Women Are Essentially Different Because Of Their Biology Sociology Essay

Wo human beingpower Are Essentially contrastive Because Of Their Biology Sociology EssayGender is a range of characteristics of masculinity and femininity. It give notice refer to two sexual practice ( being manful or pistillate person), fond usages such as sexual activity roles or sexual activity identity. Gender and grammatical gender sustain manpowert originate from the mowork forcet of conception. When a female egg joins with a male sperm to for both a XY or XX chromosome pair, determining which develop workforcetal path expressive style will be taken (male or female). This will determine the physical sexual characteristics. Our sexual appearance as male or female has a significant and powerful influence on how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us, which is essential when we later develop our gender identity (our inner sense of being male or female). Your gender determines your (expected) behaviour and the characteristics you be socialised into. However there ar some disagreework forcets of whether men and womens gender is resultant of their biology, or the socializing process they fork out been done. This is to a fault known as the nature vs. nurture argument, whether gender and your gender identities and roles be constructed biologically and naturally or through the effect that people in your life produce had everyplace you growing up. In this essay I will be discussing how gender can be explained from both the biological perspective and the social perspective in order to answer the question of whether sociology can in fact explain it.Clearly there is no doubt that females and males differ biologically, however do we bound our gender roles according to the influence and ideas of our society, or do the biological predispositions outweigh the cultural influence? biologic psychology regards gender identity as a resultant from our biological processes. Gender differences be seen as resulting from sex differences. In other w ords, women and men act, think and feel polarly because of differences in how their brains work. These brain differences whitethorn result from chromosomal differences and may also be the result of hormonal differences.Women and men produce unlike sex hormones in varying quantities. Besides affecting the functioning of various bodily organs (e.g. causation the menstrual cycle in women) these sex hormones appear to have an effect on behaviour. Testosterone, which is produced in greater quantities by men, affects some(prenominal) types of behaviour, some of which be regarded as typically male. For example, Dabbs et al (1995) give that violent offenders had high(prenominal) testosterone levels than non-violent offenders and Coates et al (2008) found that financial traders with higher testosterone levels took greater risks. Women have higher levels of oxytocin than men. Some researchers have linked this to increased sociability. Oxytocin seems to affect the formation of bonds and attachments between people and Klaver et al (2009) found that higher levels of oxytocin are linked to improved memory for faces.Gorski et al (1985) injected female rats with testosterone for a period forward to birth. After they were innate(p) their appearance and behaviour was compared with a control group of females whose testosterone levels had been normal. The experimental group had masculinised genitalia (e.g. an enlarged clitoris) and showed masculine behaviour (e.g. trying to mount other females). This showed that male sex hormones had both physiological and behavioural effects, in rats at least. It is clear from a range of studies involving humans and other animals that chromosomal and hormonal differences between males and females affect a range of masculine and feminine behaviours, which supports the biological view. The biological view of gender is supported by those cross-cultural studies that have found universal features of gender. For example, in all cultures studi ed, men are found to be much aggressive than women, which suggest an innate, biological difference. Similarly, Buss et al (1990) studied what women and men look for in a potential mate in a large number of cultures and found that whilst men consistently prioritised youth and physical attractiveness, women placed a higher premium on riches and status. These differences may reflect biological differences between women and men that have arisen because of evolutionary processes.The definition of gender states that it is typically used with reference to social and cultural differences sort of than biological ones. It can be argued that gender is the socially constructed expectation placed on a person as a result of their sex. We are born male and female but this does not make us a guy or a girl. Femininity and masculinity do not come from our genetic make-up, therefore the distinction between male child and girl is taught. If this was not the case then surely in every culture and so ciety, every male and female would have the same masculinities and femininities?In 1935 Margaret Mead conducted a field trip to Papua New Guinea for 2 years in attempt to discover what extent temperamental differences between the sexes were culturally determined rather than innate. Mead found a contrastive pattern of female and male behaviour in for each one of the cultures she studies which were different from gender role expectations in the US at that time. Among the Arapesh the temperament for both females and males was gentle, responsive and cooperative. The Mundugumor (now Biwat), both males and females were violent, aggressive, pursuance power and position. For the Tchambuli (now Chambri), males and females temperaments were distinct from each other. The women were dominant, impersonal, and managerial. The men were less responsible and more emotionally dependant. Through this plain Mead separated biologically-based sex from socially constructed gender, demonstrating how in dividuals gender roles were part of our socialization process as if this was not the case, each of the tribes she studied although they were not close to each other, would have the same gender roles. Findings like this suggest that horizontal though biological factors influence gender behaviour, they are heavily modified by learning.Parental influences have a significant role in the formation of our gender roles. From the very first day of our lives, male childs and girls are treated differently. Parents perceive boys to be stronger and rougher than girls, and girls to be prettier and more delicate than boys. Parents hold boys closer to their body than they do girls. They hold boys closer to their body and spend more time verbalizing and cooing to girls than boys. Parents are acting on their stereotypes of male and female behaviour.Myers (1995) suggests that gender socialisation gives girls roots and boys wings. This suggests that girls are socialised to stay at home and boys are socialised to have adventures. Studies of childrens books over the last 50 years have shown that girls are four propagation more in all likelihood to be shown using household objects (e.g. pots and pans) than boys who are five times more likely to be shown using production objects (e.g. machinery) than girls (Crabb Beilawski 1994). The result is, according to a United Nations study (1991) everywhere grooming and dishwashing are the least shared household chores and everywhere, adult female do most of the household work. These expectations go under gender roles.Lytton Romney (1991) found that there was a significant difference in terms of encouragement of sex-typed hunt