Gender is a property in not only human life, but all living life on our planet since the beginning of time. Whether it is to determine animal characteristics, to plant development, to the drive of society, gender is the foundation of all live. Today, I will be talking about what gender is and how humans have identified with gender, social connections and gender, and how men and women differ along gender lines.
First, we must understand the meaning of “Gender”. Understanding gender will be broken down into three different views: sex, gender, and gender identity. Every person has a certain sex, a gender, and a gender to identify with. All three of these aspects are linked to sexuality. Sex is biological, which includes our genetic make-up, hormones,
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Aggression is defined as: intentions to hurt or harm others. Aggression is a key term in social connections since it is first found in the early stages of childhood. In childhood groups, young boys have demonstrated in childhood studies within the past decade to express higher levels pf aggression than girls. Yet, girls have expressed a unique way of aggression that may have been overlooked in these studies. According to the scholarly article, “Relational Aggression, Gender and Social-Psychological Adjustment”, written by Nicki R. Crick and Jennifer K. Grotpeter, both women quote “We propose that, when attempting to inflict harms on peers (I.e., aggression children do so in ways that best thwart or damage the goals that are valued by their respective gender peer groups.” (1995). In layman terms, boys will tend to use physical and verbal aggression in relation of physical dominance. For girls, they focus on relational issues when interacting, such as establishing close, intimate …show more content…
Similarly, both genders are creative, intelligent, feel emotions, and have the sense to be accepted. Both genders have the basic needs to survive, avoid predators, and depend on one another to reproduce. Yet, with similarities will come differences. Research on the average woman has proven that she is to enter puberty 2 years’ prior than man and has a five year longer lasting life span. A woman will carry seventy percent more fat, forty percent less muscle, is averagely five inches shorter than the average male, is allowed to express emotions more freely in society, is able to detect more faint odors, will receive more help from complete strangers, at twice the risk for developing depression and at ten times more likely to develop a food disorder. The average male, during childhood, is more likely to be diagnosed with autism, develop colorblindness, develop attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (A.D.H.D.), appeal to be more aggressive, involved more with physical violence, four times more likely to die by suicide, and as an adult, the average male is at a higher risk for antisocial personality disorder. According to the textbook, “Psychology In Everyday Life: Third Edition,” composed by two main authors, David G. Myers and C. Nathan Dewall, they quote “Each gender has its shares of risks” (Myers and Dewall, 2014, p. 107). Both men and women will deal with their sex-related
In 1992, a group of Norwegian researchers conducted a study of girls. “They found girls participate in aggression, but they express their anger in unconventional nonphysical ways” (Simmons 20). Another group of experts from the University of Minnesota continued with these findings and found the girl’s aggressive behavior should be classified into three subcategories; relational, indirect, and social aggression” (Simmons 21). An example of relational aggression would be ignoring someone or giving them the “silent treatment” which can be very traumatic for the victim. They wonder what they...
First, men, like teenage boys, are expected to be “aggressive, brave, confront danger, and protect their loved ones.” The expectation to hold true to these qualities deteriorates the physical well-being and mental state of men, leading to more injuries in the long run. The mentality taught to young boys to “suck it up” when injured fosters the idea that they should not seek medical attention for injuries, which can lead to major problems in later life. Gender socialization teaches men to conceal their feelings because it is seen as feminine. Hiding emotions leads to stress and the complications that come from stress. Women are gender socialized to be the “responsible ones, the nurturers, and the caretakers.” Caretakers are known to have high levels of stress associated with attending to the needs of young children and sick relatives. High levels of stress are known to cause weight changes, depression, and sleep disorders. Second, women who have day jobs are also expected to also be housekeepers and nurturers of their families, causing added stress to women. (Day) Gender expectations of adults, set onto them in their adolescence, cause great strain and stress throughout their lives. Socialization of the genders from adolescence may have lasting impacts on the well-being of adults, but there are simple changes parents and society can make that will ease this
The terms gender and sexuality are usually mistaken for one or the other. Gender refers to the social term that is given to a specific sex. Gender is typically considered female or male. The term sexuality refers to people’s sexual interest or desires to other people. Different types of sexuality are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, and other types. Gender and sexuality are used for people to identify their sexuality, communication with others, and learn how to find a community of people that are alike.
Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66, 710–722.
"In dismantling the notion that sex and gender are innate, first the two must be defined. Sex is described as the interaction between genes, hormones, behavior, and the environment. The adjectives female, male, or intersex is used when referring to sex. Gender is the social status, legal
The word gender refers to a general classification of human beings into male and female with socially and culturally constructed characteristics, behaviors, attributes and roles preconceived and labelled as appropriate for each class. The society and culture today have placed human beings in a box which to a large extent dictates how we act in the world.
The terms sex, gender and sexuality relate with one another, however, sociologists had to distinguish these terms because it has it’s own individual meaning. Sex is the biological identity of a person when they are first born, like being a male or female. Gender is the socially learned behaviors and expectations associated with men and women like being masculine or feminine. Gender can differentiate like being a man, woman, transgender, intersex, etcetera. Sexuality refers to desire, sexual preference, and sexual identity and behavior (1). Sexuality can differentiate as well like being homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, etcetera. Like all social identities, gender is socially constructed. In the Social Construction of Gender, this theory shows
Relational aggression is a fairly new development, which involves adolescent girls and their emotions. To understand this newly found term, one must start from the core word “aggression.”
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...
In order to grasp the concept of social construction of gender, it is essential to understand the difference between sex and gender. Biologically, there are only two reproductive genital organs that are determinants of sex: the vagina and the penis. Sex is established solely through biological structures; in other words, genitalia are the basis of sex. Once a sex category is determined, gender, a human categorization socially attached to sex, is assigned based on anatomy. Gender typically references social or cultural differen...
Social Construction of Gender is a process, stratification system and structure. The day to day interactions emphasize gender as opposites. Take for instance, conversations, formalities of daily life, sayings, and so on. The social construction of gender is created through social interaction – through the things we do and say with other people. This means that gender it is not a fixed or inherent fact, but instead it varies across time and place.
The main argument to think about when looking at the relationship between sex and gender is whether it is purely biological or is more than definitely socially constructed. The distinction between sex and gender could be described as simply, sex: the biological makeup of an individual’s reproductive anatomy and gender: an individual’s lifestyle or their personal identification of their gender. Firstly looking at the argument that gender identity arises from biological processes. For some, it may be an obvious answer of women and men being chromosomally different. Women having two X chromosomes and men having an X and Y chromosome. The Y chromosome produces testosterone and other androgens. These androgens allow the male to develop testes and a penis rather than the female genitalia of ovaries and a uterus. It is argued that they all cause male and females brains to develop differently. For example...
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 the identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (Free Dictionary, 2009).
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...
Gender is an important aspect of our social life; it comprises of power relations, the division of labour, symbolic forms and emotional relations (Connel, 2000).