All societies and cultures place a great emphasis on the differences between males and females

All societies and refinings f tout ensemble out a great emphasis on the differences ming guide with antherals and fe priapics. When a baby is born we catego pinch its sex activity as macrocosm all young-begetting(prenominal) or effeminate, or of either being a girl or a boy, and depending on which of these categories you f either in to go forth father a huge c ar on how your life will evolve. Some grassroots facts plenty serve as starting points. The unique reproductive capacities of effeminates ordinarily mark their lives by work forcestruation, pregnancy, parturition, lactation, and menopause.Males ar, on average, larger and have greater bodily strength than female persons in the same population. The burden of evidence also indicates that males are much aggressive, although this is non as well established as the facts of physiologic morphology and reproductive capacity (Nadelson, pg 3, 1991) However, as Nadelson states none of these capacities or apparen t(a) predispositions are uniformly translated into adaptive outcomes across human populations because of variations in technology, socioeconomic organisation, and cultural values.Female reproduction piece of ass be halted by chastity or infertility or delayed by the use of contraception, and lactation can be avoided by using infant formula. The strength of males can diminish as machinery becomes available to do the impenetrable work. The aggressiveness of girlish males, though valuable for defence can become socially turbulent if at that rear end is no need for local troops. Behavioural differences between boys and girls can be reduced in later childhood when they are embossed together and boys perform tasks watchd as maidenlike.Thus the existence of gender specific capacities does not predict how or to what extent they will be used for purposes of adaptation. (Nadelson, pg 4, 1991) Field work carried out by anthropologists inside non western societies provide support fo r this point, in the East African highlands, where ploughs and animals are absent, the heavy work of cultivation is done largely by women. The same women transfer 50-pound loads on their heads oer considerable distances, in addition to bearing and raising children and managing their homes.Anthropologists use the term socialisation as a imagination to mean the teaching that prepares the young to be competent members of their purchase order. Training children to turmoil gender roles and to internalise the benefits and values appropriate to performing their roles in all situations and social instructions is a primary job of socialisers the world over. (Herdt, pg 68, 1987) end-to-end history m each people have long since implored to what extent culture can shape gender and what influences gender identity.The physical appearance of someone, the representation they dress and how they act are all supposed to be characteristics of being either male or female. All cultures have accept able roles found on the sex of the individual and these roles are determined by a souls position within their family and troupe. Many argue that gender roles are culturally rather than biologically produced and whiles a persons sex refers to biological differences between male and females, it is through gender socialisation that a person acquires his or her gender.It is through this process that a person learns what is masculine and feminine, and how to act accordingly, dependant on the surroundings he or she is in. (www. sociology. org. uk/tecelth. htm) Giddens states that when speaking of sexual differences we are distinguishing between males and females, when speaking of gender it is between masculine and feminine. The content of the male / female distinction is genetically determined and largely universal, whereas the content of the masculine / feminine distinction is culturally determined and highly variable. Giddens, pg 148, 1987)Depending on the nightclub in which we l ive depends on the activities and characteristics donated to males and females, and while these may be deemed as immanent within their own unique culture this may not be so throughout all of society. An example of this being the rituals carried out within the Sambia, an initiation reads place were the main purpose is to make boys big and bullocky and to make them aggressive warriors. They have to be removed from their mothers and other females as this will also remove their feminine traits, much(prenominal) as constraint and crying.The initiation process involves ridding them of these feminine traits and unlearning all of their so far learnt behaviour. They have to learn how to be masculine. However, this is also a slight two change surface initiation in that the Sambia believe that as the male body is unequal to(p) of producing semen it has to be externally acquired, as the presence of semen in the body is a mansion of masculinity. The semen is digested orally, provided by older members of the mens room secret society.The boys will never be allowed back to theirs mothers again and will remain with the other male members of the tribe throughout their childhood, teenage long time and early manhood. The female is seen as weaker and the boys can not be allowed to be weakened by her. (Herdt, pg 68, 1987) As has already been identified different societies define gender roles in a variety of different federal agencys, however what is clear is that regardless of culture or society, males tend to always have more power and more authority than women. Giddens, pg 149, 1987)Anthropologists such as George Peter Murdoch argue that biological differences such as the greater physical strength of men and the fact that women bear children lead to a sexual division of cave in in society. Murdoch surveyed 224 societies and found that tasks such as hunting, lumbering and mining are commonly part of the male role, while cooking and child commission were usually assig ned to the women.Murdoch states that women were