Race and Gender as social constructions Essay PDF

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Essay on race and gender as social constructions....

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Assess the claim that race and sexuality are socially constructed, not biologically determined.

This essay will assess the claim that race and sexuality are socially constructed, not biologically determined, and argue that the terms gender and sexuality only have meaning because society gives them meaning and thus it is the process of socialization which determines ‘who we are’. This essay will discuss why race and gender are not essential categories, but social constructs; how these constructs function; and who benefits from these constructions. Social constructionism is the notion that people's understanding of reality is partially, if not entirely, socially situated. Thus gender and race are social identities that need to be contextualised. The

construction and continued existence of social constructs are contingent on social groups and their collective agreement, imposition, and acceptance of such constructions. Socialisation is the process of learning these roles, norms and values of a culture and becoming a member of that society. Thus the social shapes of gender and race are bound up in the economic, cultural, religious, and political times in which we live in. The social construction of gender begins with the assignment to a sex category on the basis the genetalia at birth. Sex is distinguishable from gender. Sex  is the observable physical

characteristics that distinguish two kinds of humans, females and males, needed for biological reproduction. However, gender is about all the expectations and beliefs society puts on to those people with certain physical traits. Thus gender is connected to biology and the reductionism, for example, the significance of one hormone.The process of socialization is continued and reflected in the spaces and activities the child is assigned i.e. how the child is dressed, and perhaps encouraged to take up hobbies or given certain toys to play with that reinforce gender roles. Giddens claimed that people engage in social actions that create social structures, therefore through our actions structures are produced, maintained and eventually changed. For example, the boy is given a truck, encouraged to play football, and the girl is given a doll and taken to a dance class, reinforcing stereotypical gender roles and thus maintaining the patriarchal structure of society. Socialization continues throughout our lives, as men are encouraged to pursue careers and women are expected to aspire to marriage and having children, perhaps with a less meaningful - and less well paid- job than her husband. This is the separation of spheres, the idea that men should inhabit the public sphere – the world of politics, economy, commerce, and law. The Woman's "proper sphere" is the private realm of domestic life, child-rearing, housekeeping, and religious education. T  hese roles, norms and values have no biological basis; they have arisen from socially constructed notions of femininity and masculinity. They are formed through primary socialisation - the socialization which occurs in our childhoods, within our families, and are reinforced at every stage of our lives. Gender roles are based on the historical and outdated notion that women and men are naturally suitable for different social roles due to their biological and genetic makeup. The idea of biological determinism was popular during the A  ge of Enlightenment and among such thinkers as J ean-Jacques Rousseau who argued that women were inherently different from men and should devote themselves to r eproduction and domesticity. This has been seen as something ‘given’ by nature, as hunter-gatherer societies organised themselves along the lines of these separated realms as women stayed in the ‘cave’, cooked, raised the children etc. and men,

because of their physical strength, were given the task of protecting and providing for the family. These divisions of labour have persisted, despite the development of technologies which make them largely irrelevant and unnecessary, giving them the appearance of having genetic origin. I ndividuals i nternalize these social expectations for gender norms and behave accordingly. Gender performativity, a term created by Judith Butler, describes how individuals participate in social constructions of gender. According to Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective, we present ourselves as an actor plays a role to an audience in order to create a specific impression. In this sense, we act out our gender roles in a series of performances and rituals, using the costumes, props, and manners which society has deemed ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ (which are usually opposites). For example, Allan G. Johnson, states some of the very common stereotypes of men: “control, strength, efficiency , competitiveness, toughness, coolness under pressure”. This is called idealisation, we construct these performances to reflect ideal cultural standards and we measure ourselves up to these ideas, and we are aware that others evaluate and characterise our behaviour on the parameter of gender. Thus gender is developed and maintained through social interactions. As Goffman argues, this helps maintain the social order. The gender order refers to the ways in which societies shape notions of masculinities and femininity into power relationships. The gender order is maintained by and for the benefit of the patriarchal structure of society; this is a form of social organisation in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women. Gender is not an essential category; the repetitious performances of ‘male’ and ‘female’ in accordance with social norms reinforces these categories, creating the appearance of a naturalised and essential binary.

