Essay 3: Construction Of Gender Identity

Essay 3: Construction of Gender Identity Name Institution Even though written by different authors, the five reviewed articles discuss construction of gender identity based on language in different societies. While they are written from different perspectives, the articles discuss how gender identity is formed and its impact in different sphere of the involved parties. While gender identity is evidenced in all cultures and societies, it is perceived different by different people based on the used language. Some men would use insults and abusive language to prove their masculinity and distinguish it from femininity. In addition, when left unsupervised, men would be engage in different topics of discussion compared to women. For instance, they are more interested in sport statistics. On the contrary, girls would be more successful in issues requiring deliberation and discussions because they are more friendly and good in forming alliances. This is the reason girls perform better in subjects requiring talks and discussions. This essay will discuss the different perspective of gender identity construction by the five scholars based on the used language. As explained by Davies (2003), the link between learning and talk is well explained. Spoken language, which is more identified with girls is very beneficial in the school arena. This is because in different learning experiences, students are expected to get into discussion groups where they share ideas, debate issues, and investigate problems among others. As a result, boys who perform poorly in language and talk arenas are unable to succeed in these aspects. While boys were performing better in schools in the 1980s, this has changed since the 1990s. The current studies show underachievement of boys in the educational discussion as girls’ accelerated dominance in examination results is increasingly reported. Based on his research, it was reported that “Many boys’ perpetual attention to matters concerning membership of the ‘male culture’ required them to repeatedly define that culture and demonstrate their worthiness to belong” (p. 124). This shows that instead of having boys concentrate in classwork, they are more concerned with the manner in which their peers would perceive them in what is known as ‘macho discourse’. Girls would be after proving their competence in discussions while boys would be watchful of the language they use to prevent being taken negatively by their peers. Since they are poor in forming relationships, they are very keen in keeping the few alliances they have by doing everything possible to please their peers. From the study, it was revealed that girls’ discussions emphasized on being friends thus being more comfortable fulfilling both educational and social work. They are after developing a group identity with similarities emphasized on while differences are relegated. On the contrary, the discussions by boys expressed their gender in explicit forms with the work climate being competitive such that the strongest wins. According to Lucila (2009), there exist cultural differences between school and home contexts in terms of the negative effects of academic and schooling achievement. This is the reason students respond differently to multiple sociali...