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LindseyChavez
Mr.Beadle
English115
17September2015
SocietysGenderConstruction
Withinsociety,peoplecontinuetoignoregenderclass,betweenmenandwomen.Gender
classificationsanddifferencesareeverywhereincludingonadvertisement,butpeopleeither
dontpayattentiontothem,orseethemassomethingnormal.Thiscommonideacanbeapplied
tomylifeexperiencebecausecontrarytomostkidsmyparentsalwayssupportedmeinwhatI
likedbyallowingmetoplaywithtoys,games,andsportsforbothgirlsandboys,howeverIstill
feelfeminine.Itdidntmakeadifferencetome,butpersonallyitwasaniceexperiencethat
creatednotonlygreatmemoriesbutalsoagreatchildhood.InthelightofthatIfeelgenderis
inevitablebecauseaswegrowmostofusmaintainthegenderclassificationsanddifferences
therefore,theybecomeaneverendingsocialview.
Inthearticles,RethinkingWomensBiology,byRuthHubbard,Women,Men,and
Society,byClaireRenzettiandDanielCurran,andNoWayMyBoysAreGoingtoBeLike
That:ParentsResponsestoChildrensGenderNonconformity,byEmilyKane,theauthor's
intentionistoinformtheirreaderstobeawareofthedifferentiationinadvertisingforgirlsand
boyshowcertaintoysareboughtdependingifthechildisagirlorboy.Likewise,theauthors
wanttochangesocietybyopeningpeoplesmindsbecauseweliveinasocietywheresomethink
womenaretheonesmeanttoclean,cook,takecareofthekids,andwashwhilemenwork.
Althoughnoteveryonethinkswomenshouldbedomesticnowadays,therearestillsomewhodo.

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Inlikemannertosocietygenderrolesarehighlysignificantbecauseitsthestructureofthe
worldweknow.Sexisindeedpartofourlivesitmeansfemaleormale,butgenderisntgender
referstothetermsgirl,boy,woman,andman.Withthisinmindtheauthorswantustoexplore
theseareasinordertohaveasocietywithanextendedmentality,withoutlimitations,andforus
tobemoreawareofoursurroundings.
AsamatteroffactliketheauthorsIknowwomenandmenarentmuchdifferentfrom
eachother,yetinsocietysometimeswomenarediminishedcomparedtomen.Inthethree
articlesmanyconceptsaremadeoneofthemishowweseegenderinoursocietyaspartofour
liveswhenitreallyisnt.Furthermorethearticlesexplaintothereadershowoursocietyhas
comeupwithmanydifferentiationsbetweenwomenandmen,andtheauthorsprovethat
althoughtimehaspassedandsomethingshavegottenbettertherearesomanydifferencesthat
evennowwhenwomenandmenarebelievedtohaveequality,differentiationstillexistsamong
awomanandaman.InthearticleRethinkingWomensBiology,RuthHubbardstatesInthe
19thcenturywhenwomentriedtogetaccesstohighereducation,scientistsinitiallyclaimedwe
couldwecouldnotbeeducatedbecauseourbrainsaretoosmall,(46).Thisclaimshowsusthat
beforewomencouldntevenstudyliketodayduetoatheorythatwasntproventobeginwith.
Inadditionafterwardswhenthetheoryofwomensbrainsbeingtoosmallwasprovento
bewrongtheydevelopedanewtheoryinwhichTheybasedtheirconcernsontheclaimthat
girlsneedtodevotemuchenergytoestablishingtheproperfunctioningoftheirovariesand
wombthatiftheydivertthisenergytotheirbrainsbystudying,theirreproductiveorganswill
shrivel,theywillbecomesterile,andtheracewilldieout,(Hubbard,47).Scientistultimately
believedwomenwereweakcomparedtomen.Asacausethesebeliefsaffectedindividualsand

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societybysettingdifferentstandardsformenandwomen.Luckilynowwomengetthesame
educationasmenhowevermengetpaidmorethanwomenfordoingthesamejob.
Correspondingly