activities which reinforces the fact that girls and boys are treated differently from a young age. Will et al (1976) gave a boy aged 6 months to adults who he then observed whilst they swordplayed with the infant. The child was presented in sex-typed clothes, half the adults met the boy dressed in pink and kn own as Beth and half met Adam dressed in blue. trinity toys were available train, doll and fish. They found the doll was most very much passed to Beth and she got more smiles, showing the typical gender stereotypes. Smith Lloyd (1978) extended this study and found that boys were most likely to be handed a toy hammer whilst girls were given a doll, as well this, the boys were encouraged in physical action more than girls. Parents were also found to give more positive non-verbal responses to their 18-23 month-old children for picking up toys when the selected object was sex withdraw and a more negative response if the object was associated with the opposite sex (Caldera et al 1989).Children are differentially reinforced with smiles and praise for the kinds of activities associated with their sex. Fagot (1978) found that girls were positively reinforced for activities such as dancing, dressing up and assisting with domestic tasks whilst boys were reinforced for more gross motor ac tivities. To parents, gender is important. Behaving and acting in a way that fits with the femininities and masculinities that come with being a boy or girl. Facially and behaviourally it is often difficult to tell the different genders apart, especially with young babies, this leads to parents dressing their children differently, for example the tradition of girls in pink and boys in blue (Jackson 1992).Although parents play a significant part in the formation of gender roles, the effect of the media must not be underestimated. Of the many influences of the portrayal of men and muliebrity, the media is the most persuasive and one of the most powerful, woven throughout our periodic lives and putting ideas and messages into our conscience at every turn.A primary way that the media distort reality is through underrepresenting women. In prime-time television set there are 3 times as many white men as woman (Barsow 1992), or in childrens programs in which males outnumber females by tw o to one, or newscasts in which woman make up 16% of news-casters in which stories about men are included 10 times more often than ones about woman (Study Reports Sex Bias, 1989). This constant distortion persuades and tempts us to retrieve that there are more men than women and further to this that men are the cultural standard.According to J.A. Doyle (1989) childrens television often portrays males as dominant, aggressive and engaged in exciting activities in which they get rewards from others for their masculine accomplishments. telecasting programmes for all ages disproportionally show men as serious, competent, powerful and with a high status position. Highly customary films such as Lethal Weapon, Die hard and all of the James Bond films star men who embody the extreme stereotype of masculinity, reinforcing the long-standing cultural ideals of masculinity with men being tough, sexually aggressive, unafraid, violent and entirely in control of all emotions. In no way feminine . On the other hand, males are also under represent in many ways through the media. J.D. Brown and K. Campbell (1986) point out that they are typically represented as incompetent at homemaking, cooking and childcare. Each seasons new adverts for cooking and cleaning supplies include several that capture and portray men as incompetent fools, who are clumsy and no better at taking care of children. Media images also reflect cultural stereotypes of woman. Media has created two images of woman good and bad. Good women are pretty, deferential, and focused on home, family and caring for others. Subordinate to men, they are normally cast as victims, angels or faithful wives and helpmates. The other image of women in the media offer us an evil homebody, being seen as a witch, complain or sexual character who is represented as hard, cold aggressive, all the things a good woman is not meant to be. A good example of this bad woman character is Alex in Fatal love who is an extreme version of how bad women are generally portrayed. In childrens literature, we encounter witches and mean stepmothers as villains, with exquisite passive females like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty as their good counterparts. These reinforce the social norms for the role of being male or female, from a young age and throughout individuals lifes.Having seen the Medias stereotypical portrayals of woman and men, we find that the relationship between both sexes is similarly portrayed in ways that reinforce stereotypes, starting with womens dependence and mens independence. The Little Mermaid significantly highlights females dependence on males for identity, with the Little Mermaid giving up her identity to be accepted by her lover. Analysis of MTV revealed that it portrays females as passive and waiting for mens attention, while males are shown ignoring, exploiting and directing women (Brown, Campbell Fisher, 1986). In rap music videos and many advertisements, womans primary roles appear to be objects of male desires. Manifesting male dominance and female subservience. Men are usually shown positioned above women and women are more frequently pictures in varying degrees of undress. The media often uses gender as a tool for comedy. The television series Two and a Half men is almost completely about gender, and represents women as objects of sexual pleasure for the main character. Even the theme striving men, men, manly men foreshadows the overall theme of gender stereotypes.The final 2 significant ways the media portrays women and men is with mens authority and womens incompetence and woman as the primary caregivers and men as breadwinners. One of the most persuasive ways in which the media do this is through commercials. Woman are shown routinely anguishing over dirty floors and bathrooms lone(prenominal) to be relieved of their di pains when Mr Clean shows up and tells them how to keep their homes spotless. Magazines play a key role in promoting pleasing others as a pr imary focus of womens lives. K. Pierces study (1990) found magazines aimed at women stress looking good and doing things to please others. Telling women how to be me, only better by dyeing their fuzz to look younger, how to lose weight so youll still be attractive to him and how to prepare gourmet meals so hes forever glad to come home. Constantly these advertisements emphasize pleasing others, especially men, as central to being a woman and the message is lined with the warning that if a woman fails to look good and please, her man might leave (Rakow, 1992).In conclusion it can be argued that sociology will never fully be able to define gender as we are born with certain biological traits that will always be there and unarguably play a part in our gender. However in tell what gender is, there is constant recognition of our gender roles that come with our gender. The masculinities and femininities of being a man or a woman. These are significantly influenced by our exposure to cer tain socialisation tools starting at a young age with our parents to then being influenced by numerous external forces throughout our lives such as the media. Sociology is not able to provide a clear definition of our gender as it is primarily biological but gender could be seen as irrelevant without our gender roles which come with our sex, which in theory sociology can help explain and define.