How Social Constructs of Culture, Education, and Religion Influence Our Views on Gender

Gender and Sexuality
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Introduction
In this study of gender, we explore the enormous impact that social constructions like culture, education, and religion have on how we perceive and comprehend gender. This essay will explore how these cultural influences form our perspectives on gender by maintaining certain conventions, assumptions, and expectations by examining three readings from the textbook "The Gendered Society." To encourage a more thorough understanding and evaluation of the gender assumptions we all make, this essay will illuminate the intricate fabric that culture, education, and religion have woven via this creative tale.
Culture
Gendered marriage is depicted as women actively seeking marriage to ensure their future and celebrating their achievement in "landing" a man. Men, on the other hand, are forced into marriage and regret their lost freedom. These differing views reflect marriage's gender roles and expectations. For example, a bachelor party before the wedding represents the groom's last night of freedom. Smoking cigars, drinking, and watching adult entertainment are common, and these traditions suggest that marriage hinders men's independence and happiness while benefiting women (KIMMEL, 2016, p. 163). Sociological research questions this cultural narrative and suggest that marriage benefits males more than women, according to research. Married men are happier, healthier, and wealthier than unmarried guys.
Additionally, men also divorce less and remarry quickly. The conventional family division of labor, where women do pay and unpaid work, explains this gender gap in marital advantages. Thus, males have more career time and emotional support from their wives. Women may receive less emotional and domestic support, creating gender imbalance in marriages.
Education
Chapter Seven on Traditional Education for Manhood discusses women's education and co-education. Education was mostly for upper-class boys and adults in America in the 18th century. Biological concerns were used to exclude women from higher education as they said education would give women "monstrous brains and puny bodies" and reproductive system abnormalities. These ideas supported gender exclusion and gender roles. Victorian opponents of women's education said women could not handle higher education and would not want it. They believed men and women had distinct minds and needed different educational environments. They believed co-education would "define" women and "demasculinize" men (KIMMEL, 2016, p. 206). Co-education was also feared to decrease college quality by ...