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Astrid Diaz
Professor Corri Ditch
English 113A 8am
9 December 2014
Gender Constructed by Society
The terms gender and sex are constantly confused by society. Gender is known as the
way a male or a female perform in a masculine or feminine way; meaning the role a man or a
woman has to play in society. On the other hand, sex is defined as male or female, depending on
what their reproductive organ is. Gender roles are established depending on individual sexes. For
example women have to perform in a feminine way. Being feminine means being weak and
dressing up with bows and dresses, whereas men are expected to perform in a masculine way,
they have to be strong and dress up with suits and ties. Society demands different roles, male and
female are supposed to perform. Gender roles are referring to the behaviors that society set to a
specific sex and norms that they have to follow. Just because a woman does not look feminine or
a man does not look masculine, does not imply that you are not following your gender roles
properly. In the article Night to His Day(1994), Judith Lorbe says that both genders are
expected to play the role that society has established for each individual so that they can be
classified as masculine or feminine. In the essay, Becoming Members of Society: The Social
Meanings of Gender, Aaron Devor states that society sets limitations on particular sexes so that
their gender will not be labeled as anything else but, feminine or masculine. Both of these essays
discuss how gender roles are socially constructed. Ultimately, they argue that these set of rules
lead to gender discrimination, and that these set of rules limit the way each gender should
perform, which is something I have faced in my own family.

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In the article Night to His Day, Lorber says that society constructs gender. She supports
her argument by giving examples of how society expects individuals to act within their gender so
that individuals can be classified as masculine or feminine. Lorber talks about how parents
mark their child when they are born. They do this by piercing their daughter ears or adorning
their son with baseball caps so that society will see that their child is either a girl or a boy.
Parents teach their children that boys wear shorts, pants, and girls wear skirts and dresses. In the
article Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender, Devor claims that
gender defines the way individuals perform in life. He supports his argument by giving examples
on the different ways limitations are set within their gender. Devor states, A more even-handed
description of the social qualities subsumed by femininity and masculinity might be to label
masculinity as general concerned with egoistic dominance and femininity as striving for
cooperation or communion. (39) He shows how society sets limitations on specific sexes so that
these will not be labeled as anything else, but femininity or masculinity.
These two essays, Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender and
Night to His Day, relate to each other. They relate to each other because both of them talk
about how society selects limitations on how each gender should perform. These limitations are
set when a person wants to do something that is not commonly seen on their gender. For
example, I have seen how parents tell their sons that if they ever pierce their ears, he will rip the
earrings from their ears. This limits individuals by sometimes not doing what they want because
they are afraid of what people might think or might do to them. For example, Lorber states,
Actors may wear makeup, but real boys dont. (25). Boys are told that they cannot wear
makeup because that is a girls thing to do. This can also lead to discrimination because if a boy
wants to go against what society wants him to do which is look masculine, then he cannot wear

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makeup or dress girly because if he does then he will be seen or be called homosexual. Devor
says that masculinity is characterized as being expansive and aggressive while femininity is
characterized as being vulnerable or weak. Females who look bulk are constantly discriminated
because they are considered to be lesbian just because they have masculine traits. Society
demands that according to our gender role, girls wear makeup but boys dont; males can be
aggressive but female cant. Both genders performances are being limited by not letting them
perform the way they want to without receiving criticism.
Both of these essays reminded me of when I was a little kid and was constantly told that I
always acted like a boy. Since I was a little kid, I have always been very active and have also
loved climbing trees. However, my mom always saw this as a mans thing to do because you
have to have a lot of strength to climb a tree. She also saw this as inappropriate for a girl because
it was not what society defines as feminine. Every time she saw me playing with my cousins,
running around, climbing on the trees, and, playing soccer, she would ask me to come inside the
house and play with my dolls instead. Despite the fact that my family would criticize me because
of the way I acted, I did not really paid attention to them because I was so passionate, and I really
loved what I was doing.
As I grew up, I remember how my friends would constantly tell me that I did not look
feminine because besides the fact that I was a soccer player, I also did not wear makeup or
clothes that gave the impression that I was delicate as what society expects women to be. They
thought that soccer was a sport that a woman should not be doing. My friends tried to influence
me to wear makeup because they believed that no man will be attracted to me if I did not look
pretty. I grew up thinking I was ugly because all of my friends had boyfriends and I did not. I
came to realize that it was because I did not look feminine at all. This made me want to change

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my personality and the way I looked into societys eyes. I thought that by changing society will
accept me and see that I looked feminine. I started wearing makeup and girly clothes to look
prettier. I also stopped playing soccer and joined the cheerleader club so that my friends would
stop discriminating the way I looked and also to feel good about myself. However, I realized that
I was not happy with who I had become because I was conforming to my gender expectations
and that was limiting me from being who I really wanted to be.
As girls, they are taught that they are supposed to be quiet and sensitive, not rough or
aggressive. As males, they are taught the opposite. Masculine tend to be dominants while
feminine tend to be inferior. This is what society has implied and how society has taught them to
be. These characteristics might not be the way they really want to be, but, they will be conformist
because they want to follow how society wants each gender to perform. They conform because
they are afraid to stand up and fight for what they want due to the fact that if they do, they will
be discriminated by society.
Society has set limitations on the role individuals should play depending on which your
gender is. These limitations have restricted males and females to act the way they want to be
because they might not be doing gender properly. In both of the essays Night to His Day and
Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender a common theme is shared.
Both of these essays discuss how society constructs gender roles, which leads to gender
discrimination.

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Work Cited
Devor, Aaron. Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender. Gender
Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality. 1989: 35-43
Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Paradoxes of Gender.
Yale University Press, 1994: 19-30