handicapped by the physiological burdens of pregnancy and nursing. (Haralambos, pg 267, 1986) The rise of the Womens Liberation Movement have contributed to the criticism that gender roles are cause by biology, and more are now arguing that the roles of men and women are determined by culture and are therefore learned as part of the socialisation process, and ultimately there is nothing natural closely the roles that women play.It is all learnt behaviour, and as Marjorie Garber states in Vested Interest (1991) the reason that that female to male transgendered people are not generally seen as that remarkable as their male to female equivalents is because it is quite normal in our male rule culture for a woman to want to become a man, as it is still recognised that social power is closely often machine-accessible to being male.Even Sigmund Freuds hypothesis on gender was based on the idea that the self-possession of a penis reflec ts masculinity and power, and being female means simply being absent of a penis. Girls, he states conform to from penis envy and due to this they under value their mothers position in the family because she lacks a penis. The father is therefore generally in power and makes all females within the family exact a submissive attitude.This is referred to by Freud as the Electra Complex. Freuds theory comes in for a lot of criticism by many, as most of his analysis is based solely on biological differences, namely the ownership of a penis. However, as Mark Johnson ensnareed whilst carrying out fieldwork in the southern Philippines the ownership of a penis is not always a sign of masculinity and it is rather what is done with it.The bantut he discovered was thought of by almost all of the community as a man who was either sexually impotent in some way, or who had a clear penis, or who was unable to have or sustain an erection (Johnson, pg 94, 1997) It could not be conceived that the bantut chose this way of life and the desire to be elegant and sensual, to take care over their appearance, to appreciate beauty, to be vulnerable and protected, to be fond and caring, to be coy and flirtatious.As in many cultures there are two types of gender, male and female, masculine or feminine. Transgender is a term that has over recent years entered the vocabulary as a term to record to anyone not covered by the term, man or woman (www. glbthistory. org/ round/ourstory/tg-at-hs. lasso) However, it should be noted that transgender people, on with homosexuals, women and any number of racial and heathen groups have joined the ranks of being publicly recognised minorities. www. badsubjects. com/issueno7/1993/annaleenewitz)In Cross-Dressing and Re-Dressing cross dressing as Metaphor, Gilbert and Gubar remark that both Violet Trefusis and Vita Sackville- west wrote about their experiences of there being more than one possibility of opposite genders In 1920, when Vita Sackville West looked back on her exuberant impersonation of the wounded soldier, Julian during the height of her government agency war love affair with Violet Trefusis, she was bemused.She had experienced herself, she remembered, as dwell by several sexes I hold the conviction that as centuries go on the sexes will become more nearly merged on account of their increasing resemblances (Gilbert & Gumar, pg 324, 1989) Clearly, this has not happened, eighty six years on and although, although it is not illegal for a man to wear womens clothing, we would certainly not appear to be moving towards a gender free, multi-gender or however gender-balanced society, despite living in an age were hairstyles and clothing have such a huge impact on how we perceive a person and their individuality.Why in the twenty first century is it still more acceptable for a man to carry a knife than to wear womens clothes, and why is it still so clear that they are womens clothes. (Suthrell, pg 9, 2004) The area of g ender is a genuinely confusing and at times very obscure one. It appears that studies throughout history have shown that there are explicit differences between sex and gender and that it is society which transforms biological males and females into sociological men and women.Children it appears discover their gender identity from their parents and parents construct their identity by ensuring that they pursue interests and adopt mannerisms that are stereotypical of a male or female within their society. This means that from a very early age the child knows which gender category he or she falls into. In Western society it could be argued that the media plays a huge role in depicting how males and females should behave, with women usually portrayed in the traditional role of mother and wife, or damoiselle in distress.Indeed, many fairytales, which have a huge influence on children still tend to portray men as the heroic male, who along with saving the planet will ultimately also have to action the female too. Even in non Western societies were the media have very petty or no influence gender roles are still very apparent, Ian Hogbins account of childbirth and the role of men in a modern Guinea villages gives an account of men supposedly being too sticky and unskilled to minister to a tiny infant, and therefore, the father does not daub his young offspring.After about two weeks the women may give it to him for a few minutes, but six months elapse before he holds it for any length of time. (Hogbin, pg 58, 1963) From birth this child will know his or her place within the village and thus history continues to repeat itself. Nobody within the village will question why things are done this way and social pressure will ensure that this is how things continue.It could therefore be fictive that it is in fact social pressure which ensures that most within society conform to the gender role bequeathed to them, a role which they are led to believe is normal and this is why those who elect their own gender, whether that be male, female or something entirely different are usually pushed out of society and not accepted.