Social Construction of Gender

Gender as a Social Construct -: Sex/Gender, Gender identity, Gender Stereotypes, Gender Discrimination, Gendered division of labour, Heteronormativity, Gender continuum and LGBTIQ, Social institutions and Gender reproduction, Patriarchy as an ideology and practice

1. Gender
As a Social Construct

2. “Gender is so pervasive in our society that we
assume it is bred in our genes…gender is
constantly created and re-created out of human
interaction, out of social life and is the texture
and order of that social life”

3. Activity
List out the similarities and differences between
men and women (biological, socio-cultural and
religious etc)

4. Sex/Gender
Sex: categorisation of people into male and female
groups based on biological characteristics
Gender: socio-cultural interpretation of sex
(expected behavioural pattern of being a socially
appropriate man or woman); masculinity and
femininity
“Physiological sex” and “social gender”
Ann Oakley’s Sex, Gender and Society (1972)

6. Gender Identity
Identity as reflexive self-relation (Butler, 2004; de
Beauvoir, 1953, 74)
Physical embodiment, people’s relative location within
their social environment and how they are judged by
others
Ultimately how people view themselves with respect to
gender
Human need to “sort” individuals according to the two
gender system (dyadic gender model)

7. Reinforcing of gender order
Combined influence of internal feelings and
social pressures guides gender identity
development, impacting how individuals feel as
gendered persons and constraining their
behaviour based on what they think and
experience as acceptable for their given gender

8. Masculinity: a socially constructed component of gender that is
typically associated with men and male characteristics
(behaviours and practices);
Hegemonic Masculinity (strength, aggression, courage,
independence and virility); often associated with heterosexual,
white, middle class status in Western cultures (Noble, 2004;
Schippers, 2007)
High expectations (work responsibilities, finances, family
obligations), effects on health-“risky” health behaviours; being
tough, drinking behaviours of young men
Masculinity as a “floating signifier”-because it is not stagnant
and must be constantly maintained and reproduced through
various gendered practices and behaviour; given meaning by
human-constructed language and the bodies that reproduce it
(schippers, 2007)

9. FEMININITY: associated with femaleness, constructed
and reproduced through individuals’ practices and
behaviours in their daily lives
“Emphasised femininity” (not hegemonic femininity)
(concept discussed by Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005;
Schippers, 2007)
“Emphasised femininity” as a prioritised form of
femininity, characterised by its domination by masculinity,
which is a crucial component in men’s supremacy over
women in the gender order
In this way, all femininities are constructed as subordinate
to masculinities (hegemonic masculinity); through this
subordination gender hegemony is created and maintained

10. While masculinity is prioritised as the “gold
standard”, both masculinity and femininity are
constructed through their differences to each other
Femininity-health impacts-encouraging feminine
individuals to prioritise the health of children and
other family members above their own, as part of a
nurturing and caring ideals
Positioning of femininity as “other”, distinctly
different from masculinity as opposed to a
function of the gender system in its own right,
both within society and reproduced in gender
theorising and research

11. Activity
Explain the concepts
Sex
Gender
Masculinity
Femininity
Discuss positioning of femininity as “other”
Discuss masculinity as a floating signifier

12. Gender Stereotypes

13. Gender stereotypes-one sided and exaggerated
images of men and women which are deployed
repeatedly in everyday lives
Child socialisation into sex roles-children
literature, toys and games
Adults and children are denied opportunities

14. Gender stereotypes-personal traits, behaviours,
occupations, hobbies, appearance, family functions,
communication, sports activities and preferences
It shapes people’s behaviours, expectations and
roles; roles can become stereotypes
Stereotyping as a normal cognitive process-as a
categorisation-stereotypes of men and women-role
of religion and culture
Challenging gender stereotypes-“Take Our
Daughters to Work”- replacing gendered terms
with gender neutral terms (mailman-mail carrier/
chairman-chair)-roles of parents

15. Gender Discrimination
Discrimination-the unjust or prejudicial treatment of
different categories of people, especially on the ground of
race, age or sex
How this prejudice develop? Engrained in social
structure? Nonvisible?
In the form of women health and child malnutrition
Universality of gender discrimination-public and domestic
domain-patriarchal ideology produced specific rules, roles
and regulations-“The second sex”-link with subordination

16. Gender Division of
Labour
It is the consequence of how a particular society
divides work among men and women according
to what is considered appropriate to each gender
Material discussion

