Is gender really a social construct?

Question

Read this Alan Stang article:

http://www.newswithviews.com/Stang/alan11.htm

Answer 1

No. That's something the feminists believe and perpetuate so they can sell their androgynous society ideas.

Science is finding new ways all the time that the sexes differ.

Men & women have different brain structures as well as chemicals & different hormones.

To conclude that results in the same behaviors is ridiculous.

I'd look to what the scientists are saying about gender before I looked to a self-centered ideologic movement trying to further their agenda:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031022062408.htm

Answer 2

I didn't read the article but I'm going to answer the question anyways.

Gender, by which I mean the qualities, behaviors, symbols, etc. which are believed to be signs of masculinity or femininity, is a social construct. Judith Butler wrote about this in a book called Gender Trouble which describes her theory of gender as performative (where gender is like a scripted role that we step into, maybe give a bit of our own flavor, but ultimately don't have much effect on through our individual actions). It is different across cultures and it changes within cultures. However, there is something called variously "Gender Identity" or "psychological gender" which is an internalization of gender norms or a self-identification of one's own gender. This relates especially to transsexuals and intersexed people but also to women who identify as butch or femme, men who identify as queens (but not drag queens) or any other personal interpretation of the self through gender. *Saying that gender is a social construct does not mean that men and women are the same. It means that the sex categories have different behaviors and that which behaviors they are believed to have becuase they are of that category differs based on cultural ideas.*

Sex, generally considered to be based on the physical body, also has an element of social construct as well. The way that the broad variation in physical sex characteristics is divided up into 2, 3, 4, or more sexes is cultural. In the Western world, we have a binary sex culture and anyone who's body doesn't fall distinctly on one side of the divide or the other is offered or even forced (especially with babies with ambiguous genitalia) to have 'corrective' procedures like surgery and/or artificial hormones. In some societies, there are more than just two sexes (and by this I don't mean that they merely acknowledge differences and then still divide into male/female but that all the gender roles and ideas and attitudes exist for more than just two sexes). The Navajo, Sioux, Zuni, and more than 100 other Native American tribes, had or still have 3 or 4 sexes. This is not limited to North America. Even in the present, there are cultures, such as some in Indonesia, which have 3 sexes. There is a good book on these other sexes called Third Sex, Third Gender.

EDIT: Now I've read the article and that's garbage. The author is either living in his own little world or so racist that he believes that any evidence contrary to his opinion in his own or other cultures is a perversion (and I would actually accuse him of both based on that article).

Answer 3

He's spot on, in my opinion.
(Jacki, bulls are kept in a different pasture to enable the farmer to selectively breed instead of letting nature rule, which is the strongest get the cows. This is indicative of the idea of gender being a social construct in that feminism wants to control the meaning of gender much like the farmer controls breeding).
If allowed to seek a natural course, women and women are not equal. By blaming 'societal views' for the differences between men and women, it is a small step to also announce that since men and women are "equal" but treated differently because of society, women need legislation to put them on even footing with men, which removes the premise of equality in the first place. Apparently, women aren't men and no amount of legislation will change that.

It is all demented thinking to even presume there's a hint of truth to the statement that gender is a social construct but then again, there are a lot of demented individuals in the world.

Answer 4

The author is ill-informed, and his commentary is a clearly biased attempt to summarily dismiss gender discussion on the basis of "boys are boys and girls are girls. That's just the way it is." He's a little too one dimensional for my taste.

In an intelligent discussion of gender, it's important to begin by defining terms.
Sex refers to the anatomy, male or female
Gender refers to psychological identity, male or female
Gender Roles are behaviors associated with either male or female

I always acknowledge the gray areas which include homosexual, transgender and transsexual individuals as well.

My personal position: Gender (one's psychological identity) is shaped by a combination of biological elements and a large dose of social conditioning.

Answer 5

How can gender be a social construct? We do not choose to be male or female. If I'm right and I think you meant to say gender ROLES, then yes, that is attributed to our social and cultural norms. Behavior is a learned aspect of human development.

Answer 6

are you kidding me? that article was a joke. he doesn't make an argument or provide evidence for what he is saying. he just makes repeated observations that feminists have made as well.

at no point does he demonstrate with scientific evidence that hormones or the moon are what makes girls stay in the bathroom longer, or what makes boys wear clothes longer. does anyone actually think those things are biological? did ancient man need to wear his jeans for as long as possible to be a better hunter? ugh, the person that wrote that article is an idiot.

Answer 7

What an utter fool. Organized sodomy? You're kidding me.

Gender as a social construct refers more to "you're a woman so it's your job to do the dishes and I'm a man so it's my job to catcall and humiliate you in public because your body is public property." As much as "evolutionary psychologists" want to argue that I like pink because some cavewomen picked berries, the fact remains that some things we are expected to do - some things that are associated with our gender and anything else is deviant - are products of society. Period.

Answer 8

Jacki -- your comment comparing men to bulls who need to be segregated is offensive and sexist. How would women react if men called them "cows"? They'd be angry. I guess it's just another double-standard that is OK for women!

Answer 9

Gender is a biological construct.

Answer 10

gender is a social construct, for men one might use the word erection in place of construct and for women one may use the word conceptualisation