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Caprice Anderson

Prof. Ditch

English 115 Fall

27 September 2017

Project Space

Many people often confuse the word gender with sex, not knowing what gender actually

means. After reading the works of Lorber, Devor, and Hubbard, the simplest definition I came up

with is: gender is the characteristics that society has created and described as masculine or

feminine. Throughout peoples everyday lives gender plays a huge role because in everything a

person does they demonstrate masculinity and/or femininity. The space a person is in will

determine the role that is demonstrated. For example, in a work space like a construction site, the

workers are usually described as masculine because its mostly males who do the job, which

involves building and heavy lifting. When a person demonstrates the gender role that isnt

expected of them, such as a male doing feminine things like wearing makeup, they are usually

criticized and judged. Society has created gender norms and becomes uncomfortable when

individuals go against these norms. Gendering is a consistent problem that goes on in everyday

life and until it is accepted that a person can be both masculine and feminine or neither, gender

inequality will continue and gendering will always exist.

Gender construction starts right from the time a person finds out the sex of their unborn

child. People use the biological sex to place the baby in a gender category because that is the

normal thing to do. Whether the child is a male or female will determine what colored clothes

would be bought for them, how they will be spoken to and treated, and what type of toys will be

given to them. As the child gets older they will start to accept that category and play the role they
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were given all on their own. Once a person is old enough to be aware of that category then they

will start to associates themselves with others like them and act how they think they are supposed

to. Being in 2017 there has been some change to the restriction of gender roles and people have

come to accept that it is possible to demonstrate masculinity and femininity; however, that

doesnt mean that person changes the category they were already placed in. It is not uncommon

for females to wear what is labeled as boy clothing and males to wear what is labeled as girls

clothing. As a result, they may often be labeled as dykes, gay, or lesbian. All though people

sometimes play both masculine and feminine roles, it is still mostly unacceptable because there

is still inequality with gender. Unfortunately, society will find any way to maintain this

inequality.

Femininity is usually the role that society wants the females to do. To be feminine and

demonstrate feminine qualities a person has to be delicate, ladylike, sensitive, patient, nurturing,

and etc. femininity is seen as being soft. Because of what I am used to, often times I demonstrate

feminine qualities in many spaces that I am in. For example, not too long ago at work, I was put

to work in the backroom for the first time with basically all men, the job required lots of heavy

lifting with boxes, packaging items, and the use of machinery. The way I demonstrated

femininity was by me complaining how heavy some of the boxes were even though I was still

cable of carrying them. I wasnt used to doing all that physical/difficult work so I often asked for

one of the males to do it for me and Id go and package things instead. I didnt necessarily

intentionally demonstrate femininity in this space but I was so used to doing easier things like

fold towels or hang up clothes. In Ruth Hubbards work Rethinking womens Biology she

talked about the physical differences between men and women, and she also talked about limits

to strength. In Rethinking Womens Biology, she says What women do is interrelated with how
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our bodies and mind function are collected dialectically. (Hubbard,47) If men and women were

treated equally and werent gender constructed by society both male and females height, weight,

and body strengths would be similar or the same.

Since women are supposed to be feminine that means men are supposed to be masculine.

Some masculine traits a male is constructed to have is strength, stability, confidence, less

emotional, freedom, and anything that would make them tougher. But I am and many others are

perfect examples of how women can demonstrate a masculine role as well. As time went on of

me working in the backroom I started to get used to doing all the work the rest of the guys did

without any help. I realized I was perfectly capable of physically and mentally getting the same

work as them done. And I also got praised and a hand clap for doing so because it was a surprise

to them that there was a woman who worked backed there without getting her position changed

to cashier or something else. In Night to his day: the social construction of gender by Judith

Lorber, she says Women who become men rise in the world and men who become women fail.

(Lorber, 30) And I couldnt agree more with her because I was able to do exactly what the men

did and if the tables were turned my male coworkers possibly would not be able to do the same.

What caught my attention most in reading Night to His Day by Lorber is when she said, In

western society, man is A, woman is Not-A. (Lorber, 29) This is a perfect example of how

society has made males and masculinity the dominant gender and why there is inequality in

gender. Women are stronger than the strength society gives or tells them to have and we have the

potential to be equal as men.

Many people would disagree with Devor, Kane, Hubbard, and many others about

gendering and inequality. Most see gender being a norm and as something that has gone on

forever and doesnt need to change. They feeling gendering is okay and they should be able to
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raise their child however they want. For example, in parents responses to childrens gender

nonconformity 31 parents had negative responses and reactions about their sons picking to play

and wear girl things. Most of these parents would just avoid the opposite sexes sections in stores

to prevent their child from choosing such a thing. Parents and people like this are just

heterosexual. It is understandable why these parents place their children in a gender role because

that is how they were raised and their parents were raised and all the generations before that.

Gender construction is the norm society has created for them and parents only keep it going with

their children.

Masculinity and femininity is the gender roles society has placed on the people. This

socially constructed norm has created inequality and many other ongoing problems. This is why

writers like the ones in Composing Gender argue and discuss why gender is a problem and

should come to an end. They also state that a person must be labeled in a certain category in

order for everyone else to feel comfortable. Every person is capable of demonstrating both

masculinity and femininity in every space and no one should be judged for doing differently. In

No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That: Parents responses to gender nonconformity

by Emily Kane is a great example of how gender construction starts at very young ages and the

responses of heterosexual parents. I feel it is wrong for a parent to restrict their children from

certain items based off their sex. But there are some parents out there who allow their children to

be free to play any role and those are the patents doing it right. Gendering is a consistent problem

that goes on in everyday life and until it is accepted that a person can be both masculine and

feminine or neither, gender inequality will continue and gender construction will still exist.
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Works Cited

Lorber, Judith. Night to his day: The Social Construction of gender. Composing

Gender. New York, 2013. 19-34

Hubbard, Ruth. Rethinking Womens Biology. Composing Gender. New York, 2013.

46-52

Kane, Emily W. No way my boys are going to be like that: Parents Responses to

Childrens Gender Nonconformity. Composing Gender. New York, 2013. 91-97

Devor, Aaron. Becoming members of society: The social meanings of Gender.

Composing Gender. New York, 2013. 35-45

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