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Jhaleel Hill
Professor Ditch
English 114 A
9 December 2014
Pressure of Gender
After reading the two articles, Night to His Day: The Social Construction of
Gender by Judith Lorber and From Women, Men, and Society by Claire Renzetti and
Daniel Curran, I have learned that gender does not equal sex as it is not based on
physiological traits like we are brought up to believe. Furthermore, the common topics
both articles touched upon were on how parents, the media, and society all influence
gender. Because gender is what organizes and constructs society, without it society is
lost. Gender is the fuel that keeps society blazing alive and fierce. Besides, learning about
gender and its affects on society, I relate to both articles based on my own personal
experiences.
Parents are a big influence on gender and the way it is ingrained in our Western
society. Moreover, parents raise children from the start to view themselves as boys or
girls. Most parents-to-be want to find out the sex of their child and once they find out if
they are having a boy or a girl, they start planning out their names. Based on the sex
gender, parents choose a name, the room color, baby showers theme, and practically any
other important part of their child rearing. In other words, the Western society is born and
raised to gender and categorize each other from the beginning. For example, boys and

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girls are dressed accordingly by their genitalia and by the expectations parents have for
their children. Typically, parents treat boys and girls as opposites, by expecting boys to
be tough and girls to be more emotional or in tune with their feeling. Moreover, parents
expect boys to be masculine and girls to be feminine and this how most parents raise their
children.
Another component that makes up gender and the construction of society is the
media. Media plays a big role in our everyday lives and is immensely influential to the
population of the Western society. Additionally, media allows everyone to see new
fashion, trending styles, and what is considered cool and sexy. This occurs as society
looks up to certain celebrities as role models by copying their styles and actions. Every
attire is to depict gender, the way people want to be perceived and viewed by their peers
to the point that people lose their true gender-identity since most are being only
associated with their genitalia.
In the first article, Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender by Judith
Lorber, She states, Gender is so pervasive that in our society we assume it is bred into
our genes (Lorber 19). This states that gender is everywhere in American society and is
how society categorizes people. While this may show that in Western society, people are
ridiculed for being a specific gender that does not fit the norm of male or female, those
who fall out of societys norms, are looked upon as anomalies. In order to feel part of the
social norm, most people conform to them, and believe that gender is something gained at
birth. Moreover, Lorber explains how gender has become so natural to Western society,
to the point where many do not think about it. In addition, she goes over the common
misconception about how Western society views gender as more physiological traits. As

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she defines the difference of sex and gender, she declares, Individuals are born sexed but
not gendered, and they have to be taught masculine or feminine (Lorber 24). Leading
into another topic: that society teaches gender right at birth. This could be why many
babies are dressed only in certain colors, typically blue for boys and pink for girls.
Gender is commonly based on what someone is wearing and how a clothing item is worn.
All of this reflects, that gender is being used throughout society and is how society
organizes itself.
In the second article, From Women, Men, and Society by Claire Renzetti and
Daniel Curran they agree that a major part of gender is clothing: Clothing clearly serves
as one of the most basic ways in which parents organize their childrens world along
gender-specific lines (Renzetti and Curran 78). This describes how gender heavily
influences clothing choices on sex. Furthermore, Renzetti and Curran explain how certain
types of clothing promote sex to act a certain way. More specifically, girls wear dresses
that are fragile which are not supposed to be worn for playing outside, while boys play
rough in clothing items such as shorts. These clothing items are a big influence on how a
sex decides its gender and how society expects gender to act. Moreover, society tries to
distinguish between male and female. When an infant is born a girl, parents opt to pierce
their ears, clothing, and hairstyles. Parents play a big role in teaching the concept of
gender to young kids. Parents teach kids to classify just as society classifies all genders.
In comparison, the two articles relate in many different ways to the topic of how
gender establishes society and keeps society together. Both articles discuss how society
classifies each individual by appearances, clothing, and by body language. Moreover, the
two explain how society has expectations for male and female to act a certain way.

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Society wants everyone to conform and closely resemble social norms. If one chooses to
be a nonconformist he/she would be heavily ridiculed by society. Both articles addressed
sexism in society and how unequal treatments are made between male and female.
Society has expectations, such as men are tough and women are more emotional.
However, these fail to be true for both sexes.
Both articles triggered some memories and many experiences I have had by living
in the Western society. For example, being labeled as one of a more feminine gender by
society, as I was called a metrosexual. I was labeled a metrosexual because I tend to take
care of my body, like to smell good, and wear more colorful clothing than most men.
After being called a metrosexual, I first had to look up the actual definition to know what
I was being called. Later, I found out what it meant and immediately felt anger and
uncomfortable with the term. As of now, I am more confident about this quality and
embrace that I am a metrosexual.
My parents never pressured my sister and I to be a specific gender. We both
eventually chose our own paths in gender. My parents would let me play with any toy I
wanted to pick up, but I was never interested in Barbies. I invested my time playing with
Legos, balls and action figures. As a child I didnt know I was acting a certain gender, I
just knew I was happy. And happiness was my parents only wish for my sister and I;
their wish wasnt for the both of us to be either masculine or feminine. They believed
happiness and confidence was the most important thing to a child. To embrace the gender
labels of people and to know it is just a way of organization in Western society. Without
gender, society would crumble apart as a whole. This is because gender is what organizes
and constructs the western society, as parents, or the media influence.

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Works Cited
Curran, Daniel. "From Women, Men, and Society." Composing Gender. By Claire
Renzetti. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 76-84. Print.
Lorber, Judith. "Night to His Day?: The Social Construction of Gender." Composing
Gender. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 19-30. Print.