What Does It Mean That Gender Is A Social Construct?
You may have heard that gender is a social construct ; It is not something tangible. This usually generates a lot of debate, since there are many opinions about it. It is important to be aware of the variety and diversity of perspectives in relation to gender theory and not discount those with which you do not agree.
That gender is a social construct means that sexual differences have been differentiated through social construction through the history of a set of beliefs, traits, attitudes, feelings, values, behaviors and activities. Basically, the construct gender refers to the social construction of the biological fact of being a man or a woman. Its main contribution is to question the hierarchy and inequality of power that exists between men and women; in addition to highlighting the reproduction of these inequalities in different areas of social life.
What does it mean for gender to be a social construct?
In this article we will review what sex, gender and their different components mean, in addition to commenting on some theoretical perspectives that have given strength to considering gender as a social construction. Let’s start with some basic definitions.
Biological sex or sex assigned at birth is the label assigned at birth according to medical factors related to genitals, chromosomes and hormones Most people are assigned the sex male or female, male or female, as recorded on our birth certificate. There is also intersexuality; people whose bodies do not follow the anatomy of male or female sexual patterns.
The sex assigned at birth arises from factors that begin with fertilization of the egg by the sperm. Sexual differentiation occurs according to the chromosome load of sperm and eggs; A person with XX sex chromosomes will have female reproductive organs and sex, and a person with XY chromosomes will have male sex.
For its part, gender is a more complex and broader concept than sex. Make reference to the expectations of society and individuals about behaviors, thoughts, and characteristics that are assumed to correspond to people’s sex assigned at birth
Gender is also considered as a social and legal category that identifies us before the law and bureaucracy as boys, girls, and men or women. Gender is spoken of as one of the basic structuring principles of our societies; Based on what we understand by gender we can understand what is appropriate for men and women.
If we differentiate sex from gender and making a more simplified proposal; Biological sex refers to the body, the physical (biology, anatomy, chromosomes…), while gender is made up of social expectations, standards and beliefs about what men and women should be, do and feel.
Dimensions and components of the genus
Within the range of everything that the genre encompasses, we can find different related concepts. It is important to know and understand them to really understand the concept of gender and why it is said to be a social construction.
1. Gender identity
Gender identity is the subjective perception that a person has about their own gender It is a concept separate and differentiated from biological sex and sexual orientation. Basically, gender identity is considered the personal, intimate and psychic identification that a person has about the gender to which they feel they belong. Therefore, this gender identity is independent of biological sex; A person may have a male biological sex, but a female gender identity, for example.
In the same way as in the case of gender, gender identity is spoken of as a social construction during, normally, early childhood. There are external influences in it, for example, from parental care and social reinforcement; and also internal influences, questioning gender is an important stage in our development.
Normally, a distinction is made between three gender identities:
1.1. Cisgender
Gender identity matches that assigned at birth matches the sex.
1.2. Transgender
In these people, gender identity does not coincide with what is normatively expected according to the sex assigned at birth.
1.3. Non-binary identity
This gender identity It is not associated with either the male or female gender ; It is conceived as a differentiation of the male-female binary that is normally imposed in society.
2. Gender roles
Another concept associated with gender is that of gender roles. These include all the patterns of social behaviors assigned to men and women and that are main and structural components of the relationships between them. Gender roles attribute different values, responsibilities and even jobs to men and women
For example, normatively and historically in our society, the role of care has been attributed to women. Therefore, on many occasions, it can make it obligatory for some women to have children and, in addition, the exclusive responsibility for their upbringing if they do have them.
In these attitudes there is no biological basis or an explanation through sex, they come from a history and a specific culture that has encouraged the emergence of these attitudes and has reinforced them over time and intergenerationally.
3. Gender stereotypes
Gender stereotypes They are related to gender roles, but do not make much reference to the tasks or functions of men and women in society but rather they assume a simplistic perspective of reality, reproducing images or fixed ideas about what is appropriate for each gender or identity.
Basically, stereotypes are based on dichotomous, polar and exclusive ideas. They are discriminatory and prevent the full development of each person’s opportunities. A gender stereotype is, for example, associating women with higher emotionality than men, or, conversely, associating men with greater emotional and physical resistance.
Stereotypes contribute to internalizing the gender norms that have been constructed and internalized in our cultures, reinforcing their values from childhood and educating us on what is appropriate to feel or experience according to the gender with which we identify.
4. Gender socialization
Gender socialization refers to learning process through which these dominant beliefs, values and behaviors of a society are transmitted Through this, gender relations are built and differential roles are assigned to each gender; thus generating roles and stereotypes.
It is from this socialization and learning that the internalization of, for example, the division of tasks occurs, and gender roles are constructed that perpetuate the practice and discrimination of this differentiation.
The gender perspective and gender as a social convention
The gender perspective is defined as a “new” critical theory that seeks to reveal gender inequalities and analyze the social and cultural institutions that support them. It emerges as a criticism of the dominant thinking approaches. In all scientific research it is important to take a gender perspective, not only to increase the presence of women in research, but also to create an inclusive scientific culture that integrates the gender dimension into our realities.
We are going to comment on the ideas of two theorists integrated into the gender perspective that give value to considering gender as a social construction.
Monique Wittig dedicated much of her research to demystifying “the feminine,” with the intention of stopping considering women on the basis of sex Analyzing the man-woman dichotomy from the point of view of oppressor-oppressed, he proposes that discrimination against people occurs when their behavior does not coincide with what society expects of them.
It launches the idea of heterosexual thought as the cause of the construction, with social, subjective and material implications, of social relations based on sexual dualism, I feel the only function of these is to construct positions of control and subordination between men and women.
Judith Butler: breaking with the binary
For her part, Judith Butler, pioneer of queer theory, proposes a break with the general categories regarding the ideas we have regarding sex and gender. She raises the need to denaturalize certain internalized concepts that “are given to us” in order to break with the imposed dichotomies of gender and sex and be able to deploy the theme of gender in other dimensions.
In fact, Judith Butler not only criticizes gender as a social construction, but also proposes breaking the gender binary ; stop understanding only the masculine and the feminine. He defends that this binarism is the main perpetuator of the heteronormative model of society; model that imposes two options on bodies; be women or men, behave feminine or masculine and desire the opposite sex.
The importance of reflecting
Throughout this article we have commented on different components in relation to the sex-gender binomial to understand the perspectives that defend gender as a social construction. Gender is thus considered something social, cultural and historical, which, Following the normative and binary patterns of society, it perpetuates the roles and stereotypes linked to each gender
We consider it important to conclude by thinking about what happens to people who are excluded from the social binary of gender. Trans people and non-binary people, where are they? Is it interesting to think about breaking the binary sex-gender system, as Butler proposed, to encourage the inclusion of all people, regardless of their gender identity? It is important to reflect and be critical about these issues, we encourage you to do so!
