Much of the debate about women’s rights and gender equality revolves around the origins of gender. Indeed, if gender is innate and produces distinct differences between the two sexes, then true equality will forever be out of reach. In this case, gender roles are the natural continuation of sexual biology and, hence, immutable. The opponents of such determinism reject the confines of biological sex. To them, gender is fluid and mostly contingent on the societal order, its norms, and traditions. This essay argues that gender is performative, which is evidenced by the diversity of its cultural interpretation and social learning empirical findings.
Though primarily addressing the issue through the lens of gender theory, the American philosopher Judith Butler seeks to uncover the very mechanisms of what makes a human. She insists that “I” is always outside of itself – it only manifests itself through social relations and interactions with others. These interactions mold, if not break a person – as Butler puts it, “we’re undone by each other (740).” An individual has no chances to “stay intact” because conforming to social norms is necessary for one’s survival. According to the philosopher, there is always “the Other,” a vigilant observer that is always quick to correct and make a judgment. Thus, to be human is to accept the “unknowingness about the Other in the face of the Other that undoes us (Butler 741).” Gender norms make a part of the rules imposed by “the Other.” Social standards regarding what makes a man or a woman have immense power of “undoing” either of them, making them some of their uniqueness in a not always conscious attempt to conform.
The superficiality of gender can be further proven by drawing examples from cultures around the world. Safdar and Kosakowska-Berezecka state that in the majority of cultures, women and men do take up different responsibilities (102). However, one may observe some variance in how cultures interpret gender. Some of them are rather traditional, where the man is expected to be the breadwinner and the woman – the housewife. Others, however, are more egalitarian to the degree where the differences between sexes in the workplace and at home are actively erased. Lastly, there is a number of still existing matriarchal societies, such as China’s Mosuo women and Indonesia’s Minangkabau people. If gender was a biological reality, there would be no diversity in how men and women engage in power structures, build families, and make professional choices. Moreover, the very transition to egalitarianism would be rendered futile due to natural constraints. Hence, gender is contingent on the cultural context and mechanisms enforcing social norms.
What is even more compelling is that such social conditioning is well replicable in laboratory settings. In the 1960s, the Canadian-American psychologist Bandura put forward the social learning theory. Its main assumption was that learning was not just behavioral but a cognitive process whose outcomes were largely dependent on a social context (Greene 347). Children do not do what they are told to do – they acquire new behaviors by observing and imitating others. The hypothesis was further proven through a series of experiments with children that quickly learned aggression after observing an adult violently handle a Bobo doll (Greene 350). If a single observation has this much leverage, living in a culture that communicates gender norms, incessantly has even a larger impact.
There are still attempts to find neurological differences between sexes, which would undermine the performativity of gender. Truly, the size of certain parts of the brain, such as are different in men and women (Xin et al. 185). For instance, the female hippocampus that is responsible for processing memories is larger than the male, while the male amygdala that handles emotions is larger than the female. However, these differences may as well have no interpretative value. It is not yet possible to find any meaningful correlation between the size of a brain part and its capacity.
Today, gender is a concept that is burdened by a lot of theories, approaches, myths, and misconceptions. One such misconception is the innateness of gender and its immutability. However, a person’s gender identity manifests itself in interactions with others. Therefore, people are not born with gender but are socialized into it – often against their will. The diversity of gender expression is observed in cultures around the world, which would not be possible if gender depended solely on sex. Empirical findings also demonstrate human sensitivity to environmental cues and proclivity to copy others’ behavior. Neuroimaging research remains vague on sex differences, which makes it unsuitable for supporting the opposing point of view.
Works Cited
Greene, Roberta. Human Behavior Theory: A Diversity Framework. Routledge, 2017.
Jacobus, L.A. A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013.
Safdar, Saba, and Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka. Psychology of Gender Through the Lens of Culture. Springer International Pu, 2016.
Xin, Jiang, et al. “Brain Differences Between Men and Women: Evidence from Deep Learning.” Frontiers in neuroscience, vol. 13, no. 2019, p. 185.