What does it mean to say that gender is socially constructed?
What will be an ideal response?
Like many aspects of social life, gender is a concept created and modified over time and across cultures to produce a certain account of reality. Whether it has an underlying biological reality based on sex is less important than that we believe in that underlying reality. Supporting the argument that gender is socially constructed are the many variations in the ways different cultures understand gender. In the United States, men don't generally wear skirts, but in Scotland and India they do. In the United States, once women reach puberty, we expect that certain parts of their bodies should be free of hair-usually their legs and armpits, but also their faces-and that their breasts should be covered and supported by bras. But in other parts of the world, women neither shave nor wear bras. These and other variations in the meanings assigned to biological sex categories convince us that gender is socially constructed.
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Which of the following is true of the changes in the status of minority communities in the United States over the years?
a. Black Americans today exceed the life expectancy that Whites had a generation earlier. b. Asian Americans have become the largest minority group in the United States in recent years. c. The household incomes of African Americans and Hispanics have increased over the years. d. Almost every Asian American group has a lower poverty rate than non-Hispanic Whites.
Emphasis on the individual's possession of critical reasoning and experience is associated with the origins of sociological thinking and with the _____
a. Age of Enlightenment b. Industrial Revolution c. end of the Dark Ages d. liberal arts
Group think is likely to occur when people in a group with decision-making power
a. are from different backgrounds. b. seek outside opinions. c. are highly educated. d. believe in the absolute rightness of their cause.
Which of the following concepts refers to violent conflict between nations or organized groups?
A. terrorism B. war C. guerrilla activity D. insurrection