Social Construction of Gender, Essay Example

The social construction of gender is used to assign gender roles to people within a given society.  These roles are passed down through generations, oftentimes without any real reflection on their merits.  Some view this more strongly than others.  While some contend that gender is completely constructed from societal norms, others believe that biology has at least a small role to play.  Gender essentially arises from social necessity, whether it be an outcome of a preexisting role or as a rational basis for current social trends.

Gender role socialization is the integration of certain norms into the framework of a child’s upbringing on the basis of their sex. This socialization is how cultures teach their children gender specific activities and nuances that will serve to form their opinion of gender on into their lives. Instrumental and expressive roles are traditionally thought to be in opposition, although it is argued that people in today’s society are better off if they possess both traits.

In today’s society, men are more likely to perform the instrumental, leadership roles, while women are more likely to perform the expressive, passive roles.  In this sense men are more likely to earn more.  This is the reason for issues such as the wage gap between men and women.  Women are raised to be less forward thinking with their careers, while men are raised to pursue theirs further.  It is possible to equalize this with social progression.  By creating a political atmosphere that understands the problem, action can be taken to fix issues such, such as the wage gap, between men and women.