SOCI 2240: Women in Society Take-Home Midterm Exam

This assignment, prepared for a Sociology course (SOCI 2240) at Douglas College, delves into the multifaceted roles of women in society, exploring concepts such as gender identity, patriarchy, hegemonic gender, and essentialism. The student's analysis begins with an examination of gender identity as a critical lens for sociological analysis, referencing Simone de Beauvoir's perspective on gender development. It then explores patriarchy's influence on societal sex roles and the emergence of women's rights within modern societal shifts. The assignment also unpacks hegemonic gender and essentialism, with a focus on the impact of these concepts on women's experiences. Section 2 provides responses to various materials, including Harsh Walia's piece on immigrant women of color, a CBS network video about boys' culture, and KPop music. These responses connect theoretical concepts to real-world examples, analyzing issues like gender bias, racism, and the construction of masculinity within different cultural contexts. The student uses the assignment to critically assess the ways in which societal norms and cultural representations shape gender roles and influence individual experiences.

Running head: WOMEN IN THE SOCIETY
WOMEN IN THE SOCIETY
Name of Student
Name of University
Author note

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Section 1:
Gender Identity:
Gender Identity is one of the key factors in understanding the sociological behaviour
towards considering gender as a vantage point for critical analysis. As had believed by
Simone de Beauvoir, a woman is not born a woman, but as she gradually grows up, she
becomes a woman (Siltanen & Doucet, 2008, ch. 1, pp.5). This aspect focuses on the
development of the gender identity in the individuals. Gender is not something which one is
born with, but rather develops as a part of the social construction. Sex and gender are
different objects, of the social order and it is not necessary that the gender and sex be aligned
together.
Patriarchy:
Patriarchy has always one of the most dominant social aspects, which have been used
to define the role of the importance of sex role in the society. The patriarchal society has
always defined the women as lower to their male counterparts and the process of decision
making has always rested in the male dominance (Siltanen & Doucet, 2008 ch. 1, pp. 3). The
imposing of the sex-roles has been criticized over the ages, but no possible remedy has been
developed to counter the problems. However, in the modern shift change in the society,
women have emerged to claim their rights as the true order of the sociological construction.
Hegemonic Gender:
Hegemonic gender is the establishment of a particular gender as the dominant one in
the society. Moreover, it is also considered to be the justification towards the subjugation of
the other gender. Primarily, in the human society, hegemonic masculinity plays the major role
in the societal construction as it tries to legitimize the male causes of dominating the roles in

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the society (Siltanen & Doucet, 2008, ch. 3, pp.1). The feminine attributes are looked down
upon and the power relations of the society flow in one particular direction. It is a useful
concept in understanding the process of social embodiment.
Essentialism:
The concept of essentialism refers to a group of attributes that are used to determine
the validity of an idea. Similarly, in the sociology of gender roles the essentialism of the ideas
of the social construction helps in determining the substance of the subject. The ideas of
feminism, the gender essentialism play an important part in identifying the key essence of a
woman character (Siltanen & Doucet, 2008, ch. 3, pp. 3). However, the perception of feminine
attributes has changed over the time. The new shift has changed some the classical attributes
of the feminine attributes to a more approach, which is to determine various experiences of
women in different cultures.

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Section 2:
Response 1:
Harsh Walia’s piece, ‘Young, Brown and Proud’ is a very powerful message to the
society which highlights the different biased treatments that are faced by the immigrant
women of colour in Canada. According to Walia (2012, pp. 34), the country exploits the
cheap labour that is available due to the immigration of people in the country. However,
Walia also points a more severe fact that the immigrant women are subjected to biasedness
such as low wages, odd working hours, and unsuitable workplaces.
In the Three Shifts identified in Chapter 1 of Siltanen & Doucet one of the most
important aspects that can be related with Walia’s piece is gender identity. This aspect plays a
very important role as it can be seen in Walia’s piece, that the idea of a woman, considered as a
subordinate gender is imposed upon the women by the society (Walia, 2012, pp. 32). The women
put similar efforts like men, but they are paid less. In the Chapter 1, it had been discussed that the
categorization of a sex and gender is improper. A person is born with a sex; however, the person
in the due course of time develops the gender role. Nevertheless, as it seems in the modern
scenario, the person is not allowed to develop the gender naturally by the development of the
skills and abilities. The gender roles are more or less imposed upon the women. The women are
thought to be incapable of certain types of works or are considered as burden to the company.
This results in the underpayment and ill-treatment that are meted out to the. Moreover, the
immigrants are hired for the jobs at lower wages, which is an exploitation of their financial
conditions and necessities. The women immigrants who are of colour are hence exploited in such
a manner which violates the basic human rights. Hence, pre-assumed gender biasness is not a
justified manner of developing a society.
Secondly, the aspect of racism is also dominant in Walia’s piece. Racism is a much
criticized aspect of social construction, where a certain section of people are looked down upon

