GENDER: A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

By Sonia Chukwu

In Nigeria as well as most nations, we are guided by values which define our individual roles in society. A defiant individual would usually face social sanctions. How can we really define gender identity when it is in itself a spectrum?

From birth, we are assigned gender identities, whereas we are not born to be either man or woman. Agencies of socialization, such as the media, families, and school contribute to the portrayal of these strict identities.

In Nigeria, most of our beliefs are based on religion and this is the justifiable means by which we assign gender roles. However, religion is a complex phenomenon. If we cannot explain most of the experiences and ideas defined by religion, why then use it to quantify gender?

Most people would explain that it is, in fact, our physical characteristics that determine our gender and there can only be two defined genders because there are only two defined sexes. However, our biological sex should not determine our gender because these are two different concepts.

Similarly, sex is not defined. Reason? According to the Intersex Society of North America, the birth of a hermaphrodite occurs once in 2000 births around the world.

The statistics for Nigeria is unknown but there have been reported cases of hermaphrodites usually associated with social stigma and violence. Most of this occurrence is as a result of the citizens’ignorance, which could be attributed to lack of education.

Once these identities have been defined from birth, we are groomed to live by them; girls play with softer toys, watch softer cartoons and are sanctioned for behaving violently while boys who express these qualities are only said to be acting as ‘just boys’.

In most scenarios, especially in Nigeria, the female is expected to grow up, get married and care for others, i.e siblings, children, among others.

On the other hand, the male is attuned to growing up, going to school to get an education, becoming part of the workforce and acting as the head of the family (leading and directing the family in his own way).

However, as times evolved, and women now take up roles that were once the exclusive of the male folk, those age-long characteristics that a woman is supposed to exhibit still remain sacrosanct in societies like Nigeria.

Many people now accord special recognition to women who excel in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses than women in art-related or social science courses. This is because they believe, it is unusual and of higher esteem.

In the Northern part of Nigeria for example, some communities still indulge in child marriage because they view women as sexual objects existing for male gratification. This is a fallout of over-sexualisation of the female gender, being ascribed to nothing more than being a wife and a ‘bed warmer’.

Another problem this has caused is the limitations of positions or roles in society that a female can reach such as in politics or in the corporate world. There are many more problems that gender as a social construct has brought about.

It is important, especially in this 21st century, to understand various forms that exist, which should not be assigned particular roles, some of which are cisgender, transgender, agender (genderless), bigender, polygender (multigender), intergender, and demi gender etc.

Stereotypes of the male and female gender should be abandoned and the focus should be on individual differences. In the family, children should be nurtured in a way that allows them to define who they are. Schools and learning institutes should be able to educate them on the different forms that exist and why gender identification is non-binary.

The media, which is one of the most powerful influences and an agent of socialization, needs to portray issues on gender in as many forms as possible; in movies, cartoons, shows, segments etc.

Once we are exposed to them, they become a norm and this eliminates the social construct of what gender is.