Legal Chalk

  Masculinity Qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of men. Sex is biological : From the moment we are born, we are learning about both sex and gender. At birth, we are assigned a sex, either female or male, based on our biological characteristics (internal/external sex organs, chromosome and hormonal profiles). This division of people into either male or female does not recognize intersex people (those whose biological makeup includes both male and female characteristics). Masculinity   social expectations of being a man: The term ‘masculinity’ refers to the roles, behaviors and attributes that are considered appropriate for boys and men in a given society. Masculinity is constructed and defined socially, historically and politically, rather than being biologically driven. We can think of masculinity as a shorthand for talking about the social expectations and practices of manhood; expectations and practices which are reinforced everyday by individuals as w...

  Social Constructionism Social constructivists propose that there is no inherent truth to gender; it is constructed by social expectations and gender performance. Social construction of gender comes out of the general school of thought entitled social constructionism. Social constructionism proposes that everything people “know” or see as reality” is partially, if not entirely, socially situated. To say that something is socially constructed does not mitigate the  power  of the concept. Take, for example, money. Money is a socially constructed reality. Paper bills are worth nothing independent of the value individuals ascribe to them. The dollar is only worth as much as value as Americans are willing to ascribe to it. Note that the dollar only works in its own currency market; it holds no value in areas that don’t use the dollar. Nevertheless, the dollar is extremely powerful within its own domain. These basic theories of social constructionism can be applied ...

  Socio-Legal Dimensions of Gender   Class: 9 th Semester, 5 th Year Code: 507 Course Coordinator: Swati Pandita (pandita.swati@gmail.com) Unit-I 1. Gender as a social construct 2. Production of masculinity and femininity   Objective: This unit offers to examine in detail the narrative surrounding Gender. Students will be abreast with gender as a construct and what role society has in defining masculinity and femininity. The faculty will also discuss the difference between Gender and Sexuality. Reference Material: ·          Swati Pandita, “Gender Neutrality of Indian Laws-AMyth or Reaity?”, FIMT Law Journal, Vol 5 Issue 1. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4123805 ·          Moira Gatens, ―A Critique of the Sex/Gender Distinction ‖ in A Phillips ed. FEMINISM AND SUBJECTIVITY, pp. 139-154 ·    ...