Social construction is a broad concept that can be defined
many different ways and related to a variety of subjects. Ross Haenfler’s
article discusses social deviance and how it is portrayed. In relating that to
social constructionists theories he states, “social constructionist theories
treat deviance as subjective rather than objective.” He explains this to mean
that deviance is not automatically understood, but it is constructed and is
subject to change (Haenfler). This is one explanation of social construction,
but it is varied throughout different texts.
Judith
Lorber writes about social construction in relation to gender in her article Night to His Day. She states, “Most
people find it hard to believe that gender is constantly created and re-created
out of human interaction, out of social life, and is the texture and order of
that social life.” In other words, the social construction of what is normal
can change, which is a concept that is typically unfamiliar. She also states,
“These odd or deviant or third genders show us what we ordinarily take for
granted – that people have to learn to be women and men...” It has been
socially constructed that females are raised as females and males are raised as
males and that is it, but people are beginning to learn that this can change
throughout life. In other words, this social construction may be beginning to
change.
In the TED
Talk, “Understanding the Complexities of Gender” by Sam Killermann, he speaks
about gender and sexuality and how they are two separate ideas. He begins by
explaining how the gender construction began, in school, separating groups of
boys and girls and enforcing what each group should be interested in. He
describes the absurdity of this by stating, “7 billion individual identities, simplified
into two,” and, “gender isn’t really that simple, it’s true, in fact there are
as many version of gender as there are number of you.” People have typically
viewed gender as the physical parts that you were born with, so this has been
the social construction of what gender is. Throughout these different texts, we
can see that this is beginning to change.
Each of
these texts has something in common; that social construction is subject to
change. Whether they are talking about deviance or gender and sexuality, they
all can be created and re-created, and learned throughout social life. I
completely agree with this because I have seen these changes. While reading the
texts, I was really interesting in Lorber’s article and Killermann’s TED Talk,
because I can relate to them. I have lived with two gay roommates for almost
two years now and have been influenced by many different situations that I had
never experienced before. They are friends with a few individuals who were born
male, but identify as female and are making the transition. Because of the
social construction that has been put in place, this is not considered normal. I
believe that if more people started taking into consideration that social
construction is subject to change, then it wouldn’t be so different when these
changes started occurring. This would include less pressure and harm for
individuals going through those changes.
Haenfler,
Ross. "Chapter 2 Skinheads-The Symbolism of Style and Ritual." Goths,
Gamers, Grrrls. 2nd ed. 13, 14, 23-25. Print.
