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The idea that gender difference is socially constructed is a view present in many philosophical and sociological theories about gender. According to this view, society and culture create gender roles, and these roles are prescribed as ideal or appropriate behaviour for a person of that specific gender. Stronger versions argue that the differences in behavior between men and women are entirely social conventions, whereas other versions believe that behaviour is defined by biological universal factors to some extent, but that social conventions also have some effect on gendered behaviour. Other theories claim that there are more genders than just the two most commonly accepted (male and female). ==Basic concepts== ===Social constructionism=== (詳細はSocial constructionism, briefly, is the concept that there are many things that people “know” or take to be “reality” that are at least partially, if not completely, socially situated.〔Berger, P. & Luckmann, T. (1967) The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise on the Sociology of Knowledge. London; Penguin.〕 For example, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker〔Pinker, Steven. ''The Blank Slate : The Modern Denial of Human Nature''. Penguin Books, 2002, p. 202〕 writes that "some categories really are social constructions: they exist only because people tacitly agree to act as if they exist. Examples include money, tenure, citizenship, decorations for bravery, and the presidency of the United States." The basic assumptions of social constructionism, as described by Marecek, Crawford & Popp,〔 are: #(1) ''Social constructionism is a theory of knowledge''. Social Constructionism focuses on how meaning is created. Emerging from the criticism of Objectivity, Social Constructionism challenges concepts of knowledge put forward by Positivism, which postulates the externality of reality and that empirically-proved truths are mind-independent.〔Gergen, K. J. 1985, The Social Constructionist Movement in Modern Psychology. ‘’American Psychologist’’, 40(3), pp. 266-275.〕 According to Marecek, Crawford & Popp knowledge is an "account of reality produced collaboratively by a community of knowers"〔 Thus, Social Constructionism focuses on how meaning is created. #(2) ''Knowledge is a social product''. According to Marecek, Crawford & Popp knowledge is an "account of reality produced collaboratively by a community of knowers".〔 Thus, social constructionists focus on how meaning is created and suggest that knowledge is not only a social product, but a product of a specifically situated society; various accounts of reality depend on place and time – in order to study knowledge as a social product, one has to historicize and contextualize the given description of reality. #(3) ''Power and hierarchy underlie social construction''. This focus results in showing how individuals differ in status, entitlement, efficacy, self-respect and other traits based on the kind of interactions one is involved in and subjected to. #(4) ''Language is at the core of knowledge''. Language is considered the building block of culture; it conveys meaning and creates the system of knowledge we participate in. Ultimately, language has a huge influence on how we perceive reality and, as a result, is the creator of this reality. #(5) ''Social construction is a dynamic process''. Social constructionists emphasize the complexity of how knowledge is created in social interactions. Knowledge and meanings are not stable or constant; they are co-constructed in interactions with others, negotiated, modified and shifted. People are active in their perception, understanding and sharing of knowledge acquired from their social milieu. It is prudent therefore to consider this process when explaining the social construction of knowledge, including knowledge concerning gender. #(6) ''The individual and society are indissoluble''. Social constructionists question the Western idea of an autonomous individual who can draw a clear line between the self and the society. According to social constructionism, individuals can create meaning only in relation to what they are exposed to in their environment. Paradoxically, the same individuals co-create the meanings that are available in this environment. Marecek et al. conclude therefore that the society and the individual are indissoluble and mutually constitutive. Alsop, Fitzsimmons & Lennon〔Alsop, R., Fitzsimmons, A., & Lennon, K. ''Theorizing Gender''. Polity Press, 2002, pp. 64-93)〕 also note that the constructionist accounts of gender creation can be divided into two main streams: # ''Materialist theories'', which underline the structural aspects of the social environment that are responsible for perpetuating certain gender roles; # ''Discursive theories'', which stress the creation, through language and culture, of meanings that are associated with gender. They also argue that both the materialist and discursive theories of social construction of gender can be either essentialist or non-essentialist. This means that some of these theories assume a clear biological division between women and men when considering the social creation of masculinity and femininity, while other contest the assumption of the biological division between the sexes as independent of social construction. ===Gender=== (詳細はgender was adopted as means of distinguishing between biological sex and socialized aspects of femininity and masculinity.〔Marecek, J., Crawford, M., & Popp, D. 2004, On the Construction of Gender, Sex, and Sexualities. In A.H. Eagly, A.E. Beall, & R.J. Sternberg (Eds.), ‘’The Psychology of Gender’’ (pp. 192-216). New York: Guilford Press.〕 Moreover, gender was considered achieved and more or less stable after it is acquired in early childhood. Contemporary constructionist perspective, as proposed by Fenstermaker and West, proposes treating gender as an activity (“doing”) of utilizing normative prescriptions and beliefs about sex categories based on situational variables. These “gender activities” constitute our belonging to a sex as based on the socially accepted dichotomy of “women” and “men”. It is noted, however, that these activities are not always perceived (by the audience) as being either “masculine” or “feminine”, they are at constant risk of being assessed as more or less “womanly” or “manly”; ultimately, any behavior may be judged based upon its “manly” or “womanly” nature. “Doing gender” is in fact based on these interactions that are constituted of ongoing assessments in various situations. This in turn points to the situational nature of gender rather than its inherent, essentialist and individual nature. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Social construction of gender difference」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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