The Terms Gender Order And Gendered Sociology Essay

Central to the studies of gender are the terms sex and gender, but when looking more directly at these ideas, the terms gender order and gendered become prominent. In this essay I will attempt to identify and explain these key terms, but it must be considered that these terms are in essence socially constructed and fit the society, time and opinion in which they are used and therefore are very changeable.

According to Candace West and Don Zimmerman “sex is a determination made through the application of socially agreed upon biological criteria for classifying persons as females or males” (Lorber and Farrell, 1991, p41). This means that a person’s sex is usually determined at birth by examining the child’s reproductive organs and assigning them to either the category of male or female, this usually means that if the baby has a penis they will be classified as a male, and if they do not, they will be classified as a female. For some children, the distinction between male and female genitals at birth is so slight, that chromosomal testing must be used to determine the child’s sex before birth, although these two criteria can be conflicting (West and Zimmernan). Some, especially sociologists say this is what makes sex an ‘ascribed status’ as a person does not have to ‘do’ or achieve anything in order to obtain the title of male or female at this stage in their life, though, it needs to be considered that this is within the setting of contemporary western culture. This process of associating the shape of a baby’s genitals with the title of male or female is called sex categorization (Judith Lorber, 1994). Sex can be used as a means to categorise people into sex categories due to perceived differences arising from the shape of their genitalia, this is why the term ‘sex’ is central to the study of gender.

West and Zimmerman generally believe that gender involves the act of managing a certain conduct that is in line with the ‘norm’ or standard appropriate for the sex category that one is in. This broadly speaking means that gender is different for males and females and although both have to manage their conduct, they have to do this in very different ways in order to be seen as competent in their role as being a certain gender. This acting in different ways is largely seen in contemporary western cultures as being natural and ‘just the way it is’ (West and Zimmerman). Though, this assumption that there are biological differences causing females and males to act out their particular gender isn’t necessarily true, as gender is a social institution meaning it is “an established order comprising rule-bound and standardized behaviour patterns” (Collins Dictionary of Sociology 1991).This idea of gender being an institution begins from birth and from then on is constantly shaping the individual to form these differences, making it seem as if they are natural differences, but are in fact social constructions that are learnt by individuals. This leads on to the idea that “Gender is a lot like language, it takes years to learn” (Tatman, 2010), this not only shows that gender is an ongoing process, but like language, gender and the idea of how one communicates what gender they are, depends on the society in which one is in. Gender is a key concept to Gender Studies as gender is the standard to which people conform and ‘do’ gender to. This standard has changed significantly over the years and has been used as a form of social control to maintain the gender order.

Jill Mathews developed the term ‘gender order’ in 1984, as she found in her study that every society made distinctions between men and women, she also noted that there were perceived differences between the women and men (as cited in Pilcher and Whelehan). The explanation of what the gender order is according to Pilcher and Whelehan (2004, p61) is “a patterned system of ideological and material practises performed by individuals in a society, through which power relations between women and men are made, and remade, as meaningful”. It is through this ‘gender order’ that society and the males and females that are within it, organise their relationships and associations based largely on who holds the power within a particular act or material object. For example within western contemporary society the ideological assumption usually holds that males compared to females are generally more suited to physical laboured jobs. This can put females at a disadvantage or a need to appear ‘masculine’ in order to gain the power necessary to work in this field, therefore, reinventing the concept of the gender order within this particular form of work. The term ‘gender order is a key term within gender studies as it is so closely and strongly connected to the terms sex and gender, everyone within a society is within the concept of the of the ‘gender order’, and it can explain largely the power differences that women and men hold withtin a particular society.

“Something is ‘gendered’ when its character is either masculine or feminine, or when it exhibits patterns of difference by gender” (Pilcher and Whelehan p59). This is when it should be considered that masculine is usually associated with males and feminine with females. There are examples of this concept within almost any act, object or idea within contemporary western society. For example both males and females communicate to other females and males, though certain acts such as being overly emotional or showing emotion are usually considered as being highly feminine. This does not a mean a male can’t express highly emotional feelings, but it often may be the case that these males are associated as being feminine males. This demonstrates the idea of the process of gendering certain acts, to the point that they are not only associated with femininity but they also come to be described as such, this can be seen in the quote often used ‘cry like a girl’. This is an important key term within gender studies as it highlights the notion that gender is an ongoing process and ‘doing’ act.

Lastly, these key terms are all very connected, for example when a child is born they are given a sex, put into a sex category and are usually assumed to be the gender that fits with their sex category, they are then taught how ideologically they should be within their gender through doing ‘gendered’ acts that therefore contribute to the ‘gender order’.