Biology Versus Social Constructionism Social Sciences

Biology versus Social Constructionism
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Biology versus Social Constructionism
When looking at gender roles in today’s society, should we look at the differences between boys and girls based entirely on their biology? Or do we resolve that the differences revolve around social constructions? There are many differences between males and females, most of which are documented from a very young age. For instance, boys are taught to be more athletic while girls are perceived to be more kind and gentle and they are told not to play rough. The differences can also differ depending on how the boys and girls are raised in the society. The documentation reveals that social constructionism is a much stronger factor in shaping behavior and other social characteristics. In my opinion, the majority of differences between boys and girls originate from social construction rather than biology.
When looking at their biology, there are many differences between them. Of course, the most common difference between a male and a female is the sex they have at birth. The term sex refers to the biological distinction of being male and female (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005). The sex individuals are born with does not change. However, people can change their gender as they grow older. In today’s society we see a significant number of boys born as males but mentally and emotionally feel like women and tend to change later in life which is called transgender. Gender like social class and race can be used to categorize people and even lead to prejudice and discrimination socially. Prejudice is a set of attitudes, more likely unfavorable, towards members of a group (Pennsylvania State University, 2011).
In today’s society, we have made a lot of progress on how children learn specific roles for boys and girls. The culture or society in which children grow up is the prime contributor on how they see their gender, and it influences them in the process of growing up. Growing up, many boys are taught its ok to play rough or to get a little dirty while girls were shown more compassion and taught to play nice. That is an example of gender stereotyping in today’s society. A child's burgeoning sense of self, or self-concept, is a result of the multitude of ideas, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs that he or she was exposed when growing. The information that surrounds the child and which the child internalizes comes to the child within the family arena through parent-child interactions, role modeling, reinforcement for desired behaviors, and parental approval or disa...