Gender communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gender communication - Essay Example This essay "Gender communication" outlines the roles that genders are charged with in the society. The concept of gender is a fluid construct. This is because the environment one lives in, and generally the society determines a person’s gender. The society has come up with two distinct gender types. These include the masculine gender and the feminine gender. Masculinity and femininity have characteristics, which vary. The feminine gender is considered quiet, timid, nurturing, and fragile. On the other hand, the masculine gender is considered aggressive, strong, brave, and noisy. However, these traits vary across different societies. Although these traits are attached to the different genders, no man or woman is born with them instead, one acquires them in their own society through the process of socialization. Different communities in the world are different and have varying cultures. Therefore, the aspect of gender also varies among different communities. This therefore, make s gender to be a social or cultural construct, since it is the community, which determines it. In society, the different genders are charged with different roles, and are expected to fulfil different expectations by the society. Failure to adhere to the prescribed gender roles is regarded deviant behaviour in the society. Therefore, the psychological girls in society, who act in a masculine manner and the psychological boys acting in a feminine manner, are sanctioned for failing to act within the boundaries of their respective gender. Different communities will sanction those people crossing their gender lines in different ways. Since this is the case, the individuals who are intersexed will therefore, struggle with the issue of gender identity, since it is hard for them to determine their gender identity, considering their biological set up. As a female, in my society, I belong to the feminine gender. I am therefore, expected to act in a â€Å"feminine† manner, and not in a â€Å"masculine† manner. I realize that this social construction of gender begins early in a person’s life. When babies are born, there is already a designated type of colour for them, depending on their gender. For instance, the girls, because they are feminine, will be dressed in pink clothes, while boys, by virtue of being masculine, are dressed in blue clothes. This is because my society has made people believe that girls should wear bright colours. When I was a little girl, I remember wearing all the bright colours, including pink, yellow, red, and orange, among others. This continues to persist, as today, most men are rarely seen wearing bright colours. Men wear dark and neutral colours, while women wear all the colours, especially the bright ones (Mooney, Knox and Schacht 18). As a feminine gender, the society expects that I be a nurturing person. This also starts when a girl is in her early years. The kind of toys my parents bought me and my brothers reflect this aspect of nurturing and femininity. While my brothers and other boys were bought for machine toys, the other girls and I were brought dolls, which we assumed were our babies. Boys would get rowdy and aggressive playing with their gun toys, car toys, and other machine toys, while we the girls were busy role-playing our mums, taking care of babies and feeding them. Although this aspect begins at a tender age, it has a big impact on the latter life of the girls and boys. For instance, today, this kind of social construction of gender h as proved to be problematic as far as careers are concerned. When girls are limited to the kind of toys they should play with when young, this might lock out many opportunities for her in future. It becomes hard for them to develop other interests, apart from nurturing. Today, fields such as computing and engineering, among other technical fields, record the lowest number of females. This is probably because these women were denied the chance to play with machine toys while young, thereby, limiting their interests in life. On the other hand, the field of nursing registers the least number of males. Nursing