The social construction of gender

¶ … Social Construction of Gender, by Judith Lorber begins of with the briefest history of Western philosophy's view of women prior to the 18th century. That biologically women were basically men turned inside out, as far as their genitalia were concerned at least. Yet at least at that time, the author states, that women and men had their place in the social order of things, whether or not it was equal was not that much of a concern, at least for men. However, as science began to rise and dethrone God's and religion's place in the universe, women were found to be so different from men as to almost be a "different species." The variation within both gender classes is largely ignored and the two separate classes of male and female are sacrosanct. This necessity of division and the need to distinctly define each has become almost a paranoia in Lorber's eyes.

She sites the case in sports and the recent controversy about gender in the Olympics that has occurred. While women are given a barrage of gynecological to see if they are "woman" enough, men are not tested. What is not tested is whether or not women have the skills or abilities for the sport, just the chromosomes. This double standard pervades sports as well as other sectors of life creating scientific gender bias rather than understanding. This has created a double consciousness of sorts in women's psyches wherein on job or at the sport they are one way and outside of it they are another. The author states that gender division does not arise from simply a biological standpoint but from the "exigencies of the social order." For the most part this means that most women will in some way play to the social order as they have programmed to do so in order to have some feedback of efficacy and self-worth as a human being. Lorber believes that by deconstructing the existing bipolar categories that new categories based on similarities and differences in behavior will be more beneficial to all concerned, especially women, in the long run.