Introduction
According to the above statement people see and find things differently; the difference can be seen to be shaped by socialization which has an effect on human character, perception, attitude and self esteem. Being a man or a woman is not wholly defined by biological aspects of an individual but goes further to include social, economical, political, culturally and other social aspects.
The idea that sex is given biologically but its roles and expectation, which are seen to be different, are defined by social aspects. This has been agreed by psychologists, sociologists its and political scientists. Femininity and masculinity are socially and historically constructed; these aspects define the characters and life that either female or male has to play in the society.
People are both being oppressed and oppressing the others
According to functionalism theory, societies are made of structures where every structure is expected to play a certain role for the good operation of the community. With the differentiation, there is continued oppression of others on basis of race, gender, ethnicity, patriarchy, matriarchy or economic situation.
When performing different tasks in an economy some people tend to take advantage of the upper hand they have over their counterparts to oppress them. Some of the most used elements of oppression are power, culture, economic well beings, race and political welfare of different classes of people.
Sexist should not stand alone on the agenda of creating social equality
There is no single definition of gender, as it brings a heated debate among linguists and social scientist. However gender issues does not mean women issues; it involves issues of both men and women looked at different angles and reflection. Sexuality is defined as the biological aspect of a person; it is defined by internal and external organs which differentiate a man and a women. Other biological factors include growth at different times like adolescent differences. It follows a biological determinism approach.
When determining the sexuality that one is, there is little that human beings can do but nature takes its cause in such cases. Gender on the other hand emanate from sexuality but is reinforced by cultural and social factors prevailing in the society. Gender is socially and historically reinforced. The reinforcement of gender and their different roles is advocated and progressed through social constructivism approach. It is of the opinion that the existence of perceived difference is as a result of social aspects and believes.
These roles are developed through Social constructions. Social construction is a sociological theory that defines the character of something not by what is but how it is viewed to be by the social environment that it exists. There are games that are seen to be masculine and feminine. Male are molded to be bold and focused and are made to believe that they are capable of doing hard things than women. The superiority is seen even further when a man is molded to take care of a woman.
The experience of difference in race and classes bring about a multitude of ideas of oppression, we need to recognize all of them, and “confront the difference in opinions” (pg715).
People from different ethnicity, nationality and races are likely to have different opinions and stand points on different issues. When this happens there is conflict among them that seems to keep shifting goal posts depending with the situation at hand. Some races think or have the notion that they are superior to their counterparts of other races thus they find it worth to oppress and dominate them.
Oppression among races comes in the form of unequal treatment, inequality in resources distribution, making of policies and strategies that are likely to hinder the development of the people and disregard in major decision making. In early days, oppression was seen in slave trade where the lords owned the slaves and assumed the role of mistreating them and treating them as people of lower cadre in life.
When it comes to education, employments and other amenities, the oppressed people are not given a chance to compete effectively with other people of a different race; the reason for the unequal treatment is based on their race. In the United States one of the most dominant cause of ethnic conflicts and rivalry among people is one race line, the whites feel that the blacks have taken their jobs while the black think they do not get better jobs because of the white; this creates conflicts.
Conclusion
Sexuality can be defined as the biological difference that exists between a man and a woman. On the other hand gender and gender differences are defined by social and historical aspects of societies. Social aspects include what people go through and define/reinforce difference/equality between men and women.
Humanity and gender issues can be defined from prehistory, historical, modern situation and post modern. Prehistorically and historically, the role of men and women were defined by the society were men were seen as superior to women. Advocacy for equality started in modern times, were it got repellence from both men and women. In post modern life, equality is increasingly being embraced in the communities.
Works Cited
Rothenberg, Rothenberg. Race, Class and Gender in the United States; an integrated study. Worth Publisher: New York, 2006. Print.