17. Heteronormativity
Micheal Warner first coined this term to refer to the overwhelming power
of the assumption that heterosexuality is natural and normal and is the
norm to be emulated- grew out of queer theory
Heterosexuality is taken for granted and is universalised
Regarded as the norm and moral way to be and carries with it such
pressures that some non heterosexuals may not feel comfortable publicly
acknowledging their sexual preference
Societal expectations or standards are reinforced with rules and structures
Rules may take the form of formal (with the enactment of laws) or may be
informal (social norms) that exist to maintain heterosexual privilege, or
heterosexism

18. Heteronormative laws - validate only heterosexual
relations, criminalisation of homosexuality, the
creation of a parallel institution for marriage, civil
unions, to protect the privileges of marriage for the
union of a man and a woman and sodomy laws
Heterosexuality as the norm and any other form of
sexual desire, expression or relationship is ‘abnormal’
or ‘wrong’
Abstract concept
French feminist Monique Wittig, “the category of sex
is a political category that found society as
heterosexual”

19. Criminalisation of same-sex activity in not an ancient Indian tradition
Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai - Same Sex Love in India -traces writings in Indian languages
about love between women and love between men who are not biologically related
The Persian aesthetic traditions prior to the European encounter considered the male body
and the love of men for men as beautiful (Najmabadi, 2005)
British Colonial govt introduced this legal provision in the nineteenth century (Nivedita
Menon, pg.95) {in 1861 as section 377 of Indian Penal Code)
“Voluntary carnal intercourse against the order of nature, with any man, woman or animal”
Victorian notions of proper sexual relationships which delegitimised everything but the
heterosexual, patriarchal, monogamous family unit
Colonial Modernity and the Production
of Heteronormativity

20. It structures institutions like marriage and
produces a set of ideals and ideas about how
sexuality should be organised
Particular understandings of sexuality and gender
get to be embedded in and woven through the
very fabric of our institutions and everyday lives
in ways that are powerful, discriminatory and
exclusionary
A heteronormative culture establishes the
coherence and validity of social order in order to
perpetuate the norm of heterosexuality

21. Gender Continuum and
LGBTIQ
The variations people experience biologically, feel emotionally and express
outwardly with respect to gender, gender identity and sexual orientation
Umbrella concept
Gender identities that transcend the two traditional classes of male and
female
A collection of gender defining characteristics that vary by minute degrees
Accounts for the presence of multiple variations and combinations of
gender and even includes a genderless variant
THE AUTHENTIC DIVERSITY OF HUMAN GENDERS

22. Seeing gender identity on a continuum
Some people could be born male but feel female
and vice versa
LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender,
Intersex, Queer)

23. LESBIAN: a woman
who is primarily
attracted to other
women
GAY-a person who is primarily attracted to
members of the same sex. Although it can be
used for any sex (for example: gay man, gay
woman, gay person) lesbian is sometimes the
preferred term for women who are attracted
to women. It is preferable to homosexual.

24. BISEXUAL:attraction
to both men and
women as sexual
partners
TRANSGENDER : a
person does not identify
with the biological sex
they assigned at birth
INTERSEX-Persons
who possess both
male and female
reproductive organs
in a variety of
combinations


25. QUEER: an umbrella term sometimes used by
LGBTI people to refer to the entire LGBTI
community; queer is an in-group term, and a word
that can be considered offensive to some people,
depending on their generation, geographic location,
and relationship to the word (because of its
historically derogatory use)

26. One sex model-woman’s unopened genitalia
Role of Chromosomes and hormones
XX-female & XY-male
Different stages of development
Testis (testosterone) or ovary (oestrogen and
progesterone)
Brain sex-the development of potentialities
Pubertal hormonal sex
But there are variations like XXY,XXYY etc

