WE ALL ARE VICTIMS OF SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
Since creation, man and woman have been assigned different roles, ever so often a creation of the society. The concept of gender itself is a creation of the society. In other words, what makes a man is determined by what the society says, and what makes a woman is determined by the society. Man and Woman are therefore social constructs.
Society says a man must be tough, strong, unemotional, decisive, physically imposing, authoritative, verbally forcefull while exhibiting preminence. Thus the ‘man box’(Paul Carvel). Anything outside this box is unacceptable, outside the norm, deviant and ultimately a taboo. As such, the man is casted as an embodiment of control and incapable of tenderness, warmth, gentleness, kindness or anything that even suggest weakness. The woman is also fitted into a box, perhaps a condescending one. She is to be quiet and nice to everyone, physically attractive, shy, submissive and obedient, accommodating, compliant. Being too assertive, outspoken, direct, detached, unemotional, overt about sexual desire, are definitely outside the norm for this lady.
Consequently, these features of the man are translated into being ahead of the woman. The biological strength of a man simply makes him a better and more capable human. It translates as such to hardwork, sexual strength, boldness and courage to take on life and its challenges. He faces life by taking on tedious jobs and responsibilities He can’t sit and be idle because he could be termed weak. He can’t choose a particular career because it is traditionally feminine. It translates to his ability (perhaps even responsibilty) to make the first call when it comes to speaking to a member of the opposite sex. It is actually this strength that makes him weak. If he is an embodiment of strength, shouldn’t he be able to do all things humanly possible including fetching his own meals and birthing his own children? Not that much strength yea?
The features ascribed to a woman makes her a second citizen. She becomes the second choice even when deserving of the first choice position, since the man has to come first at all times. She can’t be ambitious because she would threaten the average member of the opposite sex. She is to subtly mind the affairs of the home, no forefront role; ‘just take the backseat and watch’. She can pursue her interest so long it doesn’t threaten him. She can’t live luxuriously because he can’t bear to see her better off than he is. Her strength threatens him.
She embodies the aphorism ‘you can do it all’. Her roles are construed in such a manner that she is in service to everyone, to humanity. She is the designated helper. The human resource. The welfare manager. The caretaker. The cleaner. The caterer. The chef. Her personal interests and pursuit she further draws away from as she serves other. She wants to lead. She wants to be the first. She wants to pursue her work without automatically shouldering assumed feminine responsibilities. She wants to do everything within her interest and not be tagged ‘non-conforming’, different, strange, weird.
Social construction constrains both the man and the woman. The man is a victim of his own masculinity. He is pressured to meet up to the demand of the society. A continuous demand to display his machismo. His human nature of sympathy, love, emotions, of friendliness, of kindness are subjected. His weakness is a taboo, His surrender, an abomination; ‘you are a man, you can’t give up’ They suddenly make him less of a male and more feminine. These social constructions of what is male and female even puts failure and success in gender. Failure is female, Success is male. The success of the male is applauded, the female’s success is swept under the rug most of the time. The male is under pressure to meet up to a standard predetermined by the society. The female is also under pressure to impress the male most of the time.
These constructions feed into every strata of our lives, women have to prove themselves two times more than the men. Men have to continue to safe faces. While women are still trying to break glass ceiling in their career and workplace, a new challenge have suffered in the form of glass escalator. Men enjoying advantages even in traditonally female job is an attempt for the man to continue to go higher in terms of occupational achievement. Our society is obsessed with genderism, gender roles and the superiority of one gender than the other, and these makes us all victims of social construction (maybe some than the other).
