Social Construction Of Gender Roles Essay

Gender is a concept which refers to a system of socially defined roles, privileges, attributes and relationships between men and women which are learned and not biologically determined. Gender roles shape our identity, determining how we are perceived, how we are expected to think and act as women and men (Clancy, Oparaocha, and Roehr 2004). Gender roles are determined and prescribed by strongly held cultural and religious traditions. Gender roles are not universal, they vary in degree from society to society, which reinforces the point that gender roles are not determined by nature but by the social environment in which a person is raised. Because gender roles are socially constructed, they are subject to change in response to changes in social-economic circumstances (Khamati-njenga and Clancy 2002).

Energy is a primary ingredient to productive, subsistence and leisure activity. The quantity and quality of available energy determines the efficiency and effectiveness of activities, as well as the quality of life of the users. Both male and female members of society are equal stakeholders in benefiting from energy use. However, women and men do not benefit equally from access to energy. The same energy service may indeed impact on men and women differently, with different social or economic outcomes. Gender division of labour which creates different energy needs, but there are also different perceptions of the benefits of energy and the capacities to access those benefits based on gender. For instance men may choose to locate a light outside the house for security reasons (such as protecting livestock from theft) while women may choose to locate the light in the kitchen