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Muratalla V

Carlos Muratalla
Professor Jon Beadle
English 115
September 28, 2016
Gender in Society
The main common theme that I viewed in two or more the readings was the idea that
gender was crafted by society and by the way we perceive things to be in our lives.
In the readings of Composing Gender, From Women, Men and Society, No way my boys
are going to be like that, the authors Aaron Devor, Judith Lorber, Claire Renzetti and Daniel
Curran agree that the meaning between sex and gender are not equal. The authors agree that
gender is groomed in our minds subconsciously from birth. Sex is the term that describes a
person and the genitalia that they were born with, while gender is used to describe the way a
person identifies themselves in society and the way that they portray themselves in society.
Gender is used to organize ourselves in society. If the person is a boy the thought in
society is that this boy should be playing around more aggressively and rolling around the field
playing with dirty clothes parents report that boys are fussier than female infants and
toddlers (Renzetti and Curran, pp 78). This quote represents how from a young age we find that
boys are more aggressive than females and are thought to be expressive in one emotion, anger.
This is said to be caused by the interaction from the parents and their children. In Parent-Child
Play: descriptions and Implications by Kevin B. Macdonald and Ross D. Parke Parents
indicates that they tend to engage in rougher, more physical play with infant sons than with
infant daughters. In studies it was evident that the type of interaction that a child had was
different based on their sex. With a toddler boy the action produced enhanced motor skills, but

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with an infant it was more of nurturing environment that helped with emotional skills. From our
developmental years our parents get these thoughts of how were supposed to according to them
and create barriers to help define us with our gender and the actions we do. In the article by
Emily Kane several parents are asked about their children using different toys than their own sex.
If they asked for a Barbie doll, I would probably say no, you dont want [that], girls play with
[that], boys play with trucks (white, middle-class, heterosexual mother) (Kane pp 94). This
quote displays that even with toys, they are socially divided and even divided in the store where
there are boy and girl sections. Another interesting fact was that when these parents were asked
about their unborn babies and how their baby should look like when they get older, many of
them chose the same look. When these parents were asked about the typical boy, they said they
would have a tall, large, smart man and has large hands and shoulders. While their females were
described small, petite and with defined features. These answers only held to reinforce the notion
that men are supposed to be care takers, and that women are supposed to be delicate and fragile
and are in need of a male to take care of them. These are important because they show how we
systemically divide ourselves from the time we are children, then we keep these barriers up for
the rest of our lives, they dictate the way we treat each other in society. In our force the women
are payed less because they are thought to need less, the men are payed more in order to provide
for the family.
Gender construction affects identity construction because it is how a person thinks of
themselves and recognizes themselves in society. Additionally cultural and religious beliefs and
attitudes have a serious impact on gender identity and in many cases promote stereotype beliefs
against women and lead to gender discrimination. (Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 2011). In society
women are often thought to be weak or unable of being on their own, this a construct that often

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stays with women in todays society. From my experience and that culture that I viewed growing
up I learned that women in the culture were viewed as the care takers and were under the father
in the family hierarchy, I think this is an example of one way women are culturally thought to be
less than what they really are and that is equal. One experience that has I think about is that all of
the women in my family in cleaned and the men just relaxed and ate food.
Gender roles are performed by doing a role that is considered feminine or masculine. One
example of performing a gender is when a male takes care of children, this is a gender role
because women are seen as the care takers due to the fact that they give birth to the children,
another role is transporting products in large vehicles. As seen through my experience as a
drivers son, Ive noticed that I have only encountered few females who drive these trucks and it
shocked me because I was nave and thought only men could do this task. I have completed
gender roles in my life, a few of these roles include maintaining my lawn, lifting weights and
belching in public shamelessly. Gender roles have played a part in my life, because when I was
growing up I used to enjoy an activity, this activity was caking bakes with my sister and typically
it is young females who are seen baking with their Easy Bake oven and because of this fervent
passion I was often criticized by my brothers for being too feminine. Also growing up I was in
my culture, a culture that is meant to male dominant and the male has to provide and had to be
the punisher, it was often frowned upon if you were a male and you were seen crying because
this was seen as being feminine, so being expressionless as a male is coveted. The only emotion I
ever saw in my father or in other fathers was them being angry and yelling at their kids or yelling
at other people when they did not enjoy somethings. This corroborates with the article that states
young boys are taught to be more aggressive and the emotion they are supposed to show in anger
and assertiveness. In my house hold it was a common theme for me and my brothers to have

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fights, they always lead to someone being hurt, as a boy I can say that this fighting for no reason
was just natural to me and was honestly the only other thing I did with my brothers at the time
than play video games, being aggressive was the only emotion me and my brothers were
comfortable with showing. As a result from this, the men in my family have let that emotion rule
their lives and they lived angry lives.
The purpose of these authors are to get the readers to question themselves about the way
we are living in society and to question whether it is ethical or unethical. Their purpose is to also
question us to see if were willing enough to change the way we are living or are we just going to
go down the same divided road were on?

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Works Cited
Kane, Emily W., No Way My Boys Are Going To Be Like That. Parents Response to
Childrens Gender Nonconformity, Composing Gender pp91-97, R

Curran, Daniel, From Women, Men, and Society, Composing Gender pp76-84

Renzetti, Claire, From Women, Men, and Society, Composing Gender pp76-84

Aronson, Wilson & Akert, The Social Construction of Gender 2011