Social Construction of Gender

What does it mean to be a man? In our society, we are taught young that being a man means you must be strong both physically and mentally. Just like women, men are also insecure. A specific insecurity every man holds is their manhood being taken from them. In Kimmel's Masculinity is a demonstration of men being bullied to the point where the only other option is to show violence. Men never use violence, as a last resort because their violence demonstrates confidence and strength which each must acquire. A couple years ago, I was at a gathering where two males had physically fought one another because one of them had been talking to the other's girlfriend. It's pretty pathetic that little things like that are taken the extremes by being resulted in violence.

On the other hand, women are more passive, emotional and feel a significant need to appeal to others through their looks, rather than with intelligence or their personality. This is due to the mass media's advertising in television and movies. Dove commercials oppose the media's messages, and try to give a more realistic view on women as a whole. Every year many girls, including my friends, make comments wishing they could look like the models in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Unfortunately, women strive to look a certain way attributed to the unrealistic images exposed to them. Women also feel they must meet up to the expectations or standards given to them just like males do. The stronger you are, the more respected you are; the more beautiful you look, the greater chances you are liked. Furthermore, both genders must go to the extremes to acquire the unrealistic expectations they feel they must meet.

Socialization

Socialization is the process by which we become human. There are two aspects, which play major roles known as nature and nurture. Nature deals with what you grow with that's unchangeable, otherwise known as heredity, while nurture deals more with what’s around you, or your environment. You need both in order for this process to be successfully, but how you're raised determines who you become.

"The Feral and Isolated Children" are examples of nurture because they demonstrate that certain characteristics are learned through particular environments. Children who are exposed to a wild life environment will adapt to wild life living. Isolated children on the other hand, are behind in developmental stages, furthermore, there are no connections or shared thoughts, which affect their behavior, attitudes, and values. Oprah's documentary was another example of how we as humans need interaction in order to thrive. You can have incredible genes, but without given the proper nurture, you cannot successfully evolve.

Socialization agents that are significant in my life are family, school, and the media. These impact our lives greatly; giving us ideas of who we are, or what we want to become. Family has a great influence on my nurture because these are the people who raised me, who I am surrounded by daily. My family in ways I may not even recognize has affected me.  Next, school also impacts my life because it's something I've been accustomed to for many years giving me a sense of what I enjoy, what I struggle with, who I am and where I want to go from here. The people I am surrounded by at school impact my decision making, but the main source we're all equally impacted by is media. It's something, which surrounds our lives daily. It's something that's unavoidable;  "The Mass Media" film we watched explains how consumer's decision making is influenced to buy certain products in order to improve the overall "happiness". The media has a negative impact because it gives us, and children unrealistic expectations of reality. Young girls believe that you find a prince charming and live happily ever after; while boys think crying means you're a weak baby. Unfortunately, the media starts young because they realize children don't know any better and some of us are unconsciously impacted by it whether we would like to admit it or not.