PSYCHOLOGICAL

PERSPECTIVE
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A.SOCIAL-CONSTRUCTION THEORY
B. PATRIARCHAL THEORY
 SOCIAL-CONSTRUCTION THEORY

- is a theory of knowledge that holds that

characteristics typically thy cultural and
historical contexts.
- ought to be immutable and solely
biological- such as gender, race, class, ability
and sexuality- are products of human definition
and interpretation shaped
 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM

The theory asserts that all meaning is socially

created.
Social constructs might be so ingrained that they
feel natural, but they are not they are an
invention of a given society and thus do not
accurately reflect reality.
 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST
PERSPECTIVE

-is concerned with meaning created

through defining and categorizing groups of
people, experience, and reality cultural
contexts.
 3 KEY POINTS

1. Knowledge is Socially Constructed

2. Language is central to social construction
3. Knowledge construction id politically driven
 Knowledge is social constructed

-that knowledge arises out of human relationships.

-what we take to be true and objective is the result of
social processes that take place in historical and
cultural contexts.
This means that although truth can be achieved within
the confines of a given discipline, there is no over-
arching truth that is more legitimate than any other.
 Language is central to social
construction
- language abides by specific rules, and these
rules of language shape how we understand the
world.
- language isn’t neutral.
- it it emphasizes certain things while ignoring
others.
- thus, language constrains what we can
express as well as our perceptions of what we
experience and what we know.
 Knowledge construction is
politically driven
-the knowledge created in a community has
social, cultural, and political consequences.
- people in a community accept and sustain the
community’s understanding of particular truths, values
and realities.
-when a community’s accepted knowledge
becomes policy, ideas about power and privilege in
the community become codified.
.
 Knowledge construction is
politically driven
- These socially constructed ideas then create
social reality, and---if they aren’t examined-begin to
seem fixed and unchangable.
- This can lead to antagonistic relationships
between communities that don’t share the same
understanding of social reality
 THEORY OF GENDER AS A SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTION
- our oldest idea about gender come from an extremely
narrow view of “men” and “women”.
Men are men. Women are women.
These categories of people were also known to have different
qualities,
women were submissive and dim,
men dominant and intelligent.
This is unfortunately the view of which much of the world still
clings to be with a tenacious and will full ignorance.
 THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF
HETEROSEXUALITY
The word “heterosexual” was originally coined by Dr. James
Kiernan in 1892, but its meaning and usage differed drastically from
contemporary understandings of the term.
Kiernan thought of “hetero-sexuals” as not defined by their attraction to
the opposite sex, but their inclinations to both sexes.
Heterosexuals were those who were attracted to both sexes and
engaged in sex for pleasure not for reproduction.
Katz points out that this definition of the heterosexual lasted within middle
class cultures in the United States until the 1920s, and then went through
various radical reformulations up to the current usage.
 PATRIARCHAL THEORY

PATRIARCHAL
- describes a general structure in which men have power
over women.
It is a structure that upholds male supremacy in the law, at
home, the workplace and in society.

A Patriarchal society consists of a male-dominated power

structure throughout organized society and in individual
relationships.
 PATRIARCHY

-from the Greek word Patriarkhes which means

“the rule of the father”
 It is a social system where men primarily holds power in
the political and the private spheres.

 Society is organized and maintained in a way that

men rule over women and their children.
 In the social, legal, political and economic
spheres

 men are expected to lead while women are

expected to obey and are relegated to house
chores, bearing children, and child care.
 A patrilineal society often follows a patriarchal society,
this means only men can inherit property and the
family name.
 Women were left with no inheritance and are
expected to marry a man who can support her
economically.
 Women were not allowed to go to schools, or even
vote, because they are viewed as a weaker sex and
should not concern themselves in learning science or
politics.
 PATRIARCHY

- it is viewed by most sociologists as a social construct and not

as a biological phenomenon.
This is because history proves that in the prehistoric hunter-gathere
tribes and civilization, they prioritized equality of all members, male
and female.
Friedrich Engels,
argues that patriarchy came about when people started having
private property instead of a communal living. The development in
agriculture and domestication of animals led to creating product
surplus which allows people to have private property. As a way to
control the excess wealth generated by these advancements, male
dominance was asserted over women so only the male heir can inherit
family wealth.
Even today, patriarchy is always accompanied
by cultural supports designed to justify male
dominance such as designating certain
activities as “not appropriate” for women.