Question

Reskin and Padavic (1994) describe the social construction of gender. “The process of transforming males and females who differ rather minimally in biological terms into two groups that differ noticeably in appearance and opportunities is called the social construction of gender.”

Questions:

• What are some of the ways in which this society engages in gendering?
• Have you encountered “undue emphasis on people’s sex” in your place of work? Discuss any instances of the undervaluation of work – yours or others.
• Is there a myth associated with young black men and their characteristics? Is it a myth in your opinion? How does this relate to racial profiling?

Answer 1

Solution:

• Some of the prominent ways in which society engages in gendering are by the means of clothes that we wear. there is a significant distinction in Male and Female apparel and this difference can be attributed to the gendering that is carried out in the society. The generating process by the society makes Males and Females of the society different from one another by means of their apparel, the kind of work they do, the names we have, the stereotypes we have are some of the instances where the society has engaged in gendering and it is clearly possible that the entire society may not even know that they are promoting gendering when they do any such activity.
  
• Yes, there have been instances of undue sex favoritism where males are more preferred to a certain job over a female of the same capability and skills. This is because of the stereotypes that are prevalent within society. These stereotypes then come back to haunt the workplaces and spread the bias in terms of gender and the activities a particular gender can do or cannot do. There have also been instances where similar work by two equally skilled employees with a different gender is ranked differently by the same judging panel. This makes it clear that some genders have undue advantages whereas some genders have undue disadvantages because of the society and the stereotypes within the society.
  
• There is certainly a myth associated with young black males. These males are considered to be strong and masculine. Their characteristics are assumed to be the finest and sexually desirable. This makes black young males very attractive among females who seek sexual fantasies. This, however, can be true in some cases cannot actually be true for the entire population of young black people. This aspect related to racial profiling where they consider the black male to have superior characteristics because of their genes & ancestors who were earlier been slaves. This is the fact that it makes the stereotype of getting the black young males the attention they get because of their physical characteristics.