McCann 1

Kathleen McCann - Kem99391

Prof. Beadle
English 115
15 September 2015
Societal Hierarchy
Societys impact on the way each individual grows up and that childhood gender is
established after shaping not allowing for natural development only molding. The common
theme in Rethinking Womens Biology by Ruth Hubbard, Becoming Members of Society:
The Social Meanings of Gender by Aaron Devor, and No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like
That: Parents Responses to Childrens Gender Nonconformity by Emily Kane from
Composing Gender is societys effect on developing gender and how this separates the superior
gender from the inferior gender because of biological comparisons, natural gender
understanding, and hierarchical views of each gender.
The role of male versus female and gender shaping lies in the assumption that women are
biologically inferior to males which is challenged in Rethinking Womens Biology by Ruth
Hubbard. Biologically, men and women have only very little variances in physical stature. In
height, Ruth points out that when we say men are taller than women they are referring to mens
height being a few inches greater..than women and that overall women and men are about the
same height cancelling the statistical assumption that men are taller than women (Hubbard 47).
The only reason for the muscle differences in physical stature is societys classification of boys
and girls games allowing boys to develop and appear larger than women. Research shows that
boys tend to grow their upper body strength more through carrying loads, playing baseball and
wrestling while girls are supposed to participate much less than boys are (Hubbard 49). The

McCann 2
constant movement and work out of these areas are what stimulate certain muscles more than
others. Girls are supposed to run a lot, and [play] hopscotch and skipping rope [which] are
considered girls games (Hubbard 49). By separating activities based on gender and
conditioning young girls to believe girls dont play rough sports and forcing boys to be tougher it
physically alters the physical stature of each child. The gender stereotype that men are larger,
stronger, and tougher than women is a mere conditioned ideal.
The piece Becoming Members of Society by Aaron Devor speculates that children
learn and classify themselves by connecting with those seeming to be most similar but dont
understand gender until much later in life. Parents present their children with the rights and
wrongs for their gender as heterosexual individuals. Moving through the stages of progression,
society demands different gender performances from us and rewards, tolerates, or punishes us
differently for conformity to, or digression from, social norms conditioning children which
gender they are supposed to relate to (Devor 35). Children learn gender as roles through parents,
siblings of the same gender, and other adults as their tools to shape what gender should and
should not be. Children, in their early stages, learn their cultures social definitions of gender
and gender identity at the same time that they learn what gender behaviors are appropriate for
them by watching those closest which they identify with (Devor 36). Children do not fully
understand the concept of gender and what it means until later in development. Gendering
society to form a hierarchal status with masculinity on top and females below it similar to how
men are shown in statistics to be superior biologically to women is also what is learned when
placed in masculine and feminine roles. In society, being male meant displaying dominance and
aggression and being female means femininity by passivity and submission (Devor 39).
Women are supposed to be submissve to males who are told to dominate and use aggression to

McCann 3
dominate others. Society places each person in categories based on these traits and labels their
actions accordingly.
When society separates and places an emphasis on which gender a child should identify
themselves with while shunning the feminine aspects allows for the possibility of discrimination
upon the weaker gender identity. In No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That: Parents
Responses to Childrens Gender Nonconformity by Emily Kane, childrens gender shaping and
the shunning of femininity in young boys and masculinity in girls creates improper bias on which
gender is superior to the other. Throughout childhood, parents try to steer their childs gender and
sexuality through the games and items each child plays with. Many adults who are confronted
with their sons choosing a Barbie doll they respond with, no, you dont want [that], girls play
with [that], boys play with trucks changing their natural selection conditioning them what is
right and what is wrong (Kane 94). By deciding what children play with and steering their
opinions towards what is classified as correct for their gender they are shaping their children to
fit into societys mold. One set of parents handled a childs want for Barbie by [getting] him a
NASCAR Barbie so that hes still playing with cars (Kane 94). Even though these small
compromises dont seem like they make a difference they play a role in how children learn what
gender should be. The idea that Barbie is more masculine acceptable because she drives a car
still creates a hierarchal state that Barbie cannot be like a guy until she does what guys do.
Another parent has a son who prefers the Ken doll and he plays with Ken and does boy things
with Ken which is acceptable to the parent however they said they would start to worry and try
to do something to turn it around because in their eyes a boy who likes to play with girl toys is
going to become feminine (Kane 94).Both Heterosexual and Homosexual parents try to shape
their childrens gender because they do not want their son to be seen as feminine. Kane found a

McCann 4
claim in Kimmels (1994, 119) previously noted claim that the notion of anti-femininity lies at
the heart of contemporary and historical constructions of manhood (Kane 92). The way boys are
taught how to be a man is through telling them to not do something because thats what girls do.
Why is doing something like a girl seen as lesser than being a man? This way of teaching is what
initially separates and either lowers or raises the child based on their gender based actions. This
hierarchal dilemma is caused by the way we raise our children to fit into the gender parents place
them in.
The common idea that parents and the outside world shape the youths gender identity
and creates gender superiority and inferiority between them. Initially, our parents shape our
gender through their actions as well as their pressure to conform to the proper activities of the
gender they placed us in. The way we grow up and the activities we grow up doing is what
shapes our genders and inadvertently creates separation by saying being feminine is to be weak
and submissive while being masculine is to be dominant and strong. By encouraging this co
dependence and weakness for those who identify as female, and in turn the dominating force and
strength through aggression, we create separate levels to each social status. Many personal
anecdotes can be compared and the conditioned view remains the same. In my own life
experience I am stronger than most girls because I played the sports the boys did like baseball,
threw the football with the boys, played basketball and volleyball as well as jumped rope.
Through allowing myself to participate in both gender classified games I developed into a
woman who sees herself equal to men as well as one who shaped her own gender. One of my
parents tried to shape my actions to my gender however I refused. I identify myself as a female
and the sports and physical activities did not shape this view. It is important that our society

McCann 5
learns to get rid of the classically conditioned mold of gender being strictly dual natured and that
your personal tastes in toys, activities, and preferences can qualify for either gender.

McCann 6
Works Cited
Devor, Aaron. Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender. Groner,
Rachael, and John F. O'Hara. Composing Gender. Boston: Bedford, 2014.
Hubbard, Ruth. Rethinking Womens Biology. Groner, Rachael, and John F. O'Hara.
Composing Gender. Boston: Bedford, 2014.
Kane, Emily. No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That: Parents Responses to Childrens
Gender Nonconformity. Groner, Rachael, and John F. O'Hara. Composing Gender.
Boston: Bedford, 2014.