27. Castleberry 3
better understanding of how gender continuum is used and
how it impacts nursing education, CINAHL and PubMed were
searched using the following search terms: gender, transgen-
der, gender nonconforming, continuum, spectrum, nursing
education, disparity, nursing, and concept analysis. Applying a
significant amount of hand searching, 28 articles were selected
for inclusion in the concept analysis based on their relevance
to the topic, provision of historical context and background of
the concept, and links to nursing.
Results
Significant characteristics of the gender continuum include
four subcategories of gender and the continuum that exist for
each: identity, expression, anatomy, and attraction
(Killermann, 2017; Safe Places, 2016). The subcategory of
gender identity ranges from woman to genderqueer to man
(Killermann, 2017; Safe Places, 2016; Saewyc, 2017). The
subcategory of gender expression spans from feminine to
androgynous to masculine (Killermann, 2017; Saewyc,
2017). Anatomical sex varies from female to intersex to male
(Killermann, 2017; Saewyc, 2017). Scientists further break
down the anatomical continuum based on XY chromosomal
patterns and reproductive function (Ainsworth, 2015).
Examples within the anatomical continuum include men
who possess both internal and external male genitals, those
who possess male genitals but do not have full function of the
sex organs, ambiguous and intersex persons, and individuals
with only the external sex organs and no reproductive abilities
(Ainsworth, 2015). Finally, the sexual and romantic attraction
continuum, which are not mutually exclusive, range from
men only, to all persons, to women only (Killermann, 2017).
There are no criteria specific to the gender continuum
(Killermann, 2017; Saewyc, 2017). All people fall somewhere
within the continuum and in each subcategory. Conventional
gender identities belong on the gender continuum as equally
as nontraditional identities, such as that of a transgender
male-to-female individual who is attracted to all persons.
The gender continuum is not exclusionary to any population
but is diverse and inclusive enough to account for all people
regardless of how they identify (Killermann, 2017; Saewyc,
2017). An individual’s gender identity is the culmination of
all characteristics and attributes defined previously.
Uses in Nursing Education
In most health care settings in the United States, there is no
recognition of gender identities beyond the dichotomous
male and female (Eliason, 2017). Much of medical language,
practice, and research perpetuates assumption that gender is
binary; however, this belief is rapidly changing (Eliason,
2017). The concept of gender continuum is pertinent to nurs-
ing education as the number of openly TGNC individuals
grows. Currently, TGNC persons make up nearly 75 million
people, or nearly 2% of the population in the United States
(Saewyc, 2017). Nursing students will encounter people who
fall on all points on the gender continuum. As such, nursing
students need the tools to appropriately care for people of all
gender expressions and understand the unique needs related
to a person’s gender identity (Kellett & Fitton, 2016).
The primary and fundamental care of all patients is the
same and should be approached in a respectful and nondis-
criminatory manner (Wylie et al., 2016). However, nursing
students must attain knowledge of how to both address and
care for people who do not fit the traditional gender binary
(Ard & Makadon, 2012; Kellett & Fitton, 2016; Wylie et al.,
2016). Some of the unique needs of a TGNC patient include
respectful pronoun use, knowledge regarding hormone treat-
ments and surgical interventions, proficiency in gendered lab
interpretation, psychological consideration as well as educa-
tion on the increased health risks for these individuals
(Nexus, 2018, Wylie et al., 2016). Furthermore, many
Table 1. Terms Essential to Understand Gender Continuum.
Term Definition
Agender An individual who does not identify with any gender
a
Androgyny A term meaning “having the characteristics or nature of both male and female”
b
Cisgender A person who identifies as the same gender to which they were assigned at birth
a
Gender CreativeA term used to describe individuals, generally children and young adults, who creatively define gender in their own
terms based on how they feel on the inside and how they look on the outside
c
Gender DysphoriaIs a term used to describe the internal conflict experienced when a person does not identify as the sex assigned at
birth
d
Gender-Fluid An individual who identify as a mixture of both male and female
e
Gender Liminal An individual who is in transition, does not entirely identify what they were or what they eventually will be
f
Genderqueer An individual who does not identify as exclusively male or female
g
Intersex Persons who possess both male and female reproductive organs in a variety of combinations
h
Transgender Individuals who identify as a gender other than that assigned to them at birth
i
Two-Spirited “A person who identifies as having both masculine and feminine spirit”
j
a
GenderSpectrum (2018).
b
Androgyny (2018, para. 1).
c
Sirois (2018).
d
Gender dysphoria (2018).
e
Gender-fluid (2018).
f
Gender Liminal (2018).
g
Genderqueer (2018).
h
Intersexuality (2018).
i
Transgender (2018).
i
Re:searching for LGBTQ Health (2018, para 1).