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based on culture, colour and ethnicity. This is a result of the existent hegemony of the people.
Most of the people of Canada blame the immigrants for the reduction in the jobs for the local
people (Walia, 2012, pp. 38). However, most of the Canadian people do not realise that the
immigrants are underpaid and are intentionally hired by the companies to exploit the cheap labour
and increase their profits. If the system does not change its idea of exploitation, then the basic
human rights will continue to be violated. The idea of freedom for all people is destroyed within
the idea of racism. This racism also leads to the unequal distribution of power, which gives one
group of the society to dominate and explore the other remaining groups.
Response 2:
In the video of the CBS network, it is evident that the organization works hard to find a
boys’ group which focuses on the development of the boys’ culture and attitude towards the
society. The role of gender identity and gender hegemony plays a key part in understanding the
works and purpose of the organization.
There are several boys who are weighted by the pressure of peer questions, all related to
enquire about the progress of the masculinity in them. The questions seem weird; however, it is
actually true the pre-assumed gender role is imposed upon the male section of the society. The
social pressure triggers the masculine traits that are expected to develop automatically, and it
increases the psychological pressure on the individuals. The individuals often feel left out of the
society due to their difference in preferences and it certainly affect the well-beings of them. It is
important for the organization to understand the standpoint of the society and accordingly make
the males, aware of the situation, that it is not improper to have the requirements of that of a girl.
It is not improper for a boy to play with dolls; they should not be frightened to admit it in public.
It is true that their peers or the society might subject them to humiliation, but it is the duty of the
organization to make the victims aware of such issues and provide them with confidence and
courage. Once they are aware of their human rights and be clear of their social dogmas, it will be
very easy for them to shred of the social biasness off their shoulders and be happier in life.

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It is also important for the organization to promote activities, which can aware the society
about the deep-rooted effects of masculine hegemony or any type of gender hegemony in general.
Such regressive mentality is the outcome of the improper education of the children at a very
young age. The masculine hegemony is deeply rooted in the society and needs to be modified in
order to ensure a safe and reliable social construction.
Response 3:
KPop or the Korean Pop music is a very distinctive feature of the Korean society, which
highlights the underlying masculinity of the society. This manufacture of masculinity seems like
a hybrid of different cultures and appears multi-layered and contradictory to each other. The
primary aspect of masculinity that is portrayed in the KPop music videos is those of pretty boys
with softer masculine entities (Manietta, 2015, pp. 5). On the other hand another type of
masculinity, which is represented by a more manly, tough and beastly attitude is also present in
the KPop culture.
Every aspect of the Korean pop music culture defines different aspects of masculinity.
The role playing of the gender distribution of the society is a very important aspect of the social
construction. When the performance of the band, is represented by the different people who seem
to represent the different aspects of masculinity, it is known as distributed masculinity. The
outlooks of the boy bands are very important in this study. The boy bands focus on becoming the
ideal boy band, which can serve as the idol for many (Manietta, 2015, pp. 59). The Korean music
takes care to distinguish the elements of masculinity from that of the feminine attributes. The
polished image of the KPop band members present an ideal image for the Asian population who
are influenced by the looks of these artists. The stereotyping of the image makes an illusionary
image of what an ideal man should look like in order to win the favours of the society, especially
the women. The inability to achieve the idealised look might result in depression in many
individuals. The biasness of ignoring the natural looks of the individual and adopting a more
artificial look in not a very healthy aspect for the society. The existentialism, is dominant in the

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undercurrent of the Korean media presentation, and should stop in order to avoid biasedness in
the society. The manifestation of the cultural identities as masculine entities is the key element of
the Korean stars to establish their popularity (Manietta, 2015, pp. 21).
The exuberant display of masculinity are very much normal in the Korean society. Even
many women have accepted the fact that masculinity is a thing to stay and going against it would
be useless. The ignorance or the inability to accept the natural aspect of a human being only
makes the human being lose his self-confidence. This loss leads to the unnatural balance of the
society, which tends to invest more on the aspects of social biasness than on the development of
talents. But it is difficult for them to understand that the balance of the society is found only in
the equal treatment of both the genders in the process of social construction.

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References:
Walia, H. (2012). Young, Brown and Proud: Personal purpose and political activism. Our
Schools/Our Selves, 21(3).
Siltanen, J., & Doucet, A. (2008). Gender relations in Canada: Intersectionality and beyond.
Oxford University Press, USA.
Manietta, J. B. (2015). Transnational masculinities: The distributive performativity of gender in
Korean boy bands.