Gender itself is a social construct but it goes much deeper than that. It’s something that is rooted with every day activity, how we perceive our family, friends and especially ourselves. It’s a concept that was made a long time ago that has slowly evolved into something more but the fundamentals of it stay the same.
In Iris Marion Young’s “Throwing like a Girl,” it discussed how there is a “remarkable difference in the manner of throwing of the two sexes.” This is just scraping the surface of how these types of mannerisms and phrases are so ingrained in our minds. When you think of “throwing like a girl” the thing that most people think of is a girl throwing with just her arm and with little to no strength because we are taught to leave sports to boys. It is taught that it is a more masculine trait to be athletic or be strong and that is what makes a man. As the opposite, being weak is associated with being more feminine and that is what makes a woman. These beliefs are everywhere in life, from something simple as throwing a ball to something much more important such as our opportunities in this society when getting jobs and respect from your fellow workers.
Why is this? That is a question I always asked myself every year and every time there is a reason to question it. Why must I be weak to be seen as a girl? Why do I have to wear these clothes labeled feminine to be seen as a girl? Why do I have to be seen as a girl at all? I usually spiral into questions and end up with all different answers. It’s society, it’s my family, it’s our beliefs or it’s just me. These are a lot of questions for just one person but not so much for one society, but to remedy centuries of submitting to one belief, we first have to start with ourselves before it could become a movement.
I thought your point about gender being a social construct was really interesting, especially how you connected it to everyday things like clothing, sports, and how people are expected to behave. Your connection to Young’s “Throwing Like a Girl” also shows how these expectations can become so normal that we may not even question where they came from. I especially liked your questions about why being weak or wearing feminine clothing has to determine whether someone is seen as a girl. It makes me wonder how much of gender is something we personally choose versus something we learn from the people around us. Do you think people would have very different ideas of what it means to be a man or woman if they grew up without these social expectations?