Is Gender a Social Construct?

    In Chapter 12 of Shannon Dea’s “Beyond the Binary: Thinking about Sex and gender”, the other simply describes that a thing or idea is socially constructed if it is the product of human society rather than being naturally occurring. She then explains that the three social construction claims about any X include the following: 

1. X need not have existed, or need not be at all as it is. X, or X as it is at present, is not determined by the nature of things; it is not inevitable. 

2. X is quite bad as it is. 

3. We would be much better off if X were done away with, or at least radically transformed. 

    I believe that gender is very much if not all gender constructed. The way we sexualize and assume the way of life for different sexes is deeply rooted in process of evolution. Men were sent out to hunt while women stayed home to take care of the children. While men provided, women stayed home. I believe I sway towards the third way of thinking because we cannot change the past or substantially change the present moment, but we can improve upon the future. We, as a society, have been steering further away from gender stereotypes than a couple of centuries ago. Nevertheless, the way our present society is, can and should be radically transformed. 

    From the moment our parents find out the gender of their child, social stereotypes are imposed upon them. In our society, it is almost completely inevitable. As a child is born with female anatomy, they are raised in a society that imposes femininity as an expected portion of womanhood. Similarly, masculinity is anticipated for a person born with male anatomy. The female and male sex are expected to act differently in society due to the fact that gendered really is socially constructed. 

    Before a human being is even born, people in present-day society have begun throwing “gender reveal parties.” At these celebratory events, families reveal to their friends and loved ones what the gender of their future child will be. With biological men, the party is often themed blue to represent the male sex. With women, the theme is frequently pink. These children are given a gender before they are even one second old. 

    When children are born, it is normal for parents to color code things such as walls and furniture to represent their child’s sex. Girls have pink themed rooms, while boys have blue. Since the first day a person is born, society imposes stereotypes upon them. We give little girls Barbie dolls, makeup, and show them princess movies which often portray a woman needing a man to “save her”. We give boys cars, toy guns, and have them watch action movies in which the male superhero often saves the day. I have seen parents question “is there something wrong with my son?” when their boy played with Barbie dolls. Society tells children what they should do and how they should act. 

    Alecia Beth Moore is known professionally as “Pink” for her singing career. A couple of years ago, she announced that she would be raising her children in a “Gender Neutral "Label-Free" Household”. In the article “Pink Says She's Raising Her Children in Gender-Neutral Household”, it is explained that gender-neutral parenting does not mean a parent is denying their child the sex they were assigned at birth or pressuring them into specific gender identity. Pink’s goal in doing so it to refrain from making “assumptions about her children based on sex”. (Gaudette) Pink is an example of a mother who took societal norms and didn’t allow them to affect the way her children were raised proving that the social construction of gender isn’t always inevitable. As a society, it is on us to change our future. And one way to do so is to change the way we perceive gender norms in our own homes.