Title: Gender Definition in Sociology - Sociology of Gender - iResearchNet
Headings: Gender Definition in Sociology
Gender Definition in Sociology
Outline
Why Gender and Not Sex
Social Construction of Gender
Gender and Work
Gender Inequality
Changing Gender
References:

Content: As an underlying principle of how people are categorized and valued, gender is differently constructed throughout the world and has been throughout history. In societies with other major social divisions, such as race, ethnicity, religion, and social class, gender is intricately intertwined with these other statuses. As pervasive as gender is, it is important to remember that it is constructed and maintained through daily interaction and therefore can be resisted, reformed, and even rebelled against. The social construction perspective argues that people create their social realities and identities, including their gender, through their actions with others—their families, friends, colleagues. It also argues that their actions are hemmed in by the general rules of social life, by their culture ’s expectations, their workplace’s and occupation’s norms, and their government’s laws. These social restraints are amenable to change—but not easily. Gender is deeply rooted in every aspect of social life and social organization in Western-influenced societies. The Western world is a very gendered world, consisting of only two legal categories—“men” and “women.” Despite the variety of playful and serious attempts at blurring gender boundaries with androgynous dress and desegregating gender-typed jobs, third genders and gender neutrality are rare in Western societies. Those who cross gender boundaries by passing as a member of the opposite gender, or by sex-change surgery, want to be taken as a “normal” man or woman.