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The relationship between religion and society
The relationship between religion and society
The effects of religion
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Even though my gender was not determined by myself when I was born, but growing up it was not difficult for me to acknowledge and display it as female. I came to realize that there are only two categories of gender, which are male and female and these two forms have significant roles in society. Born and raised in West Africa, where culture and tradition influence individual’s life, I observed gender situation in everyday lives. Gender was translated into forms of roles and activities which automatically said a lot about one’s identity. One of the activities influenced by gender is seen through occupation, job or profession. Occupation varies depending on one’s socio-economic background and it includes, but not limited to farming, trading, hunting housekeeping, doctor, nurse, teaching, and sewing. In West Africa traditional society, occupation has a specific organizational context. In this paper, gender will encompass a variety of meanings. I will be taking into consideration institution; religion, family, culture and ethnicity to be some of the social forces that helped construct and enact my notion of femininity.
Cultural institution shaped my gender identity. In my culture, traditional beliefs concerning sex roles or more recently gender roles are based on the assumption that women’s position in society is less appreciated than men’s. I was surrounded by this long standing belief which as a result created gender discrimination, domestic violence and other types of injustice against women. I came from a royal family where my grandfather, a king, had nine wives, and thirty-five kids. I notice in the family that my grandfather’s daughters comprise a greater number compared to men, but they remained underrepresented in terms of so...
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...matter of fact, I found the feminine walk bizarre and absurd.
Religious belief shaped my gender identity. The reverend of our church constantly reminded women to grow their hair long as a covering whereas men need short hair. Another belief religion taught me was how gender role should be cleared and defined. All these restrictions explain the nature of male and female identities within the congregation. Other perspective we see the influence of religion on my identity is through dresses. Women are advised to dress appropriately and never wear trousers or pants in public. Pants are strictly for men and that is a way to differentiate men from women. So when a woman wears pants, church members view her as deviant and a rebellious individual who will challenge men’s and religious’ authorities. The church views those approaches and behaviors to be against God’s order.
What does the word gender mean to an individual? Do people believe it means different responsibilities among people? Do people believe it means equality? Gender roles play a major role in our lives. It is the heart of our self-conceptions and daily actions. In the book Things Fall Apart, Nigerian author Chinua Achebe tells about the culture of an African society. The lives and beliefs of individuals are effectively described and are easy for readers to compare and contrast to their own culture. While gender roles exist in the American society based on a Eurocentric perspective, the book Things Fall Apart portrays a different culture illustrating the roles of individuals within the Igbo tribes.
In 1997, Allan G. Johnson published his book “The Gender Knot” which focuses on gender roles and stereotypes. Johnson covers many points in this article on how society and culture affect gender, such as: the difference in male and female biology, the way women look at themselves (societies’ beauty standards), the history of cultural abuse of woman and children, and the male dominated world. Although Johnson makes some valid and compelling points, I disagree with him partially based on today’s culture and my religion.
Across the globe, gender systems vary in ways that often exclude individuals who don’t identify within their realms. From the binary structure of the West, to the ternary system of India, there are many ways in which societies conceptualize gender. Gender systems are generally considered inherent to humanity, and are seldom questioned or altered. This has led to the marginalization and discrimination of individuals who diverge from the implemented structure.
Gender differences are influences on gender behavior in the way that one must fit through the assumptions and inevitable confusion to distinguish the reality of the assumption. Men and women are obviously different inherently, but not in what they can and cannot do. Men and women are different and have different roles because this is society presented them to the world. Women have the most difficulty getting through these complicated times. There should be equality among all men and women of all races and ethnicity. This is a never-ending issue. We as a society should always know and act on the importance of gender roles, gender equality, and challenges with education in developed and developing countries.
Gender role conflicts constantly place a role in our everyday life. For many years we have been living in a society where depending on our sexuality, we are judged and expected to behave and act certain way to fulfill the society’s gender stereotypes. The day we are born we are labeled as either a girl or boy and society identifies kids by what color they wear, pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Frequently, we heard the nurses in the Maternity facility saying things like, “Oh is a strong boy or is beautiful fragile princess.” Yet, not only in hospitals we heard this types of comments but we also see it on the media…
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 ...
Female identity is a collection of social and historical factors form primarily thought social, political, and economical ideas. In numerous events throughout history and in science institutions have shaped a definition of the identity of females. The use of gender roles, stereotypes, and the discovery of biology has played a major role in justifying women 's oppression in history, reinforcing man 's masculinity in society.
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.
First of all, when forming one’s religious identity, gender plays a role. Typically, females are more likely to make religion an
Identities are an important part of the human experience. One of the many identities that creates a person is gender. Society, being the entity establishing social norms and social roles, plays a part in effecting the individual’s gender, and how they choose to express themself. The underlying or overlying identities also have the same effect. Gender is not only an identity, it is a lifestyle inside and out. Gender, like race, class, and sexuality; is not limited to the binary scale, and that is normal, natural, and human. The concept of gender is man-made, but it forces one’s hand to analyze the thought processes behind an individual's perception on gender through self, through society, or through the dichotomy and/or correspondence of the
The relationship between sex and gender can be argued in many different lights. All of which complicated lights. Each individual beholds a sexual identity and a gender identity, with the argument of perceiving these identities however way they wish to perceive them. However, the impact of gender on our identities and on our bodies and how they play out is often taken for granted in various ways. Gender issues continue to be a hugely important topic within contemporary modern society. I intend to help the reader understand that femininities and masculinities is a social constructed concept and whether the binary categories of “male” and “female” are adequate concepts for understanding and organising contemporary social life with discussing the experiences of individuals and groups who have resisted these labels and forged new identities.
The gender issues in today’s society are issues to discuss because they are tainting the lives of people from an early age. This is important because girls and boys are showing increasing levels of insecurities that are arising due to fundamental gender issues in society. The masculine stereotype is one the most prevailing causes of gender issues in society, especially the issue of sexism. Our society must address this issue because the cycle of sexism only feeds into peoples’ insecurities. Men should not feel obligated to objectify women to feel masculine and women should not feel like they must be sensual and beautiful to have value. The stereotypes that are being placed on men and young boys effect the attitudes of the women around them and creates a cycle of hypersexualization and sexism, leaving the relationships between genders tainted and women feeling less confident in themselves. By changing the way people think men and women are supposed to be, we can change the way our society values one another and in turn, become a more equal and respectful society.
Anthropologists have examined our assumptions about the ‘natural’ roles of men and women in society through investigating the past and present. This is important as the core of anthropology is the ability to understand and use our knowledge of not only the past, but also the present to question societal norms (Blasco, 2010). Gender roles, society’s image of expected roles and attitudes a particular gender should possess, continue to be of great interest to anthropological studies. These expectations result in many gender stereotypes and create a stigmatized definition of what it means to be a man or a women (Blasco, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to conduct a gender analysis of
in America I feel that if you do not wish be a victim than do not play the role.
Gender identity is whether one feels as though they are a male or female. I never really thought about this much until I started taking classes that talked about gender identity. According to society, I am considered a female because my anatomical make up. However, I have never completely assumed the normal gender role or gender role stereotypes. As a child and teen, I loved to climb trees, lift weights, and play football. I did not enjoy playing with dolls, playing dress up or having tea parties, therefore, I did not do those things. I also was not sensitive like other females. As an adult, I do frequently adhere the gender role or stereotypes. Although, I still enjoy doing many male things like fishing, hiking, and camping but I also cook,