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All 8 Flashcards — Is gender socially constructed?
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Question
Gender is 'socially constructed'?
Answer
The gender role is built by a society's practices and expectations, not simply given by nature (constructed does NOT mean unreal).
Question
De Beauvoir: 'one is not born but becomes a woman'?
Answer
Being a woman is a role you're shaped into over time by society, not a fact simply handed to you at birth.
Question
Where does de Beauvoir make this claim?
Answer
In her book *The Second Sex* — the pivot of the modern sex/gender debate.
Question
Social conditioning?
Answer
The way repeated rewards, corrections and examples train us into a role until it feels natural.
Question
Why is conditioning 'invisible'?
Answer
Repeated from birth, the role sinks below notice and feels like it was simply you all along — which is why essentialism seems obvious.
Question
The 'it feels natural' reply, answered?
Answer
Feeling natural is exactly what successful conditioning produces, so the feeling can't settle whether gender is born or made.
Question
The even-handed conclusion on gender?
Answer
Argue a DEGREE: a real bodily base, heavily overwritten by social shaping — mostly, not purely, constructed.
Question
Essence vs construction in one line?
Answer
Essentialism: gender is born. De Beauvoir: gender is built — and built to feel born.
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Topic 8.3 hub
Gender
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