Social Construction Gender

In today’s society, we have made a clear reflection on how we define ‘gender’ by social constructionism. Social constructionism is an idea that “proposes that everything people ‘know’ or see as ‘reality’ is partially, if not entirely, socially situated” Typically, most of us are familiar with gender being split into two categories: whether someone is male or female, which is viewed as a binary, or opposite. From this, we self-impose criteria of what it means to be a ‘male’ or ‘female’, with the aid of outside influences, like the media and our environment. From her statement, Holmes says, “we have made gender and the inequalities that attend it, and therefore it can be remade” (Holmes, 2007: 182). This suggests that social equality between

Other factors, such as race, class, and sexuality shape inequality. In Audre Lorde’s Age, race, class and sex: women redefining difference, she makes a point of this hierarchy by introducing an idea called the ‘mythical norm’. She says, “In America, this norm is usually defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure” (Lorde, 1994: 36). This shows what we, as a society project to be the norm. We have already been brought up to the view the world in a conclusive way. Though feminist activism continues to critique this, different feminist approaches have also shaped the way in which we attend to gender. Feminist perspectives such as liberal, Marxist, and radical not only aim to achieve equality, but the way in which we approach it. Liberal feminism results from the belief that individual and free choices mark a person for improvement. Marxist feminism on the other hand centers on the belief that women are exploited and oppressed as a result of capitalism. Finally, radical feminists focus on belief that a patriarchal system is the base of all problems. These different perspectives also acknowledge Holmes’s statement about not having a “utopian endpoint” (Holmes, 2007: 182). Categories will always exist, but there is still ongoing feminist activism to working towards a more ‘equal’