Sociology

Being a man or a woman is more than a simple biological fact. Sex is a biological fact with social implications. Men constitute a distinct social group. The same case can be said of women. Gender is the term which refers to the ways in which a culture reformulates what begins as a fact of nature  in this case, sex. The sexes are redefined, valued, represented, and rearranged into different roles in culturally dependent ways (Rothenberg, 2003). Sexuality then is a set of arrangements in which the society transforms biological nature into outputs of human activity. Sexuality therefore is both a biological and social fact, with an emphasis on the latter.

Social life demands a more or less rigid differentiation of roles. Men are fathers, brothers, uncles and grandfathers but also farmers, engineers, public officials, and pilots. Women are mothers, sisters, uncles, and grandmothers but also engineers, public officials, managers, and pilots. Note that the first set of roles is sexually defined. Only men are assumed to be capable of being fathers or brothers. The same case can be said for women. The second set of roles is more or less an expression of sexuality. In some societies, women can enter the profession traditionally reserved for men. In other societies, women are confined to household activities they are forbidden to engage in activities reserved for men.

The differences, inequalities and division of labor between men and women are often simply treated as outcomes of the natural differences between the two social groupings. Such a view is often perceived as universal  a fact which cannot be validity by mere logic or rational reasoning (Rothenberg, 1987). The idea that the natural differences between the two social groupings are the source of all which makes men and women unique is a fallacy (Rothenberg, 2003). The naturalness of gender has little to do with the roles assigned to each social grouping. Women are mothers not because they are inherently women but because they are capable of being mothers. Men are fathers not because they are, by nature, men but because society assigned them such role.

Note that there is constancy between how different societies expect men to be men and women to be women. In Medieval societies, women are more or less viewed with contempt (being the accursed creature of God). In preliterate societies, the expectations between the two sexes are manifested in productive activities. In modern societies, the assumed differences between the two are minimized. Thus, there is something other than natural differences which determine sexuality. Indeed, for some individuals, there is a discrepancy between what is expected of their sex and what nature presents them. It is institutions which determine the manifestations of sexuality, whether as an individual or as a group (Rothenberg, 2003).

Now, the naturalization of sex differences is detrimental for women than for men. Because of naturalization, women as a social grouping are pushed into the margins. In some societies, the term woman is synonymous with weakness, softness, and indecisiveness. This is in contrast with the concept of man which denotes strength, power, and decisiveness. Because of the discriminative nature of institutional constructions, women are essentially oppressed. Because the social structure is patriarchal, the assumed differences only reinforce the notion that the distinction is natural. An inclination towards the male grouping reinforces patriarchy because the basis of social relations rests on natural distinctiveness.

Women as a social grouping lose the inherent right to equality with men. As Simone de Beauvoir argued, anatomy is not destiny. Indeed, the efficacy of femininity is a matter of academic discussion but one thing is clear. The inherent marginalization of women is not natural it is rather social (Rothenberg, 1987). Women are born equals of men. There is no naturalness in the manner in which society distinguishes one social group to another. It is a matter of social convention.