Q UWA SY100 Chapter 11 - Paper 9 The Social Construction of Gender One of the single most important and powerful concepts that I hope everyone takes with them from this class is, how much of our world is "Socially Constructed". From a symbolic interaction perspective, when we say anything is socially constructed we mean that people and society are creating it. We are not simply biologically driven robots. We are not simply psychological reactions to external stimulus. We are not simply passive reactions to our culture or social class. Knowing that nearly everything in our lives is either directly or indirectly socially constructed means understanding that we are active participants in creating the world in which we live. This is true at both a micro and macro level. For this, our last assignment of the term, I would like for us to do a bit of research on the social construction of Gender in our society. One of the ways that the Essentialist Perspective goes unquestioned is because we miss just how fast, early, and seamlessly we start to socially construct gender. We used to say that gender socialization started at birth. Now that we have the technology to identify a baby's Sex long before they are even born (approximately 22 weeks), we have started to almost universally begin the gender socialization process before a child is even born. Since we know what it is going to be, we start to label, talk about, make decisions and purchases for it accordingly. All of which helps to start socially constructing the eventual life a child will live. A few examples from research: Over the years, researchers have tracked the names we give to babies and show a general pattern of gender bias. Typically, our names have strong masculine or feminine associations with them. There are unisex names, or names which can be given to boys or girls (Pat, Alexis, Tracy, Taylor, Jayden, Logan, Hunter). But these names really do not stay unisex for long. Few names are rarely given out equally to males and females, and the general trend is for these names to become associated with females over time. If any name starts to take on a feminine association its usage among boys stops. Names that have traditionally been associated with being masculine (Ashley for example), frequently over time become used for females. If a masculine name feminizes in this way, its use for boys stops as well. Hardly any feminine names are ever used for male babies or become masculine. Up through the early 1900's infant clothing was nearly identical for boys and girls until 4-5 years of age. Researchers today have shown repeatedly that the color a baby is dressed in changes nearly everything about the way adults interact with them. Experiments will place a newborn baby on display wearing blue and when it grips a finger or rolls about (as all babies do), people will comment on: how strong he is, he is going to be a football player etc. Place the same baby on display in pink, and when it grabs a finger or rolls about (as all babies do), people will comment on: how cute she is. The Paper Assignment: For this paper I would like for you to think about the social construction of gender and how much we participate in this activity. First write a brief introduction explaining and contrasting the difference between the terms Sex, Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation. Specifically, I would like for you to explain what sociologists mean when they say Gender is "social constructed" and an attribute of society not individuals. COVID-19 Update: This assignment used to be done only in retails stores. Since the outbreak of the virus you have the option of doing this in a physical store or online. Depending on which location you choose the approach will be slightly different, but the goal is the same. Physical Store: Then I would like for you to take a trip down the toy isle of any retail store. It really does not matter which store you go to. Almost any retail store with a section of kids toys will work for our purpose. I would like for you to walk through this isle in three intentional passes. First walk through and look specifically for anything that is being marketed directly to boys. The second, walk through and look specifically for what is being marketed to girls. Lastly, go back through and look at what appears to be marketed for both. Take notes and pictures of your observations to draw upon as you write up your paper. Online Store: You are free to select any online retailer that sells children’s toys for this assignment. Make sure you indicate which store you selected and a brief explanation of how you got into the sections of the web pages that sells toys. All web pages are slightly different but somewhat similar. Be as methodical as possible in browsing and consider how online shopping may or may not be the same as shopping in person. What I would like for you to do is browse and document the types of toys that are marketed to children in three specific and intentional passes. First go through and look specifically for anything that is being marketed directly to boys. Second, go through and look specifically for what is being marketed to girls. Lastly, go through and look at what appears to be marketed for both. Take notes and pictures of your observations to draw upon as you write up your paper. Observation Write-Up: I would like for you to then write up a summary of what you saw and what it says about the social construction of gender in society. Your paper should be approximately 2 pages in length and provide the specific details of your observations. What store did you visit and when? How are toys different for boys and girls? How is this symbolically indicated? How do your observations relate to the concepts of Expressive and Instrumental roles? What do the toys indicate about social and occupational expectations for males and females? How is this related to Gender Inequality and the concept of Multiple Masculinities?