societycreatesgapsbetweenmenandwomenbyusingmanyobvious
methodsthatyouarentawareof.Thegapscanbeacauseoftheadvertisementforboysversus
girls.InfactinthearticleFromWomen,Men,andSociety,RenzettiandCurranstate,the
boysBoldandBraveCollection,setincludedcostumesforaknight,aninja,acyborg,a
pirate,andevenavampire.WhileGirlswereshownmodelingtheSatinandLace
Collection,thesetcontainedcostumesforaballerina,aprincess,afair,andangel,anda
bride.(81)Hencesocietyhastheimageofwomenbeingdelicate,codependent,anddomestic
insteadofstrong,independent,andactive.Similarly...littlegirlsweremorefrequentlyshown
withdollsorhouseholdappliances(RenzettiandCurran81)and...inboysrooms,were,
instead...militarytoysandathleticequipment(RenzettiandCurran80).Allthedistinction
betweengirlsandboystoysdoesntallowthemtoexploredifferentareasanditmakesthemfit
intoarolefromthestart.Nonethelessmanymayarguegirlsareallowedtodomostthingsboys
doespeciallybecausenowgirlswearwhatboysdo,butthatsthethingmost,nottomention
boysarentallowedtodowhatgirlsdoandwaylessdresslikeagirl.Parentsarecurrently
morerigidwiththeirboys.Whichbringsmebacktogirlsbeingdiminished,itcanallbedueto
boysbeinglikeagirllookinglikeadowngradewhereasgirlsbeinglikeaboyoftenlookslike
anupgrade.
Additionally,bothgirlsandboyshavedifferentrelationshipswiththeirparents.Liz
Connorsresearchshows...adultstendedtorespondtoboyswhentheyforcedattentionby
beingaggressiveorbycrying,whining,andscreaming,whereassimilarattemptsbygirlswere

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usuallyignoredinstead,adultswereresponsivetogirlswhentheyusedgesturesorgentle
touching,orwhentheysimplytalked.(1985,78).ThusfurtherResearchbypsychologistLiz
Connors(1996),indicates...mothersofgirlsweremoresensitivetotheirchildren,whilethe
mothersofboysweremorerestrictiveoftheirchildren.(78)Moreoverforparentsandsociety
theexpectationsforgirlsandboysaredifferentandtheyreparticularlyveryimportantbecause
theexpectationssetdeterminegirlsandboysfuturegoals.Thereupondeterminingthejobs
womenandmenpursuit.
EquallyimportantinthearticleNoWayMyBoysAreGoingtoBeLikeThat:Parents
ResponsestoChildrensGenderNonconformity,byEmilyW.Kane,themainconceptisthatas
timegoesbypeoplebecomemoreopenmindedbutnotcompletely.ThereasonIsaynot
completelyisbecausesurprisinglythereisnowomenandmenequalrightsamendment.Itssad
thatwehavetofightforequalitybetweengenderwhenitsnotevenpartofnature.Henceforth
humansultimatelycreatedgenderandonthelongrungenderhasbeenaround,therefore,making
genderseemlikeitspartofnature.Despiteofthatmostofusmightthinkgenderdoesntplaya
roleinourliveswheninrealityallofoursurroundingsandourchildhoodinvolvegender
separations.Evenaswegrowupwedowhatsexpectedofusbecausewedontwanttolook
abnormaltosociety.ThearticleRethinkingWomensBiologyattestsWomanorman,is
sociallyconstructedonethatlittlegirlsorboystrytofitaswegrowup.(Hubbard,46)Similarly
evidenceprovesparentsnotonlycreategapsbetweentheirsonsanddaughters,butalsoengage
differentwiththeirkids,Parentsuseagreaternumberofemotionwordswhentalkingwith
daughtersthansons.(RenzettiandCurran,79)Theevidenceprovesparentsnotonlycreategaps
butalsoengagedifferentwiththeirkids.

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Generallyspeaking,firstwemustbegintobeawareofwhatisgoingoninoursocietyto
beabletostopgenderifnotatleasttocreatevarianceingender.Giventhesepointswecansee
allthearticlesconnectbygoingfurtherintodepthofthedefinitiongender.Thethreearticles
speakofthedifferentiationbetweenagirlandboyorawomanandman.Theyexplainthatasa
resultofgendermostofusdonthaveourownessencewaylesstherighttoexploreinorderto
findouridentitywithoutbeingjudged.Whenwillthisdefinitelystopyoumayask?Wellnobody
reallyknows,butwhatIcansayisthatifwebegintotakestepstowardschangeitcanbe
accomplishedbecauselikeawisemansaidBethechangeyouwishtoseeintheworld.
(Gandhi)

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WorkCited
Connors,Liz(1996).
Genderofinfantdifferencesinattachment:Associationwithtemperament
andcaregivingexperiences.
PaperpresentedattheAnnualConferenceoftheBritish
PsychologicalSociety,Oxford,England.
Hubbard,Ruth.RethinkingWomensBiology.
ComposingGend
er,2014.4647.Print.
Kane,Emily.NoWayMyBoysAreGoingtoBeLikeThat:ParentsResponsestoChildrens
GenderNonconformity.
ComposingGender
,2014.
Renzetti,ClaireandCurran,Daniel.FromWomen,Men,andSociety.
ComposingGender
,
2014.7981.Print.