28. Social Institutions and Gender
Reproduction
Institution-as those parts of social life that are complex,
ongoing and organised
Important source of cultural beliefs about the social world,
including beliefs about gender
Institutions provide scripts for actions
Regular and permanent that they often accepted as just “the
way things are”; self perpetuating; rarely challenged and
scrutinised
Because they are taken for granted, they produce shared
account of their existence and purpose

29. Gender is not something individual possess,
rather, an aspect of social organisation
Institutional perspectives focus on gender as
aspects of social structure and culture
roles, positions, and expectations for individuals
Gendered Institutions: “rules of the game”
According to Acker (1992) institutions constitute
and embody aspects of gender. To say that an
institution is gendered means

30. “that gender is present in the processes, practices, images
and ideologies and distributions of power in the various
sectors of social life. Taken as more or less functioning
wholes, the institutional structures of the societies are
organised along the lines of gender… these institutions
have been historically developed by men, currently
dominated by men, and symbolically interpreted from
the stand point of men in leading positions, both in the
present and historically”

31. Aspects of social life which are treated as gender
neutral or genderless in fact are expressions of gender
organisation, structure, and practices of social
institutions
Entrenched, powerful and taken-for-granted aspects
of the social order produce and reproduce gender
distinctions and inequalities
Eg. sports (differential opportunities and resources for
each gender to be involved in sport; ideas about male
and female bodies and their capabilities)
Discuss work and family as gendered institutions
Ref. Amy S Wharton, The Sociology of Gender; Pg.87

32. Patriarchy as an Ideology
and Practice
Literally meaning- rule of father or ‘patriarch’
Patriarch-a societal elder, has legitimate power over
others in the social unit
Acc 2 Feminist writers-social system of masculine
domination over women-power relation in both public
and private spheres
The concept help us to understand women’s realities

33. According to Sylvia Walby, “patriarchy is a system
of social structures and practices in which men
dominate, oppress and exploit women” (1990:20)
According to Lerner, Patriarchy is the
manifestation and institutionalisation of male
dominance over women and children in the family
and the extension of male dominance over women
in society in general. It implies that “men hold
power in all the important institutions of society”
and that “women are deprived of access to such
power”. However, it does not imply that “women
are either totally powerless or totally deprived of
rights, influence, and resources”

34. Origins of Patriarchy
Traditionalist- men are born to dominate and women to be
subordinate; hierarchy always existed and will continue; as
rule of nature it cannot be changed
Aristotle- female was mutilated male (someone who doesn’t
have a soul); biological inferiority of woman makes her
unable to reason, make decisions etc
Sigmond Freud- normal human was male (women’s biology
determines their psychology)
These theories never had any scientific or historical evidence

35. Patriarchy is manmade; historical processes have created it
Frederick Engels (1884) “The Origins of the Family, Private Property
and the State”
Acc 2 him, women’s subordination began with the development
of private property, when the world historical defeat of the
female sex took place. He says both the division of classes and
the subordination of women developed historically.
To ensure inheritance, mother-right was overthrown
In order to establish the right of the father, women had to be
domesticated and confined and their sexuality regulated and
controlled
It was in this period, both patriarchy and monogamy for women
were established

36. Acc 2 Radical Feminist, patriarchy preceded
private property; the original and basic
contradiction is between the sexes and not
between economic classes. They consider all
women to be a class
Social feminist-use the basic principles of
Marxism; regards it as the struggle between
women and men as changing historically with
changes in modes of production

37. Hartmann-links patriarchy and capitalism; both
men and capital benefits from women’s labour
defines patriarchy as a set of relations which has a
material base and in which there are hierarchical
relations between men and solidarity among
them, which in turn enable them to dominate
women.
The material base of patriarchy is men’s control
over women’s labour power

38. So many theories in this regard
Now you tell me, how patriarchy is practiced in
our daily life.
Article discussion-patriarchy as an ideology and
practice

39. Mary Holmes (2007) What is Gender? Sociological Approaches, SAGE
(Heteronormativity pg 21)
Jodi A. O'Brien - Encyclopedia of Gender and Society (2008, Sage
Publications, Inc)-pg 378-382 (Gender stereotypes) (Heteronormativity-
pg414)
Kakar S. and Kakar K. 2007. The Indians: Portrait of a People. New Delhi:
Penguin (for Gender discrimination)
(SAGE key concepts) Dr Jane Pilcher, Dr Imelda Whelehan - Fifty key
concepts in gender studies-SAGE Publications (2004). {Patriarchy ;pg.93
Menon, Nivedita. 2012. Seeing Like a Feminist. Delhi: Zubaan.(pg 95)


40. Activity
What is gender inequality? Find out how does
gender inequality come into play in educational
institutions (in the classroom, selection of courses
and administration)?
How is gender stereotypes transmitted in early
childhood?
Discuss gender continuum and LGBTIQ