Gender

4 Pages 991 Words

Gender and Informal Social Control

Pt. I

Starting at birth children are instantly assigned a gender. Childhood is the most influential time for children to learn the factors, which teach them attitudes and behaviors regarding gender roles. These ideas are reinforced through parents, teachers, peers, and even media. Sociologists have been trying to explain gender roles and differences only to find an argument of wether sex differences are biologically determined or a result of informal social construction.
Traditionally, gender has been used primarily to refer to the categories of masculine, feminine, and neuter. This usage is supported by the practice of many who reserve sex for reference to biological categories, while using gender to refer to social or cultural categories. Gender is based upon the way one is treated, looked upon by others, and the way one presents themselves to others. People attempt to classify gender by observing an individual’s sex, however, usually end up classifying a person by the way the person presents themself. Gender can’t be equated with biological and physiological differences between males and females. The building blocks of gender are socially constructed statuses. Gender roles are taught to children at a very early age to unconsciously comply to their assigned roles. Activities, games, media,
and feedback from adults expose children to the process of gender role socialization. A sense of “self” is a direct correlation to the ideas, beliefs, and attitudes that the child is exposed to. Gender is developed through informal social controls.
Sex is classified as either of two categories, male or female, based upon the reproductive organs and their functions. Sex is a biological and physiological classification of organisms. Society expects that a person’s sex should correspond with their gender.
Sex is an ascribed status. The genitalia one is born with is a de...