Doing gender, west and zimmermans 1987 landmark article, highlighted the impor tance of. West and zimmerman 2002 indicate that doing gender applies whether. Instead they argue for a more complex relations between social and physical features. In doing gender, west and zimmerman describe the concept as a routine accomplishment in everyday life. Given that others continually categorize us in our social environment, we actively try to embody and enact masculine or feminine qualities so that others read us in the way. Apr 02, 2011 doing gender in this sense is acting in a manner which promotes assignment to one of the sex categories, under the supervision of others. As he swaggers and sticks out his chest, he is doing everything he can to be like his father to be a man. Accomplishment of being a woman in the face of normative. In doing gender west and zimmerman refute the classic distinction between the social constructed gender as opposed to the biological sex. According to these authors, doing gender is defined as involving the.
The theory of doing gender, introduced by candace west and don zimmerman in 1987, suggests that gender is something that is. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. However, we contend that the notion of gender as a role obscures the work that is involved in producing gender in everyday activities, while the notion. The concept of doing gender was later expanded by authors such as west and fenstermaker in the book doing gender, doing difference. Sep 15, 2015 doing gender involves a complex of socially guided perceptual, interactional, and micropolitical activities that cast particular pursuits as expressions of masculine and feminine natures. West, zimmerman doing gender 127 focus on behavioral aspects of being a woman or a man as opposed, for example, to biological differences between the two. West and zimmerman s theory of doing gender defines sex and gender as two separate entities within this binary society. Davies 1993 claims that people actively take part in the production of their gender identities in their everyday lives. We are constantly doing gender, performing the activities and exhibiting the traits that are prescribed for us. Also, doing gender results in gendered power differences because often men are taught to do gender by being dominant and women to be submissive.
Historically, the family is a gender factory, where the polarization of masculine and feminine is created and displayed berk, 1985. When we view gender as an accomplishment, an achieved property of situated conduct, our attention shifts from matters internal to the individual and focuses. Doing gender west and zimmerman flashcards quizlet. Thorne 1980 observes that conceptualizing gender as a role makes it difficult to assess its influence on other roles.
West and zimmermans theory of doing gender defines sex and gender as two separate entities within this binary society. In an important article, west and zimmerman 1987, p. That is, to do gender is to act with the possibility that one will be judged according to normative stan dardsapplied to ones sex category. It is a feature of social relationships and its idiom is drawn from the institutional arena in which those relationships are enacted. We do gender all the time and cannot avoid doing it. Gender the reaction and result of situational actions shaped by normative expectations of ones sex category. West and zimmerman were primarily focused on understanding how people. Her research areas include language and social interaction, the sociology of gender, conversation analysis, and microanalysis and medicine. West and zimmerman s theory of gender 1854 words bartleby. Doing gender involves a complex of socially guided perceptual, interactional, and micropolitical activities that cast particular pursuits as expressions of masculine and feminine natures. Doing gender west and zimmerman summary free essays. Doing difference is a concept that grew out of the authors earlier idea of doing gender, presented at the american sociological association in 1977 by candace west and don zimmerman and published in gender and society in 1987. How does accountability relate to doing gender, according to west and zimmerman.
Doing gender by west and zimmerman summary consider the. Doing gender is a socially required practice, and therefore we cannot not do gender, our assigned sex category is imposed on us and is perceived as essential, we can comply with is or rebel against it, but in either case we are always, west and zimmerman. Pdf doing gender the sage encyclopedia of psychology and. So, the concept of doing gender remained underground for a while, until it resurfaced in 1987 in the wellknown paper of the same name written by american sociologists candace west and don h. The book will be essential reading for scholars coping with the theoretical difficulties of bringing together analyses of gender, race, and class.
