Lorber, J. (1994). Paradoxes of Gender. Yale University Press. pp. p13-114.
The Social Construction of Gender - Judith Lobber
‘gender is so pervasive that in our society we assume it is bred into our genes’
‘individual gender construction starts with assignment to a sex category on the basis of what genitalia look like at birth’
‘Babies are dressed or adorned in a way that displays the category’
‘a sex category becomes a gender status through naming, dress and the use of other gender markers’
‘once a child’s gender is evident, others treat those in one gender different to those in the other, and the children respond to the different treatment by feeling different and behaving differently’.
‘As a social institution, gender is on of the major ways that human being organise their lives’
‘the process of gendering and its outcome it legitimated by religion, law, science and the society’s entire set of values’
‘Western society’s values legitimate gendering by claiming that it all comes from physiology - female and male procreative difference’
‘gender and sex are no equivalent’
‘social statuses are carefully constructed through prescribes processes of teaching, learning, emulation and enforcement’
For Individuals, Gender Means Sameness:
‘Individualised are born sexed but not gendered and they have to be taught to be masculine and feminine’
‘for human beings there is no essential femaleness or maleness, femininity or masculinity, womanhood or manhood, but once gender is ascribed, the social order constructs and hold individuals to strongly gendered norms and expectations’
‘individuals may vary on many of the competence of gender and may shift genders temporarily or permanently, but they must fit into the limited number of gender statuses their society recognises’
C - no matter what specific gender you portray yourself as you still have ti fit within the specific associations with that gender, masculinity and femininity
‘Gendered social arrangements are justified by religion and cultural productions and backed by law, but the most powerful means of sustaining the moral hegemony of the dominant gender ideology is that the process is made invisible; any alternatives are virtually unthinkable (Foucault 1972; Gramsci 1971)’.
For Society, Gender means Difference:
‘In the social construction of gender, it does not matter what mens and women actually do; it doesn't not even matter if they do the exact same thing. The social institution of gender insists only that what they do is perceived as different’
C - men and women could act the same way however due to stenotypes and bias’s created by society they will be perceived as different, when a women is confident/takes charge she’s seen as bossy when a man has confidence or takes charge he’s seen as powerful .
‘If gender differences were genetic, physiological or hormonal, gender bending and gender ambiguity would occur only in hermaphrodites, who are born with chromosomes and genitalia that are not clearly female or male. Since gender differences are socially constructed, all men and all women can enact the behaviour of the other, because they know the other’s social script’
Gender as Process, Stratification and Structure:
‘In social interactions throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected, wee what is expected, act and react in expected ways and thus simultaneously construct and maintain the gender order’
‘gender norms and expectations are enforced through informal sanctions of gender-inappropriate behaviour by peers and by formal punishment or threat of punishment by those in authority, should behaviour deviate too far from socially imposed standards fro women and men’
‘Everyday gendered interactions build gender into the family, the work process, and other organisations and institutions, which in turn reinforce gender expectations for individuals’
‘Because gender is a process, there is room not only for modification and variation by individuals and small groups but also for institutionalised change (J.W.Scott 1988)’
C - because gender is a social construct created by society, we should theoretically be able to alter and change these assumptions and associations to create less rigid gender norms/stereotypes in order to aid gender equality
‘women and men are segregated on the job and each dos work considered ‘appropriate’
‘spacial superstation of women and men reinforces gendered differentness and identity and ways of thinking and behaving (Coser 1986)
Summary:
Throughout this chapter Lorber discusses the idea of gender as a social construct, how it developed and continues within todays society. She also discusses the idea that we should be able to change the stereotypes associated with gender based on the idea that current gender associations have been created by society therefor we should be able to alter those perceptions. Lorber also discusses the idea that no matter what women and men do they will be perceived as masculine or feminine even if they perform the same task. This is interesting when looked at in comparison to Bulters’ idea that gender is created through performance, therefor how we act defines our gender based on societies perception of our actions.
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