass media. Each agent reinforces gender roles by creating and maintaining formal expectations for gender-specific behavior. Exposure also occurs through other agents, such as religion and the workplace. Repeated exposure to these agents over time leads people into a false sense that they are acting naturally based on their gender, rather than following a socially constructed role. "Sex" refers to physical or physiological differences between male, female, and intersex persons while "Gender," on the other hand, refers to social or cultural distinction associated with a given sex. When babies are born, they are assigned

    Read More

  • Gender and Sexuality

    2683 Words  | 6 Pages

    Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male regardless of which sexuality they fall under. The males are superior over the females and gays superior over the lesbians, however it different depending on the place and circumstances. This paper will look at the gender roles and stereotypes, social policy, and homosexuality from a modern and a traditional society perspective. The three different areas will be compared by the two different societies to understand how much changes has occurred and whether or not anything has really changed. In general a traditional society is more conservative where as a modern society is fundamentally liberal. This is to say that a traditional society lists certain roles depending on the gender and there are stereotypes that are connected with the genders. One must obey the one that is dominant and make decisions. On the other hand, a modern society is lenient, It accepts the individual’s identity and sexuality. There is no inequality and everyone in the society is to be seen as individuals not a part of a family unit...

    Read More

  • Sex and Gender

    1769 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sex and gender are terms that are mixed up from day to day and seen as similarities rather than differences. Sex is what distinguishes people from being either male or female. It is the natural or biological variations between males and females (Browne, 1998). Some of these variations are genitals, body hair and internal and external organs. It is the make-up of chromosomes, men have one X and one Y chromosome and women have two X chromosomes, these are responsible for primary characteristics (Fulcher and Scott, 2003). Gender on the other hand refers to the sociological differences between male and female. This is teaching males and females to behave in various ways due to socialisation (Browne, 1998). Example: masculinity and femininity. Girls are supposed to show their femininity by being non-competitive, sensitive, dependent, attractive and placid. If and when some girls don’t succeed in keeping this image they will be referred to as a tomboy. On the other hand, boys show their masculinity through aggression, physical strength...

    Read More

  • Portrayal of Women in the Media

    3135 Words  | 7 Pages

    Gender is the psychological characteristics and social categories that are created by human culture. Doing gender is the concept that humans express their gender when they interact with one another. Messages about how a male or female is supposed to act come from many different places. Schools, parents, and friends can influence a person. Another major factor that influences millions of impressionable females and males is television. Not only does the television teach each sex how to act, it also shows how one sex should expect the other sex to act. In the current television broadcasting, stereotypical behavior goes from programming for the very small to adult audiences. In this broadcasting range, females are portrayed as motherly, passive and innocent, sex objects, or they are overlooked completely or seen as unimportant entities.

    Read More

More about Gender And Gender

Open Document