Gender roles as a social, not biological, construct?

Question

Tell me if the following article doesn't underscore the fact that most of gender is social.

The New York Times today reports on a fascinating ancient Albanian custom in which a girl, in a family short on sons, can vow to be a virgin forever, cut off her hair, dress like a man and enjoy all the traditional rights (and yes, responsibilities) of being a man.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/world/europe/25virgins.html?em&ex=1214625600&en=7d4505e7e7a7f6c2&ei=5087%0A

Please read the article before you comment.

Answer 1

You know...this argument could easily be ended with science, we waste time looking for articles supporting our views when all we have to do is pick up a biology text book, sure a woman can cut her hair like a man, wear clothes like a man and even sleep with girls like a man but in the end she is still a woman, the same applies to men, i think people are so stuck on this equality thing that they categorically refuse to look at our biological differences even when they are painfully obvious (if they mixed boxing between genders with the same rules for both sexes men will still be more likely than women to be champions simply because biologically men have the advantage in this sport) i believe that feminism was about equality of opportunity in the pursuit of happiness but nowdays i see feminists trying to prove that men and women are exactly the same and exactly capable of doing the same things with the exact same results and such statement is simply asinine if you look at it from a scientific perspective, men do not breastfeed and have periods and women on average are not stronger or even as strong as the average male, no matter how many andrea dworkin books a feminist might have read, i do believe that some gender roles are out dated and do not belong in the modern world but it is silly to see some people who try to make women exactly like men instead of embracing their qualites as women.

edit: I do understand where you are coming from, but honestly that does not disprove scientific fact, the kind of woman described in the article in essence fits the modern day butch L*****n/tomboy i have tons of galpals that do stuff with the boys and act and are treated like men, but that does not stop their periods from coming every month, that does not prevent them from developing breast milk when they get pregnant, all i am trying to say is that no matter how much one tries to disregard differences between genders there will always be biological differences that cannot be disregarded nor ignored and those differences will always play a role in the way the two genders relate to one another.

Answer 2

A few exceptions don't prove anything.  While it is true that the environment and socialization do play a big role in human life, there are still biological differences between the sexes that influence and shape their behaviors and lead to certain gender roles. So to say that gender is purely or mosty a "social construct" is very inaccurate

Answer 3

You are using a global social anomaly to prove a point something that supposedly applies to everybody?  If it weren't biological, it wouldn't be such a newsworthy oddity.

By your logic, women having s*x is also a social construct, not biological.

Answer 4

it's not about forcing stereotypes

there are some things women's brains are not cut out for - this includes physics, complex mathematics and science & logic.

Answer 5

That article was very interesting, and so stupid.  That's a dumb tradition, I'm sorry.  

I didn't need to read the article to know that the majority of gender is social and not biological.  We are taught to be our gender when we are young.  We are trained up to think that we have to act a certain way.  Some parents do allow their kids to just be who they are.  But society will still intervene thru modern communication.  

Thank you for the article.

Answer 6

As far as gender being a social construct.  A few exceptions can't really prove it.  Seeing that things like gayness are not in line with nature.  But assuming people are born g*y (as in, not a social construct), then we know that there are exceptions to nature in circulation.  The trick is that society accepts it rather than forbids it.

Just because a few people are born different with different urges does not mean that they were altered by society.  It simply is their own personal biological nature.

On a side note:  So the Albanians had feminists before feminism was even born....  interesting.

Answer 7

Great article Tracey.   I find it amazing that the society accepted these new men without question.

I find it interesting that they had to promise to remain virgins.   And its really odd that one of them that they interviewed is near my age.

Answer 8

How so?  It states nothing but the choice to go against gender roles.  No where does it state facts as the whether or not this is biological or social.  One instance or cultural alternatives within a culture show nothing.  Thousands of years do.

EDIT- Cass and Erick ARE understanding it.  Quit trying to find small instances that "prove" your point.  What you are doing is like using a phenomenon of snow in July in New York and then saying it is natural for New York to get snow in July....its not.

Answer 9

Yes, but she's got to remain a virgin in order to do it.  No 'juggling' for her.  That is very traditional.

Answer 10

GENDER is a social construct.

s*x is a biological construct.

It is NATURAL for the two to be entwined. If they are not, then it is typically the result of a deliberate attempt to dissociate the two.

Answer 11

It is a very interesting story about a "nice hack" how rural Albanian society adapted a "fix" for a real problem without compromising it's patriachial power structure.

I know that Norse societies in viking times dealt with practical requirements by simply allowing women to own property and inherit and will property and invest and trade and offer professional services like scribe and reckoner.

I Really don't think that the viking men felt threatened by this female independance.  :)

But some of the answers here just show how truely ignorant some people can be. s*x is a biological fact of reproduction. Gender is a set of social behavioural patterns and traits. How hard can that be to get?