+- Twitist Forums (http://twitist.com)
+-- Forum: General Social Media & Marketing Forums (/forum-8.html)
+--- Forum: Social Marketing (/forum-10.html)
+--- Thread: Compare social construction of gender with the social construction of...? (/thread-56811.html)
Compare social construction of gender with the social construction of...? - boo boo - 01-23-2013 12:47 AM
Compare the social construction of gender with the social construction of race.
- Bouncy Oink - 01-23-2013 12:55 AM
Very difficult, I am only certain about Gender construction; the quote "Gender is not simply what one is, but what one does" which is entirely different to social construction of race.
- Fromafar - 01-23-2013 12:55 AM
Both gender and race are based on the idea that the characteristics that define our physical self when we are born are also going to determine our social and psychological selves.
One example is labor.
Gender is constructed by means of a collective belief that labor division is based on natural traits that 'make' men choose some activities and women others, those for which each are 'naturally' more fit. It is true that there is a pragmatic advantage in some members of society being specialized on some activities and others on different ones but it doesn't follow that women can only do this and not that. Still once labor division was established it became 'naturalized' by means of reiteration.
Race is constructed by means of a collective belief that labor division also reflects differences in the innate abilities and capacities of the people who are usually seen doing them. It is true again that people find market fragments and teach their own the tricks of the trade, so after a while you find people from the same 'race' or ethnicity specialized in one trade. But it doesn't follow that they are 'naturally' more capable of doing one thing and not the other.
So by both gender and race we learn that some social divisions are 'natural' when in fact they are socially constructed.