Social Construction of Reality

1
Social Construction of Reality

• Theory Post-Modernism
• Abstract thoughts
• Applications to Gender Relations
• How did I get to be gendered?

2
Social Construction of Reality

• Our view of reality may not be entirely, or even
  mainly, rational" or objective but may rather be
  a Human/Social Construction of Reality that is
  itself based on the promptings and cues provided
  by innate Human Nature.

3

• We take our everyday world for granted
• Originates in thoughts and actions, we maintain
  these realities as we live, as we think and act
• Because reality is in our heads, it is then
  embedded in the inter-subjective meanings (we
  share an idea of reality)
• Part A I know the world consists of multiple
  realities
• Part B I move from one reality to another
• Part C I experience this transition as a kind of
  shock
• Part D My attentiveness and perspective shift

4

• Here and now normal
• Tools
• Beliefs God is an old man
• In this class, you experience a shift in the here
  and now
• God is or might be a SHE

5
Application

• Gendered Identities
• Socially constructed, both voluntarily and
  involuntarily
• Forced, sanctioned, physically beaten into acting
  one way
• Ex. Gay Bashing
• Becoming gendered can be easy or torturous
• Suppress their sense of themselves to survive

6
Gender

• Definition of Gender
• Is a set of activities
• Is something we do
• It is a managed property
• We dont have it, we do it.
• We do it in every situation, in every
  interaction, and in every institution.
• We bring gender, we produce our gender and we
  keep re-producing it.

7
Gender Identity

• Based on differences
• Based on power