Doing gender

Doing gender is a sociological concept that contends that gender is a social construct as opposed to a naturally occurring quality, and that when people adhere to gendered societal expectations, they are placing constraints on an individual’s sense of personal freedom. The term is primarily associated with the academic field known as gender studies, and it was first used by scholars Candace West and Don Zimmerman in their 1987 academic journal article titled “Doing Gender.” West and Zimmerman argued that society has instructed people to perform their gender as something that is innate and unquestioned. This lack of critical perspective can lead to societal pressures that instigate conformist tendencies in a culture. When people do not adapt to the gender standards placed on them by society, they are made to feel like they have failed to meet societal expectations. West and Zimmerman argued that gender is not fixed and is a socially constructed idea that can be broken down, allowing for a more fluid understanding of gender.

Background

Gender is often defined as either of the two sexes, male or female, with reference to social and cultural differences as opposed to biological differences. Throughout history, different cultures have adhered to different ideas about gender, and the characterizations of male and female roles in society have varied greatly over the centuries. Restricted ideas of gender as a dichotomous concept of male versus female were mainly a product of Westernized thought, and cultures with relaxed attitudes toward gender often experienced oppression at the hands of Europeans for such notions. Western society propagated gender identity as a biological imperative for many generations, embedding these ideas into mainstream culture throughout Europe and eventually throughout the New World. Such viewpoints became ingrained in the minds of the masses, and failure to meet gendered societal expectations was often met with disdain or ridicule.

The idea that gender was determined by the sex organs a person possessed at birth was further advocated by many notable figures throughout history. Famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud asserted that biology was the primary determinant of gender identity in people, and this assumption dominated both Western law and culture for many years. Established concepts of gender identity informed everything from clothing design and colors to occupational choices to cinematic depictions of male and female behavior.

Although Westernized notions of gender continue to distinguish primarily between specified male and female identities, cultural interpretations of gender still vary throughout the world. The Indigenous Chukchi people of Russia recognize seven genders in addition to male and female. The Bugis people of South Sulawesi in Indonesia identify three sexes and five genders, including a gender-transcendent group known as the Bissu. In the Samoan Islands, there are four recognized genders, including male, female, fa’afafine, and fa’afatama. Fa’afafine and fa’afatama individuals are gender fluid and move between male and female roles and behaviors.

With such knowledge in mind, sociologists could not help but compare the limits of a gendered Western society to the broader understandings of gender seen in other parts of the world. If such interpretations of gender could exist among communities outside the Western sphere, this implied that gender was, in fact, not an innate quality defined by biology but rather a socially constructed imposition. Such discussion spilled into other areas of academia, eventually giving rise to the academic discipline of gender studies, which analyzes gender identity and gender representation in relation to multiple subjects such as politics, literature, history, cinema, and social theory. Scholars turned their focus to the effects of narrow-minded views of gender identity and sought a way to upend the foundation upon which many common notions of gender were built.

Overview

The concept of doing gender emerged out of discussion within the sociology and gender studies academic circles. As more conversations about the parameters of gender were had, scholars began to dig deeper into the notions surrounding societal expectations of gender. The phrase “doing gender” was first introduced by West and Zimmerman in their article “Doing Gender,” published in Gender & Society in 1987. However, the article was originally written in 1977, and the concept itself had been a subject of academic discussion for several years. West and Zimmerman believed gender is constructed at an interactional level, and they examined the standards by which the categories of sex and gender are measured in society.

West and Zimmerman first differentiated between the definitions of sex and gender and examined how these definitions related to each other. Sex relates to a set of biological criteria such as genitalia and chromosomes. These criteria are different from sex categorization, which refers to social assumptions about a person’s sex based on that person’s outward presentation. With sex and sex categorization as points of reference, gender then relates to society’s expectations of masculine versus feminine behavior and presentation. The research team believed ideas of sex were more fixed than ideas of gender, but noted that over many years, ideas about gender have grown more and more fixed and tied to biology.

Doing gender, therefore, refers to how a person represents gender identities through interactions and emphasizes how these interactions are informed by psychologically embedded social constructs. People are taught to perform gender roles from a young age, often unconsciously recreating these instilled notions through repeated actions. The concept can be applied to a number of topics, such as sports, occupations, bathrooms, and dating, examining the gender roles associated with each subject. Doing gender can also be executed in simple conversation, as people use interaction to display and assess gender based on societal expectations. Those acting outside mainstream society’s notions of gender roles are often labeled social outcasts, placing pressure on individuals to conform for the sake of acceptance. This pressure exists despite the socially constructed nature of gender and gender identity, which can be deconstructed if enough members of society allow for it.

Bibliography

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Bursztyn, Leonardo, et al. "How Gender Norms Are Perceived across the World." Center for Economic and Policy Research, 29 June 2023, cepr.org/voxeu/columns/how-gender-norms-are-perceived-across-world. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.

Jackson, Robert Max. “Down So Long—Why Is It So Hard to Explain Gender Inequality?” New York University, www.nyu.edu/classes/jackson/causes.of.gender.inequality/Readings/DownSoLong--WhyIsItSoHard.pdf. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.

Jurik, Nancy C., and Cynthia Siemsen. “‘Doing Gender’ as Canon or Agenda: A Symposium on West and Zimmerman.” Gender & Society, vol. 23, no. 1, 2009, pp. 72–75, doi:10.1177/0891243208326677. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.

Ridgeway, Cecilia L. Framed by Gender. Oxford UP, 2011.

Schilt, Kristen, and Laurel Westbrook. “Doing Gender, Doing Heteronormativity: ‘Gender Normals,’ Transgender People, and the Social Maintenance of Heterosexuality.” Gender & Society, vol. 23, no. 4, 2009, pp. 440–64.

Weingarten, Elizabeth. “How to Shake Up Gender Norms.” Time, 20 Jan. 2015, time.com/3672297/future-gender-norms. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.

Weiss, Suzannah. “5 Gender Roles throughout History That Are Completely Different from Our Own.” Bustle, 11 Apr. 2016, www.bustle.com/articles/153921-5-gender-roles-throughout-history-that-are-completely-different-from-our-own. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.

West, Candace, and Don H. Zimmerman. “Doing Gender.” Gender & Society, vol. 1, no. 2. 1987, pp. 125–51.