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The Dynamism of Two-Gender System
The concept two-gender system refers to the classification of sex and gender into two forms of masculine and feminine. The system provides the description of a given society on how an individual may either fit or not fit in the gender roles. In this case, gender is the social conceptualization of a male or female in the society. On the other hand, sex is the understanding of a person as male or female in reference to the biological features. In addition, masculine means the qualities of typical men while feminine refers to the attributes of typical women. The two- gender system seems natural and according to Macmillan English Dictionary International Student Edition (2002), it defines the term “natural” as, “reasonable or expected in a particular situation.”(p.943) Therefore, we consider the two-gender system as more realistic in the context of a given society. In spite of this, we note this has not been so all the time and in various communities in the World (Grewal & Kaplan, 2005).The expectation is that the society should accord both gender the equity they deserve without any discrimination.
In the socio-cultural context, we observe various communities have their own approaches of how they perceive masculinity or femininity. Gender as a system constitutes the difference and organizes inequality. It is because of this difference that cultural beliefs define the distinguishing characteristics of both men and women, and how they should behave (Ridgeway & Correll 2004); we may perceive this as the norm but it has not been so always. For instance, Ridgeway and Correll (2004) found that, “Men are viewed as more status worthy and competent overall and more competent at the things that "count most"(e.g., instrumental rationality).Women are seen as less competent in general but "nicer" and better at communal tasks even though these tasks themselves are less valued .”” (p.513) on the contrary, there are women who are more competent when we compare them to men even in issues that the societies perceive to be a preserve of the males. For example, in political leadership we have states that have collapsed under men’s leadership with others flourishing in the governance of women as heads of state and/or government.
Different societies in the World also have divergent views on the issue of competence. For example, in African America community women are relatively competent than men. This contradicts the universal expectation that men should be more competent. In fact, with the trends of equity and equality both gender are at par and none is superior or inferior to the other, the point here is both should have equal opportunities. Ridgeway and Correll (2004) points out that, “The modern-day girl power movement is one example of an attempt to present a stronger image of girls, thereby reducing the differentiation between girls and boys” (p.514) this substantially explains the view of the proponents of feminism theory who champion for equality among the sexes. They therefore, overlook the feminisms’ approach whose concern is on the power relations and social change, which may be superficial in terms of individual concerns.
Moreover, there are disciplines that communities construe as masculine especially the science-based ones like medicine, engineering, and mathematics while others as feminine namely teaching, nursing and secretarial among others. Despite various people including some scholars agreeing with this, time and reason has proven this argument wrong. We observe that today females are pursuing science related courses and there are males who are joining nursing, teaching and midwifery. This shift of attitude seems to have facilitated the uproar at the academic conference in Cambridge when the President of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers remarked that innate difference between men and women might be a reason why fewer women triumph in science and mathematics careers (Bombardieri 2005).
The religious institutions also seem to fix the limitations of masculinity and femininity as in their specific traditions and teachings. For example, we note there are religions that do not allow women to join the clergy while in others it is not an issue. Those in support of this seem to look down upon the women as weak in leading the congregation. They tend to agree with the two-gender system and its limitations. On the contrary, we are observing some revolution in these religions by them introducing women into the clergy. They are now supporting equity and equality in the context of acknowledging both the male and female as equals before the Creator.
Countries are also changing their legal framework to accommodate the change of time and reasoning as regards masculinity and femininity. Previously, the statute did not allow same sex unions but currently we are seeing states adopting legislation that promotes this phenomenon. Gradually, those anti this movement are accommodating the principle. On the other hand, laws use to accord citizenship to a woman from another nation married by their citizen while the vice versa was an unacceptable. Today countries are accepting dual citizenship to justify the change of period and thoughts on this issue.
In conclusion, we point out that though two-gender system appears reasonable and acceptable per se it is not so at all times and all over the World. The reasons here being societies have different cultural beliefs that dictate the conceptualization of men and women. There is also change of time and perception of issues. As time moves, people are discovering a lot with an aim of understanding life and dealing with its challenges hence the changes discussed above.
References
Bombardieri, Marcella. (2005, January 17). Summers' Remarks on Women Draw Fire. Globe staff. Cambridge.
Grewal, Inderpal & Kaplan, Caren. (2005). An introduction to women's studies: Gender in a transnational world. McGraw Hill.
Plc, Reference and Electronic Media Division of Bloomsburry Publishing. (2002). Macmillan english dictionary for advanced learners international student edition. London: Macmillan Publisher Ltd.
Ridgeway, L. Cecilia & Correll N. Shelley (2004). Unpacking the gender system: A theoretical perspective on gender beliefs and social relations. Gender and Society Vol. 18 No. 4, 510-531.
