[Last Name] 1
[Last Name] 4
Ashton Knickrehm
Jennifer Haylett
SOC: 1010
15 October 2018
Sociology at its best
Section 1: Gender
Gender is a structure that has consequences in all aspects of society. Gender is the phenomena on differentiating between being masculine and feminine. Gender describes how societies attach men and women’s roles. This is the understanding on individuals' identities. Gender involves social norms, attitudes, and some activities that society believes are more appropriate for one sex over the other. Barbara Risman demonstrated on how gender perspectives gives us new insight. At the time of birth or conception, you have been socialized to be a that gender. “At the individual level we learn who we are and what we want to be within a world where boys and girls are treated almost as though they were different creatures” (Risman 1998). Men and women have their own roles in society. Risman introduces a theoretical framework from gender as a social structure can outline 3 interlocking levels through individual, interactional, and institutional. On the individualized level it is the development of gender. The socialization of gender can be looked at as girls were pink and boys wear blue. We are given masculine and feminine names at birth. We are given specific toys to play with to separate our sex from society. We are perceived to believe girls will be housewives and boys will be the money makers, Women aren’t expected to make money, which will put the pressure on the males. On an institutional level, we can focus on the distribution of material advantages of gender. Men hold higher positions than women. Women make less money on the dollar unlike men. Despite the
roles we are subjected to, we are also conformed to how we look and are perceived by appearance to society. According to Westbrook and Schilt in their article called Doing Gender, Determining Gender, they wrote that we are put into categories male or female in social interactions on visual information cues. This is where we decide officially on a person’s identity of gender based on the outside appearance we can see. We cannot focus just on physical characteristics. Physical characteristics play a role in the “gender determination is an everyday interaction” (Westbrook and Schilt 319). Interacting with people can form a perspective on information on their specific gender identity. Gender integrated spaces are more likely to use identity- based criteria, while gender-segregated spaces, likely the sexual spaces we have previously examined. For instance, designated bathrooms for all genders.
Section 2: Applying Gender
Gender equality still struggles with differences every day. The issues with gender roles in our societies has impacted my life with being raise with 2 brothers and a sister. The moment I was born my parents classified me the role of their daughter, a girl with a pink blanket. Growing up I can distinguish I was a girl. I had the body parts designed for the fem...
