Sex refers to biological factor and gender refers to the sociological factor as it is invented by society. Women and men are being treated unequally on the fact of their basis of sex. Before moving forward into the article, we need to understand what gender and social construct is. Gender is referred to men and women with the references of sociological and cultural values. Gender is created by society. According to society gender can be of 2 types i.e., either male or female and thus being a transgender is a problem for society as it does not come into their box. Social construction is something that exists not in objective reality, but as a result of human interaction. It exists because humans agree that it exists.[1]
Yes, gender is a social construct because it is constructed by society. Underlying the different assumptions of the treatment of men and women is a whole series of complex ideologies that seek to explain the differences between men and women observed, as well as created. Differences between men and women or sex differences are always cited as unequal because these two genders are always being treated unequally whether in a job, in education, in society or any phase of their life. If we talk about Indian society there has been always an orthodox thinking of people over here that females are made for household work and taking care of their children. They are always been treated like a liability to their family and on the other hand, a male is like the star of the family, he is always being given extra priority over everything than a female.
Rajasthan a state which is very famous for its culture and heritage, the state is also famous for its child marriage too. Though child marriage is now considered as illegal in India but people in Rajasthan still performs it. Society has made a boundary for girls and if a girl steps out of that boundary she is not accepted in society then. There is one more thing which is set in the mindset of people that male are the ones who are masculine, females cannot be that but that’s not true female can be masculine too. It’s just the game of time as time changes people need to change too now female can do all that thing which men can do it’s just that we need to respect them and their job.
While we understand gender differences between men and women to represent socially constructed norms regarding the division of labour, and the distribution of power, responsibilities and rights between men and women, the basis for differentiation continues to be traced back to biological difference[2]. However, it is quite obvious that the difference between men and women becomes minimal when compared to similarities. The power of the ideology of gender lies in the way it encompasses fundamental cultural and social values relating to the relations between men and women, as well as the force of history underlying its evolution. The historicity and cultural variations found in the construction of gender relations points to the fact that these are changeable. Not even in India but in the whole world somewhere or some part of their life, every woman feels that she is being treated unequally based on boys. Earlier in India, if a girl is born in a family, she was not being accepted over there. The child mortality rate of India became so high because of this but somewhere somehow the change came and this thing happened to slow down.
An analysis of the ideology of sex difference uncovers the understanding that the social construction of differences between men and women is the basis on which rules/ resources/ responsibilities/power and rights are distributed or allocated between women and men in society resulting in discrimination.[3] The discrimination does only happen to women it also happens to men. In the 21st century where women have rights which earlier, she was not having, they are having some advantages too like reservation in every government job, institution, work, political party some number of seats are reserved for women, this is also a kind of discrimination which happens. Hence, discrimination is socially constructed and is based on social rules and norms.
What are these social rules and norms? These are simply the ways of doing things or pattern which after some time become routine. Rules force people to be in limits. There are four main institutions of society which create the rules and norms family, market, community and state via these four categories rules and norms are made. For example, if we see then one societal norm is that men are bread makers and decision-makers where women are householders and followers of what men say and ask them to do. In accordance with the rules, starting from households, women are expected to polite, obedient, submissive and fulfil household responsibilities while staying in the background. None of the four institutions provide support or resources to them whether it is economic or social, which are seen as irrelevant for them. This has serious consequence for women and steps are needed to change this norm. denial of chances to the woman or education by the family leads to fewer options in the work or the fact that women are solely responsible for childcare in the family leads to disapproval of working women and women who seek market place substitute for child care.
The fact that women are being discriminated based on wages in their job is because of lack of education and unpreparedness in the market place of women which exploits them to be as cheap labour. They are also then denied participation in community decisions, and in turn, have limited rights in household decisions as they are seen as not having enough exposure or because it is not their role. Because of their lack of decision-making power women are unable to influence the market and because of this they lack in many places. In this manner, a cycle of discrimination is established and justified based on the expectations of society with regard to women and men.
The denial of equality and rights for women is based on biological difference as well as a notion of equivalent rights: men have a right to education to earn a living, women are economically provided for, or that change is costly[4]. Gendered structures are so entrenched that it is uneconomical to do things differently. An example of this is the resistance to setting up daycare centres at workplaces. We need to change the way of institution’s norms leads to discrimination and inequality between men and women. This leads to a huge gender gap between both the genders.
In demanding rights women cannot just see themselves in a linear relationship with the state as men are also there. We need to see how women’s rights are regulated across all institutions and try to reform these institutions. We need to work towards a collective understanding of women’s rights and understand the rights of women according to their composite identities.
Looking at inter-institutional relationships which states the reproduction of inequalities between men and women will also enable us to consider the nature of relationships that will need to addressed.[5] We cannot just talk about rights in the context of the individual and the state, but we need to look at the way relationships can be regulated across all the institutions. Hence, we need to work towards the evolution of community which evolves for the betterment of society as a whole. As by giving equal rights to both the genders will benefit society at the end. If India aspires to be a global power it needs to respect both the genders equally as if a country doesn’t know to respect an individual’s preference how can it get developed.
Conclusion
As concluding my point that gender is a social construct. Society has divided gender into two arts that are male and female and it has created norms for the genders through which they are being ruled and kin of boundary has been set up for the genders through which female faces a lot of discrimination in their jobs, education, wages, and many other phases of their life. To change this thing the four institutions need to evolve themselves so that the world could become a better place for both male and female.
References:
[1] The ideas on the concept of the Social Construction of Gender in this summary was developed by Naripokkho, Bangladesh.
[2] 2 The ideas in this paper are taken from Kabeer Naila, (1995) Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. Verso
[3] Fenstermaker, Sarah (2013-05-13). Doing Gender, Doing Difference.
[4] Butler, Judith (December 1988). “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory”. Theatre Journal.
[5] “The Social Construction of Gender.” Sociology – Cochise College Boundless, 26 May. 2016.
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