Ishell Robinson Essays (1276 words) - Gender, Social Status, Biology

Ishell Robinson Elizabeth Kim English 10:40 7 August 2015 Complications of Gender When talking about gender one automatically classifies on by sex, male and female. However, gander has a more socially constru cted meaning towards it, one being masculine and or feminine. Gender is socially constructed by what society believes how women and men should act. In the novel Caucasia , by Danzy Senna, Birdie demonstrates the concept of gender. Birdie who is the protagonist in the novel deals with not fitting in how society perceives feminine to be. Birdie understands gender as a structure, she experiences gender as stratification, and Birdie sees/reacts to gender as a process . In the article," The Social Construction of race" Judith Lober argues that gender is socially constructed through human interaction. Birdie's gender is socially constructed by the students in the Nkrumah school. Birdie states, "I started wearing my hair in a tight braid to mask its texture. I had my ears pierced and convinced my mother to buy me a pair of gold hoops like the other girls at school wo re " (Senna 62-63). Birdie is describing the way she changes her appearance. Birdie never use d to dress this way because she was homeschooled before. There was no norm of how she should look. She changes her appearance due to the other females in her ne w school, Nkrumah. Birdie feels as though if she changes her appearance it would allow her to meet Nkrumah's perception of being feminine. The female students in Nkrumah wear earring and not the boys, to be seen as more feminine. Since Birdie wants to fit in and be accepted Birdie went out of her way to convince her mom to even allow her to wear the hoop earrings. The females in school wear earrings and According to Lorber, "As a process, gender creates the social differences that define woman' and man.' In social interaction throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected, see what is expected, act and react in expected ways" (Lorber 115). By Birdie seeing the other females in her school she reacted to their appearances by changing her own appearance. The expectations of the students in Nkrumah impacted Birdie. The students impacted Birdie to change her own ap pearance . Birdie took on a more feminine appearance that she was not use to and or did not care for before. The students in Nkrumah allowed Birdie to understand and want to change to a more feminine appearance . Birdie did not use to wear earrings. Seeing the girls in Nkrumah wearing earrings allowed Birdie to think wearing earrings is a female thing that would allow her to become more socially accepted. In the article "The Gender Blur" Blum states, "We're born with predispositions, but i t's s ociety that amplifies them, exaggerates them. I believe that- except for the sex differences in aggression. Those differences are too massive to be explained simply by society." Birdie was able to grasp a better understanding of how gender is socially constructed through "Divorced Father's Day." Deck only comes to see his daughters, Birdie and Cole on Saturday mornings after he left them and their mother, Sandy. Birdie says, "He usually came for us on Saturday mornings. Cole called it Divorced Father's Day.' She said all her friends had them too" (Senna 55). This led Sandy to be the main caretaker for Birdie and Cole, while Deck is viewed as the secondary caretaker. Cole calls these Saturday morning s "Divorced Father's Day." Cole explained that all her friends at school had those days as well. This implies that as mother's it is their job/responsibility to take primary custody of their children no matter what , and that the child would be better off with the mother. Society made it whereas the fathers are not capable to carry out the primary caretaker's role and that is why the mother automatically receives the child. The f ather might be capable of caring for the child but not better than how the mother can. Lorber writes, "As a structure, gender divides work in the home and in economic production, legitimates those in authority, and organizes sexuality and emotional life" (Lorber 117).