Description
Sociologists and other social scientists have long been skeptical of biological explanations of social life, and many continue to be so despite advances in the integration of biological and social research. Gender is a classic example of deliberation within this realm.
One aspect of our identity is gender. Depending on your gender, how were you socialized into learning what was considered culturally appropriate behavior for your gender? What agents of socialization taught you these cultural norms, and which was the most significant in shaping your sense of self? Explain. Reflecting on the role of socialization on the social construction of gender, how would you frame the issue of gender on nature versus nurture debate? In other words, is gender identity natural, socially constructed, or both?
The following TED Talk gives us some ideas of how gender is socially constructed. Deborah Siegal (2013) , gender scholar and mother of boy/girl twins, brings to life key research about the gendering of childhood in the earliest years of life. Taking us through a personal journey peppered with blunders and epiphanies, she challenges us to move beyond pink and blue and learn something new about gender from society’s smallest experts: our kids.
