Gender: A Conceptual Understanding

Introduction
Every time a group of people is addressed as “Ladies and Gentlemen!” the pervasiveness of gender over
all other social categories is demonstrated. Gender is also one of the first social categories that children
learn in today's societies. The concept of gender in feminist writings and other sociological discourses
became popular in the early 1970. However, what is that gender? Is that something given? Or, do we
need to perform gender? There is a commonly used term in our everyday language – ‘gender stereotype’
– what does it really mean? This document addresses these common issues in gender to develop a good
understanding on this area in a simple way.

Gender as a Social Construct

Gender is not a biological issue. It is often considered as the synonym of ‘sex’ but gender and sex are
different. The term sex indicates categorizations of people into male and female groups based on
biological characteristics. Gender is rather recognised as a social construct. The social construction of
gender comes out of the general school of thought, entitled social constructionism. For the good
understanding on gender, at first, it requires a proper comprehension on the term – social construction.

Social constructionism proposes that everything people “know” or see as “reality” is partially, if not
entirely, socially situated. To say that something is socially constructed does not mitigate the power of
the concept. Take, for example, money. Money is a socially constructed reality. Paper bills
are worth nothing independent of the value individuals ascribe to them. The dollar is only worth as much
value the Americans are willing to ascribe to it. Note that the dollar only works in its own currency
market; it holds no value in areas that don’t use the dollar. Nevertheless, the dollar is extremely powerful
within its own domain. These basic theories of social constructionism can be applied to any issue of study
pertaining to human life, including gender. Is gender a social construct? If it is a social construct, how
does it function?

Gender is a social construct that is determined by culture and society. Gender refers to behavioural
expectations associated with being a socially appropriate man and woman. More specifically, gender roles
are expectations regarding proper behaviour, attitude and activities of males and females. Gender roles
determine how males and females should think, speak, dress and interact within the context of society. A

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gender role is a set of social and behavioural norms that are generally considered appropriate for a man
or woman in a social and interpersonal relationship.

Gender role is closely related to the issue of gender ideology. The ideology of gender determines what is
expected from us, what is allowed for us and what is valued in us. It contains norms and rules regarding
appropriate behaviour and reproduces a range of beliefs and customs to support the norms and social
rules. Norms and rules eventually determine material realities of relative access of men and women to
different resources.

The discussion leads to conclude that while sex is determined by biological characteristics, gender is the
social and cultural interpretation of sex. In other words, sex is a biological category whereas gender is a
sociological category. At birth, besides the basic biological differences, there is not much difference
between the male child and the female child. Society makes the differences between boy and girl through
gender constructions. However, it is argued that the biological differences between the sexes do to some
extent explain certain psychological and socially constructed differences. Generally, sex is considered as
an ‘ascribed status’ and gender is regarded as an ‘achieved status’. It is important to note that the words
‘male’ and ‘female’ are associated with sex whereas ‘men’ and ‘women’ are the terminologies that are
related to gender. Nonetheless, to have a deeper understanding on gender as a social construct, the
concepts of masculinity and femininity are explained in the next section.

Femininity and Masculinity

"Femininities" and "masculinities" describe gender identities. They are shaped by socio-cultural processes
but not by biology. In 1990, by American philosopher Judith Butler, who theorized that gender is not
fixed or inherent but is rather a socially defined set of practices and traits that have, over time, grown to
become labelled as feminine or masculine. Femininity (also called womanliness or girlishness) is a set of
attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Traits such as nurturance,
sensitivity, sweetness, supportiveness, gentleness, Shy, passivity, cooperativeness,
expressiveness, modesty, humility, empathy, affection, tenderness, soft spoken, and being emotional,
kind, helpful, devoted, and understanding have been cited as feminine. On the other hand, masculinity
(also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with boys and
men. Masculine qualities and roles are considered typical of, appropriate for, and expected of boys and
men. Traits traditionally viewed as masculine include strength, courage, independence, individualistic,
interest to take a stand, willingness to take risk, leadership, forceful approach, dominance, competitive
attitude, aggressiveness and assertiveness.

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Femininities and masculinities are plural — there are many forms of femininity and many forms of
masculinity. What gets defined as feminine or masculine differs by region, religion, class, national culture,
and other social factors. For example, In Western cultures, the ideal of feminine appearance has
traditionally included long, flowing hair etc. In many Muslim countries, women are required to cover their
heads with a hijab (veil). It is considered as a symbol of feminine modesty and morality.

It is worth noting that a social constructionist view of gender looks beyond categories and examines the
intersections of multiple identities. This is especially true with regards to categories of male and female,
which are viewed typically as binary and opposite. Feminine attributes can be present in males and,
similarly, masculine qualities can be demonstrated by females. Social constructionism seeks to blur the
binary and muddle these two categories.

