HAS THE 'CONSTRUCT OF GENDER' BEEN MORE HARMFUL OR MORE BENEFICIAL TO HUMANITY THROUGHOUT HISTORY?

Putting an end to toxic gender norms 

Edmund Burke once said and I quote “Those who don’t know the history are destined to repeat it”

Gender-based norms and assumptions have been repeating regularly in the same way at different intervals of time throughout history. In order to understand and form a consensus regarding the impact that this Social Constructionism of Gender has had, we primarily need to review the history of ‘Construct of gender’.

 For the record, Gender, by definition is the state of being male, female or other with reference to social and cultural norms.

The construct of gender was done to characterize and differentiate between different people on the basis of their biology as well as according to expected social and cultural norms.

 Throughout history, the gender construct has been an unjust and unequal base forming a binary which has given a superior preference to male in all aspects of life.

 Dating back to the nomadic age, Men were deemed as the stronger ones in the terms of physical strength which gave birth to the ideology of ‘him’ being classified as more important and superior than ‘her’.

The sunlit days changed into roaring ages which announced the arrival of the Industrial age.

 The past ideology that considered Men being superior to Women in terms of physical strength now expanded its clutches to falsely consider that Men were superior in comparison to everyone else in terms of intellectual capability as well.

 It began to be considered and accepted by everyone that Man was intellectually smarter and more capable than a woman thus asserting the notion that He was in all sense the greatest one.

 This has been portrayed through the play If Shakespeare had a sister by Virginia Woolf where the author tries to bring to light the injustices that would be faced by Shakespeare’s sister, if he had one, at that time in history who was blessed with the same intellectual brilliancy as her brother.

 In today’s Global Age we are well aware of the fact that both men and women are blessed with equal intellect and that gender does not play any role in the same. However, this fact is not a new one. It was known in the past as well but in order to keep the privileges that came with the false notion of being considered as the ‘superior breed’ by the rest of the Society, the men in power at that time created and spread false and misleading images and perspectives that designated a male and a female’s role in the shaping of the world as well as floccinaucinihilipilificating the existence of other genders.

 The construct of gender which may have begun with simple intentions has had and continues to have dire consequences on people’s lives. This constructionism has limited an individual, especially women, from growing and enhancing their capabilities which is their basic birth right.

 In the book The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan the author highlights the impact that these toxic gender norms had on all ladies across the globe. The Freudian theory hardened the concept of ‘Anatomy is Her destiny’ in the minds of people across the globe at that time and succeeded to convert this idea into an apparent fact, that trapped so many women at that time and continues to do so even today.

 Women were sold this same idea that they were born to be homemakers through magazines, newspapers, family and the society. Emotions were seen as a weak link and a symbol of failure which further succeeded in categorizing females as the weaker ones due to their show of surplus emotions.

However, even this was the result of these gender norms because women from childhood are always encouraged to enhance their emotional quotient and men are always asked to suppress them.

 Furthering even more, the myth of the man-eating feminist which is prevalent even today, a myth that has cropped up continuously from the days of Lucy Stone to the present, whenever anyone has reason to oppose women’s move out of the home, has played a major role in degrading and discouraging the equal rights feminist movement.

 Feminists began to be classified as man-hating freaks, loveless and alone. The Freudian thought played on living women, twisting the memory of the feminists into the man-eating phantom of the feminine mystique, thus shrivelling the very wish to be more than just a wife and mother.

 Women began to choose not to identify themselves as feminists to evade the judgment, hostility, and social stigma created by the Society that came with being one. Though many daughters continued on the passionate journey their grandmothers had begun, thousands of others fell out and became trapped in the same vicious cycle—victims of a mistaken choice.

 Throughout history, whether it is science, literature, or any other fields of study, men are predominantly the ones who have discovered new intellectually stimulating topics and objects.

What was the reason behind this?

The reason being that men were always encouraged to discover and find their calling and identity whereas women were given their identity and were discouraged from finding herself to keep up the façade of the male being the ‘superior one’ and spreading the idea that women did not have a place in this male-dominated world.

