occasionally come to adopt that identity for themselves and come together as Asian Americans across ethnic differences, or what is called pan-ethnic identity.
Discussion questions
Do you identify more with your ethnic or racial identity? Do you find that your racial group has a discernible culture that you can describe, and if so, what is it?
What are the differences and overlaps between your race, ethnicity, and culture? Use a Venn diagram or table to outline the comparisons.
Gender as social construction
Gender is also a social construction. Like race, this too seems dubious at first since there are clearly people who are men and people who are women in the sense that they have distinctive sexual reproductive organs, and most people seem to exhibit characteristics that might be straightforwardly characterized either as masculine or as feminine. Yet genetic differences between men and women are not gender differences but sex differences. People have distinct sexes. In fact, rather than simply two sexes, male and female, some persons are even born with unclearly defined external genitalia or with both ovaries and testicles (Newman 2006). Similarly, some persons born with one sex live their lives mostly accepted as people of the other sex, even if their biological sex is known. These individuals typically regard themselves as “transgender.” If gender was so inherent, people would not be able to cross or blur gendered boundaries so easily.
Notions of strict differences between the sexes, as between races, develop from power inequalities. Patriarchy reinforces a strict binary defining “men” and “women” in very distinct and unequal ways. It supports male privilege by prescribing bounded roles for women, often in domestic-related duties. This frees men from competition with women in the workplace and creates more time for them in work, leisure, and other facets of life (Kimmel 1996). Men also compete with other men for gender prestige. Men sideline other men, such as immigrants, minorities, and gays, so as to affirm their masculinity. In other words, gender plays a key role in the quest for power. Like race, gender and gender differences are maintained for political, economic, emotional, and cognitive reasons. Movements towards gender equality by feminists have led to major victories but also to both a backlash and, ironically, a sense of complacency among some women, who increasingly question the utility of the word “feminist.” In addition, feminist attempts to introduce legislation to address different forms of gender inequality have been met with fierce opposition, often from conservative political forces. At the same time, some women question feminism because they believe that to be feminist is to reject motherhood as well as other female experiences and identities.
When sex differences are given meaning by the wider society, then they become gender differences passed onto the next generation. As we become socialized into gender roles, gender becomes natural and taken for granted. Children when born have a sex but no gender. They must learn to “do” their gender (West and Zimmerman 1987). For instance, girls often cross their legs when sitting, unlike boys. These are learned behaviors. Teachers respond differently to similar behaviors by boys and girls, thereby creating gender differences for children (Martin 1998). The association of sex with expected behaviors is mostly false. There may be men who are more nurturing than other men and even more nurturing than some women. Even when expected differences do exist, it need not lead to clearly defined roles. For instance, on average men may be more aggressive and women more nurturing. If so, this can mean women are well suited to careers as psychologists, political leaders, and the like, rather than confined within the domestic sphere (Bem 1993).
How one experiences gender depends on one’s race and vice versa, which again highlights its socially constructed nature. While we speak of “racial stereotypes,” these stereotypes differ by gender, as do their effects. For instance, white men are, on average, paid more than white women who have had the same education, while white women are paid more than black women with the same education (M. Kim 2009). Even within a single group, depictions can vary by class, occupation, or geography. Collins (2000) delineates different media depictions of black women. As black women navigate out of one socioeconomic status and into another (for example, from working-class/blue-collar to middle-class/professional), they are still framed as needing to be monitored by white men, white women, and/or black men, while how they are monitored will differ.
Online resource:For an account of how gender and race intersect in the experience of a multiracial Asian-American woman victimized by sexual assault as a college student, read: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/opinion/chanel-miller-know-my-name.html
Sexuality as social construction
Sexuality, similarly, is a social construction. Evidence that sexual preferences are influenced, not predetermined, by genetic dispositions (Dececco and Elia 1993) can be seen as a breakthrough in the advancement of civil rights for lesbians and gays, for we should not discriminate against people based on genetic differences. That said, how is sexuality a social construction? While sexual preference is not entirely socially constructed, it still stems significantly from societal influence (see our discussion of sexuality and heteronormativity in the following section). Regardless of whether people are biologically predisposed to certain sexual orientations, the media and society at large give different meanings to homosexuals than to heterosexuals. The differences are framed not merely in terms of sexual partner preferences but in terms of entire lifestyles. Typically, the media and society at large depict homosexuals and their lifestyles as deviant and in a generally negative light, while heterosexuals and their lifestyles are considered normal, positive, and ultimately desirable. Yet the prospect that we have a single sexuality is dubious, even if we are predisposed to one versus another. Queer theorists maintain that we have multiple sexualities, that we can move in between sexual acts with one sex and then the other based on circumstances (Stein 1997). We can be attracted to different sexes at different times but, given the dominance of heteronormative thinking (which we discuss in the next section), we may suppress those feelings.
The term “queer” highlights the mutable nature of sexuality and sexual relationships as well as the limitations of a heteronormative outlook. It allows more readily for transgender and transsexual individuals and identities, which defy static notions of gender and sexuality. Once considered a derogatory term that straight people used to insult, denigrate, and disparage homosexuals, the term has been reclaimed by many who identify as homosexual in more recent years who have infused it with more positive meaning. Indeed, there are people who engage in straight relationships and may not have ever been in a homosexual relationship, but who may claim a “queer” identity as a critique of heteronormativity. Others, however, prefer to use the term “LGBTQIA” to include the range of nonnormative sexualities people may have (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or ally). With respect to gendered identities, many people have made it a standard practice to state their gendered pronouns when they introduce themselves to others (i.e. My name is Robyn and I use she/her pronouns; my name is Pawan and I use he/his/him pronouns).
Sexuality and heteronormativity
Heteronormativity is the idea that male–female attraction and relationships are inevitable and normal. This idea becomes so normative that same-sex attraction becomes difficult to imagine for individuals and society at large. Hence, even if someone might be biologically predisposed to be attracted to a member of the same sex, societal influences may prevent that individual from even thinking that it is possible. In order to gain acceptance for their sexual preferences, gays and lesbians have targeted large-scale institutions that promote traditional-gendered roles: the military and marriage. A debate within queer circles has developed as to whether gays should pursue marriage
