Women’s Gender Role: essentialism or social construct?
The term essentialism and social construct play a crucial role in defining who we are as human beings. From our gender to how we behave as a person it’s either can be categorized as an essential or a social construct. Numerous researchers are still on the hunt of searching for the answer to who we are as a person. Some of them argue that the way in which we are born shall remain the same and we have no right to change it regardless of the conditions; However other authors believe our gender and behaviors are a product of society and environment.
Essentialism defends the idea that human behavior has natural characteristics that are not meant to change, put another way, it highlights that our gender is essentially pre-determined and other conditions have no effect on it. Carole S. Vance says, “for all of us, essentialism was our first way of thinking about sexuality and still remains the hegemonic one in the culture.”1 For instance, a person who is born with two X chromosomes makes them a woman and if a person was born with XY chromosomes it makes them a male. Therefore if a human being was born a female or a male, they have no other choice but to stick to the gender they are born with.
Sigmund Freud describes femininity as a trap that women do not want to live in, as they are fragile and less aggressive by birth, which can be noticeable since birth, a woman tends to show more affection than a man “biologically women don’t have a penis, they envy men’s penis.” 2 In a society like ours, women frequently blame their mothers for not having given them a penis when they were born, the same women feel accomplished when they give birth to male children, which implies Freud’s theory that men feel superior since birth, simply because they have a penis, therefore the cycle of patriarchy gets wider by the women’s desire to be a simple man and finally to feel superior, to have the pleasures and mainly to have the rights that a simple penis could possibly offer.
Aside from essentialism theory, Judith Lorber explains in her book “The Social Construction of Gender” that our gender is a socially constructed product, it is indeed a curse that labels us immediately when we are born, and once each has a gender, the treatment is based on the differentiation between both, even parenting becomes gendered, growing up and realizing how different children can be treated according to their gender, based on my personal observation for instance, when a girl cries, she gets the most attention compared with her male peer, or another example that illustrates my point of view is the way parents dress their children just for people to not get confused.
Humans generally search to fit into society or what society considers to be normal, men and women are expected to fulfil a role, if a man holds his baby in public or even does the least for him/her, he still gets stared at just like if a man decides to cook for his family. Growing up in a society, individuals, observe, learn and act as their surroundings
Lastly, I personally believe that our gender, race, culture, and behaviours are socially constructed. Growing up in a third-world country, where girls are not allowed to go outside the house after it gets dark, while their male peers had all the freedom they wished for, proves my point. On top of that, being always told to “act like a lady” and to give excuses to males even if they don't behave well, arguing that simply put it's their “nature.”
Thinking more about what society expects from us rather than fulfilling the passion that we sparkle upon us, those norms are labels that we, women, bear since day one. Knowing that we need to act, behave and dress in a certain way to be accepted and acknowledged in society, deriving us from simple choices and pleasures is ‘Injustice’. The same society can result in better conditions, and the freedom to choose which gender, which responsibilities and which roles you as a human being wish to fulfil; in both cases, society plays an important role. Whether growing up in a conservative society that restricts each to expressing their righteous self or in a different society that slightly accepts the differences and choices of its individuals.
References :
1 Vance C. S. (1992). Social construction theory: problems in the history of sexuality. Knowing Women S.P 130- 135.
2 Kendra Cherry. (2007, March 18). Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theories of women. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/how-sigmund-freud-viewed-women-2795859
About the author :
Raouiae Khouyi is a public policy and governance graduate, and she is a current participant in our #Women4Leadership program. She is skilled in administrative and office management duties and is looking to bring her ability to monitor, analyze and think strategically into her activism. Raouiae thrives in a team environment where she gets to collaborate with others.