 Ironically, even the term ‘History’ came to be popularly known to have formed from the words ‘His’ ‘Story’ which further strengthened that history was supposed to be written only by males.

 Literature has been a major contributor in shaping history. Folklores, ballads, stories, and other literary forms have played a powerful role in popularising Gender-based assumptions and norms.

 Girls from a young age start visualizing the existence of their knight in shining armour who would rescue her from her miserable and despondent life, thus limiting her to being dependent on somebody from a young age and ingraining in her mind to not have the freedom of independent thoughts and life.

 This concept of ‘Superior male’ has been the birthplace of myriads of social evils that have been prevalent throughout history and even today.

 Child marriages where women were compelled to marry a man twice and thrice her age were a result of this ideology.

The practice of ‘Sati’ which was highly prevalent in many parts of India promoted the belief that a woman did not have a right to live after her husband dies. This belief re-enforced that a woman’s identity was only with respect to her male spouse and that she did not have any sort of self-identity.

Inhuman practices like dowry popularized the association of females with the sentiment of being a burden on the society as a whole.

One of the biggest social evils took place in the form of Domestic Violence.

Many countries across the globe agreed that it was a male’s birth right to ‘mend’ his wife through any means he thought was right so that she bends and behaves in the manner permitted to her by this agathokakological society.

Even today especially during the lockdown, Domestic Violence has increased abysmally but it is still not considered a criminal offense and is expected to not be publicized.

 This ‘construct of gender’ has been an unequal social construct not only for females but for males as well.

The male character was associated with the term masculinity which looked down upon emotions as a weak link and compelled men to suppress their emotions which led to major psychological issues and suicidal deaths.

 Myriads of men were forced to give up their passions and forced to work in the financially booming sectors like science and commerce because of the responsibility of being the sole breadwinner of their family. They were under constant stress and pressure and were forced and taught to be controlling and assertive in order to fit in the rigid and horrendous box of gender created by society.

 These toxic gender norms have caused havoc in the lives of millions of people throughout history. The individuals who belonged to the other gender were perceived as abnormal and were socially excluded and punished. Because of this looming fear of exclusion many people were forced to hide their true identity and had to live their entire life as a lie.

 Global politics played an irreplaceable role in shaping world history. Politics across the globe throughout history has been exceedingly male-dominated. Gender inequality within families, inequitable division of labor within households, and cultural attitudes about gender roles further subjugate women and have been serving to limit their representation in public life for centuries.

 Females were also restricted by reasoning that their anatomy is their destiny and that God had created them that way and they must not go against their nature. When God created Adam and Eve both were blessed with nurturing instincts it is the society that drew the line and created these gender binaries.

 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie once stated and I quote

“The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing who we are”

 The 21st Century was supposed to be a global age where matters of such social and cultural inequality would cease to exist however the reality is far from this.

 This Societal Construction of Gender has been a toxic and vicious force throughout History that has caused more harm than benefit.

 It is of dire importance that we, the citizens of this global world, put an end to these gender norms and expectations that have misled us from attaining our true selves for centuries.

 Aim to put an end to these gender norms that teach us that boys cannot like pink and that girls cannot like blue.

 The same gender norms which have taught young children that a male is always superior to a female.

 Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong. It is time that we perceive gender on a spectrum - instead of two sides of opposing ideals.

 Destroy these toxic gender constructions which have stopped us from being truly human, from being true to ourselves.

 Because above all these societal gender-specific expectations, we are first and foremost humans.

 Let us leave this toxicity behind and move towards a greater vision so that our future generations can look back upon a more beneficial and progressive history.

 

WRITTEN BY 

NIDHI KAMALAPURKAR

 

Author’s Note:

In response to this question I have taken an international approach as well as have mentioned some practices that were exclusive to my country of nationality, India. The essay highlights that the ‘construct of gender’ and its harmful effects are not just an element of past but can also be seen in our daily lives.