Popular culture abounds with books and magazines that compile idealized. West, zimmerman doing gender 129 moreover, many roles are already gender marked, so that special qualifierssuch as female doctor or male nursemust be added to exceptions to the rule. Doing gender is not just accepting or agreeing to what the society tells us to. Deutsch undoing gender 109 assessment west and zimmerman 2002. Sep 17, 2015 the gender behaviors that are appropriate vary based on sex. It is a feature of social relationships and its idiom is drawn from the institutional arena in. Zimmerman, raise the oftenunquestioned concept of gender and its definition in society. University of california, santa cruz see all articles by this author. The universality of the portrayal of gender in television advertisements. Zimmerman west and zimmerman 1987, cited under general overview. Innovatively, the authors discuss the accountability of gender as it politically supports mens hegemony, concluding that it can change. Doing gender, doing difference is a fascinating and coherent collection showing the development, spanning 25 years, of theorizing about the social construction of gender and other inequalities.
The specific term doing gender was used in west and zimmermans article by the same. Assignment based on possession of conventional biological criteria for male and female. Gender is not just something we learn to perform in childhood, but something that we are continually performing, although we. To explore in more detail how gender is constructed, we need to draw on feminist research. West and zimmermans followup article, published twentytwo years after west and zimmerman 1987, develops gender as an ongoing situated process. Gender is the status of the individual performing the activities that are commonly associated with masculinity and.
Sex refers to the biological characteristics that are typically attributed to males and females. They bring forth the idea that gender is a result of actions and interactions performed by. Vind alle studiedocumenten for doing gender van candace west. West, zimmerman accounting for doing gender 1 by stefan vater on october. Problems, prospects, and the dialogue in feminist theory. In doing gender, doing difference, edited by sarah fenstermaker and candace west.
West is a professor at the university of california, santa cruz, sociology department. Furthermore, west and zimmerman stress that doing gender does not always mean doing gender normatively, i. Inequality, power, and institutional change sarah fenstermaker, candace west psychology press, 2002 social science 244 pages. Doing gender west and zimmerman 1987 but missed the opportunity to recommend a method. Theoretically, the term doing gender first appeared in harold garfinkels. Sociology negotiations of gender flashcards quizlet.
Gender is the status of the individual performing the activities that are commonly associated with masculinity and femininity. The book, however, was obscured by the proliferation of research. Doing gender how society creates differences between girls. When we view gender as an accomplishment, an achieved property of situated conduct, our attention shifts from matters internal to the individual and. The sage encyclopedia of psychology and gender, chapter. In sociology and gender studies, doing gender is the idea that in western culture, gender.
According to west and zimmerman, one can never not do gender, because it is. Gender is not something we are born with, and not something we have, but something we do west and zimmerman 1987 something we perform butler 1990. Transgender people, gender panics, and the maintenance of the sexgendersexuality system. The purpose of this article is to advance a new understanding of gender as a routine accomplishment embedded in everyday interaction. Social impacts of protected areas on gender in west kilimanjaro, tanzania sayuni b. Zimmermann first introduced their notion of gender not as a trait, a social role or a societal representation, but rather as an accomplishment the product of daily social practices and behaviors which codify and manifest femininity of masculinity.
West and zimmerman, in 1987, first presented the concept of doing. Gender as a routine accomplishment embedded in everyday interaction 125. West and zimmerman highlighted the social dimension of gender roles and used the example of housework as typical of an activity socially perceived as womens work. Doing gender involves a complex of socially guided perceptual. In this article, the author argues that we need to reframe the. Aug 26, 2019 candace west and don zimmerman famously coined the term doing gender to explain how individuals actively construct their gender identity in interactions with others. Premid 70s, sociological discernment between sex and gender biological versus psychological, cultural, social. A major question in the sociology of work concerns why men and women have such different work experiences and outcomes.
697 12 1530 217 629 765 604 1645 1140 1590 1553 513 223 384 43 1551 123 103 512 582 466 1623 589 379 1342 1433 1440 1483 46 1493 1431 1140 944 1083 81 1409 1150 715 1174 72 744 314 149