Definitions and ideas of gender and sex and what it is to be a man or a woman, like identity and nationality, is unstable and ever-changing. Cultural Studies is concerned with the topic as it is constantly being re-shaped and culturally constructed by ideas of social identity and nationality with Barker commenting that ‘what is means to be gendered remains a cultural question’ (Barker, C. 2006 p.284). Many Cultural Studies writers such as Butler and Nicolson reject essentialism theories / evidence that state there is an inherent relationship between gender and sex, arguing that they are ‘social and cultural constructions that are not to be explained in terms of biology or to be reduced to functions of capitalism’ (Barker ,C. 2006 p.282) Barker maintains this argument by commenting ‘the influence of biology has been rejected in favour of understanding masculinity and femininity as cultural constructions’. (Barker, C. 2006, p.284)
Theorists such as Moira Gatens, which emphasise cultural construction and socialization processes, consider the body to be passive and that the social characteristics of the sexes are seen as being the same for boys and girls at birth – it is then the social constructs of male and female characters that influence individuals as they grow up – contributing to the representation and behaviour of men and women. (A Critique of the Sex/Gender Distinction: Gatens,M 1983).
However there is substantial evidence that confirms the genetic and biochemical differences between men and women and that we do not have equal characteristics at birth – rather we are genetically programmed to perform according to our male or female qualities. These qualities, belonging to our sex, are a result of our brain activity – ‘Hormones shape our brain structure so that men and women have different patterns of brain activity’ (Christen, 1991 Moir and Jessel, 1991 Moir and Moir, 1998: Barker, C. 2006 p285). Barker goes on to give further explanation and evidence that clarifies the genetic influence over gender roles - ‘The predominance of evidence suggests that different kinds of brain organization are the result of hormone exposure in the womb rather than cultural training. Over 30 worldwide studies have shown that girls who are born with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) as a consequence of exposure of high levels of “male hormones” In the womb exhibit styles of play more commonly seen amongst boys’ (Barker, C 2006, p.286). This can become problematic as often societies will reinforce their ideologies of females and what they believe little girls ‘should’ be playing with and presume that all females have a “natural motherly instinct” and prefer to play with dolls as appose to something more ‘manly’ such as toy cars or action war figures.
Theorists and scientists cannot be ignorant to Biochemical evidence as strong as this and today few deny its significance, with many even changing their stance on the sex/gender debate. ‘Feminist’ psychologist Diane Halpern thoroughly researched the gender/sex distinction and originally concluded that it was society and culture that influence a man or a woman to ‘become’ masculine or feminine, however by becoming more objective and open to opposing arguments she could not deny the substantial biological evidence that suggests that we are not all ‘blank sheets at birth’ (Barker, C. 2006, p 286). Instead she came to the conclusion that both biology and socialization practices were important in the construction of the ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ – ‘Socialization practices are undoubtedly important, there is also good evidence that biological sex differences play a role in establishing and maintaining cognitive sex differences, a conclusion I wasn’t prepared to make when I began reviewing the relevant literature’ (Halpern, D. 2002: xii / Barker, C. 2006 p.285).
So although it seems in the ‘Nature versus Nurture’ debate nature and biology have been proven to be the reason for the differences in males and females, the ideological impact that culture and society imposes on the behaviour of the sexes is very relevant and should not be underestimated on the effect that it has on our roles within society. In western patriarchal societies such as Britain, men are at risk of being labelled ‘feeble’, ‘camp’, ‘unmanly’ and ‘feminine’ if they do not adhere to common cultural conceptions and ideologies of ‘manly’ behaviour such as being aggressive, confidant, domineering, decisive, athletic, physically and emotionally strong and power hungry. The same also applies to women – if a woman does not conform to the western ideology of a female she will be seen as ‘unfeminine’, ‘non-motherly’ and ‘undomesticated’.
However, recently there have been more and more deconstructions of femininity that are being received and accepted positively within society through means of popular culture, challenging the patriarchal, delicate idea of femininity. Good examples of this are female pop acts such as Madonna and Pink and rap artists Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown. These are all successful women who disregard such traditional views on gender and partake in activities / behaviour commonly associated with men – Madonna used ‘power dressing’ and explicit song content to equalise herself amongst male pop artists while Pink rides fast motorbikes and beats her boyfriend at basketball. Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown both achieved rap stardom by being the first female rappers to enter the US top 10 singles chart and have paved the way for aspiring female rap artists. All artists have had a huge influence on their female audience regarding their ideas of femininity, encouraging them to be just as successful in life and work as men. This demonstrates the malleable cultural attributes of gender roles within society and suggests that ‘some aspects of being can be changed and some cannot’ (Barker, C 2006 p.286) – whilst a woman can manipulate her status within society and display behavioural attributes culturally associated with men, she can not control the biology of the body and the way her female biochemistry makes her brain work.
In conclusion I believe it is quite obvious why Cultural Studies is interested in the difference between sex and gender – it is an issue that has many different arguments and theories centralised around the key themes of the subject. Cultural Studies is dedicated to investigating and understanding the processes in which societies establish and transform everyday life and social relation and power and how they deal with history and the challenges of the future. The gender/sex distinction is relevant to every human and every culture and is the foundation upon which the roles of society are based on; this is clearly an issue which is significant to all cultures and in turn a very significant issue for the study of culture.
Bibliography:
Barker, C. Cultural Studies Theory and Practice. Sage, London. (2006)
Gatens, M. A Critique of the Sex/Gender Distinction. (1983)
Dr Richard Mills
Introduction to Cultural Studies