Race is a category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of society deem socially significant. Racial formation is another term for the social construction of race. This is a socio-historical process by which racial categories and created and reinforced. People are characterized and identified by their appearance more specifically, skin pigmentation. We see the world through a racial lens that colors our world black, white, Asian, Mexican, minority, or “other”.There are standards, stereotypes and expectations that follow these physical characteristics. Race and gender are social constructs produced by the dominant group in society and their power to define. In other words, the dominant group in society imposed the boundaries of group membership by defining race in terms of biology. According to Takaki, for example, Africans in America were first brought to America as slaves. With the abolishment of slavery and the growing population of free Africans in America, fear of losing hegemonic control began to spread through the white population. Due to this, race as a biological concept was developed and used to justify the enslavement of a growing free black population early in U.S. history. We form our identities in relation to the other, and this is heart of social exclusion and racism. People classify each other into races based on their physical characteristics, such as skin colour, facial features etc. However, such differences are superficial because all races are members of a single biological species. Race is an indicator of difference. Jan Nederveen Pieterse suggests that race is a marker of status that includes or excludes one from broader

social constructs and enables or disables certain powers. Race typically works through race indicators which are used to indicate which race you are, and consequently what sort of status you have in society. W.E.B. Du Bois questioned why in virtue of being white, a person had certain powers. For example, the ability to get away with certain crimes, especially against people of colour. The unrest in Ferguson over the relationship between African Americans and the law enforcement is an example of this. There is nothing inherent or intrinsic about white skin that enables white men to commit crimes and not be condemned. What enables white men to do so, is the structure of society in which they live. Racialisation, the process of ranking people on the basis of their presumed race, is at the heart of inequality and social exclusion. I n the nineteenth century a ‘race science’ was

established, in which the three categories, caucasian, negroid, and mongoloid were established, in which, for example, caucasians were seen as people of greater importance and higher morality. Such a utilization of racial categories can be politically and socially dangerous, as demonstrated by Hitler’s treatment of the Jewish race in Nazi Germany. The immigration of people from former colonies and from Eastern Europe has lead to a resurgence of racial conflict in Western Europe, and re-emergence of extreme right wing views and Nazi-style rhetorics and tactics. This is a form of scapegoatism, as people blame societal issues on the ‘other’, for example, a shortage of housing and lack of jobs in England has lead to the rise of anti-immigration politics, reflected in the growing popularity of UKIP. Historically, the assertion that one category of people is inferior to another has served as a powerful justification for subjecting others to social inferiority, prejudice, discrimination and racism. For example, in the nineteenth century, European nations had forged vast foreign empires, subjugating locals with the claim that they were less human and more barbaric than them. Thus race is a sociohistorical concept, as it has been developed and maintained by the historical and social contexts of society. Because people socially construct reality, stereotypes of race and gender become real to those who believe them and even to the victims. Power plays an important role is these social constructions because some categories of people, for example, white males, have the ability to enforce their prejudices to the detriment of others. Prejudices by white people against people of colour can result in their social inferiority, consigning minorities to poverty, lowly paid jobs, poor housing, ‘bad’ neighbourhoods etc. This is reflected in the vicious cycle, as white people may then use this as evidence of their innate inferiority, causing them to maintain their prejudices and stereotypes.The idea of a biologically

determined identity was partly influenced by the small, homogeneous and slowly changing societies of the past which provided a firm foundation for the building of a meaningful identity as people define themselves through traditions and religion. In modern, diverse and rapidly changing societies our identities become much more flexible. This is seen in the rising categories of transgender, mixed race etc. which are contributing towards redefining how society views and treats race and gender. Thus race and gender are social constructs contingent on collective acceptance, agreement, and imposition. Race and gender are consistently utilized to maintain and control power due to fear of losing power and the current dominant position. It is possible that these constructs could disappear altogether if society was to stop collectively agreeing, accepting,

and continuously imposing the notions of race and gender. However, these concepts are engrained not only in the minds of people, but in the structure of society itself. They are bound up in the macro structures of organisations, institutions, and states, and the micro events and practices of everyday life. For example, from the institutional racism of the British police reflected in the Macpherson Report into the death of Stephen Lawrence to the racial discrimination faced by people of colour in everyday life....