In relation to this issue, the idea of "gender conformity" is very helpful. It is based on conforming the
societal norms regarding gender. On the other hand, gender nonconformity is simply not conforming to
gender roles. In practice, it can mean simple things, such as a woman wearing a tie. There are obvious
problems with using "nonconformity" as a way to describe people who do not follow gender norms. It
implies that conformity is a good and desirable thing, rather than something that harms everyone. Living
out every gender norm in our culture is an impossible task. However, researchers of gender and gender
norms have known for a long time that seeing transgression of gender norms makes people
uncomfortable.

Further, while discussing on masculine and feminine attributes, there remains a question regarding how
these norms are valued? Julia Serano notes that masculine girls and women face much less social
disapproval than feminine boys and men. Serano argues that women wanting to be like men is consistent
with the idea that maleness is more valued in contemporary culture than femaleness, whereas men being
willing to give up masculinity in favour of femininity directly threatens the notion of male superiority as
well as the idea that men and women should be opposites. In Western culture, men who display qualities
considered feminine are often stigmatised and labeled as weak. It indicates that femininities are devalued
in that society. However, a simple example on the child rearing issue can further explain the way society
value masculinities over femininities. When a boy likes to play with Barbie’s and put nail polish, the
parents might be more annoyed than the case of a girl demonstrating masculine preferences. Thus, social
construction assigns more value to masculinities than femininities.

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Gender Stereotype
While developing the conceptual grounds on gender, it is important to understand the commonly used
term – gender stereotype. Gender stereotypes are over-generalisations about the characteristics of an
entire group based on gender. A man might say women are not meant for combat, while a woman might
say men do nothing but watch sports. Such expressions represent gender stereotypes, which are over-
generalisations about the characteristics of an entire group based on gender. While women were barred
from serving in military combat in Western nations until the latter half of the 20th century, in recent
times they have served in combat roles as capably as men. And while many men may watch sports, not
all men would necessarily do so.

Gender stereotyping can limit the development of the natural talents and abilities of girls and boys,
women and men, as well as their educational and professional experiences and life opportunities in
general. Stereotypes about women both result from, and are the cause of, deeply engrained attitudes,
values, norms and prejudices against women. They are used to justify and maintain the historical
relations of power of men over women as well as attitudes that hold back the advancement of women.

More specifically, gender stereotypes influence traditional feminine occupations, resulting in micro
aggression toward women who break traditional gender roles. These stereotypes include that women
have a caring nature, have skill at household related work, have greater manual dexterity than men, are
more honest than men, and have a more attractive physical appearance. Occupational roles associated
with these stereotypes include: midwife, teacher, accountant, data entry clerk, cashier,
salesperson, receptionist, housekeeper, cook, maid, social worker, and nurse. Occupational
segregation maintains gender inequality and gender pay gap. Certain medical specializations, such as
surgery and emergency medicine, are dominated by a masculine culture and have a higher salary.

It is important to recognise that gender is never a stable descriptor of an individual, but an individual is
always “doing” gender, performing or deviating from the socially accepted performance of
gender stereotypes. Doing gender is not just about acting in a particular way. It is about embodying and
believing certain gender norms and engaging in practices that map on to those norms.

Gender and Socialisation Process

Whilst gender is discussed as a social construct, it can leave the question – how is an individual socially
constructed to perform a certain gender role? In 1949, French intellectual Simone de Beauvoir wrote that
"one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman," Femininities and masculinities are learned. Goffman
argued that women are socialised to present themselves as "precious, ornamental and fragile,

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uninstructed in and ill-suited for anything requiring muscular exertion" and to project "shyness, reserve
and a display of frailty, fear and incompetence."

A person's gender identity can develop as early as three years of age. According to second-wave
feminists, girls were socialised with toys, games, television and school into conforming to feminine values
and behaviours. In her significant 1963 book “The Feminine Mystique”, American feminist Betty
Friedan wrote that the key to women's subjugation lay in the social construction of femininity as childlike,
passive and dependent, and called for a "drastic reshaping of the cultural image of femininity. Moreover,
messages about “feminine” and “masculine” behaviors are embedded in advertising, media, news,
educational materials, and so forth. These messages are present in a range of environments, from the
home to the workplace to public spaces.

Conclusion
“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” This quote of Maya
Angelou highlights the different gender category and, simultaneously, with the innovative term “she-
roes”, it indicates that women are not properly recognised. In other words, the gender inequalities can be
inferred from the quote. Echoing the quote, it is important to discuss on gender inequality. Building upon
the conceptual understanding on gender of this document, the next document will explain the issues on
gender inequalities.

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