Gender Divided: Stigma Created by Culture

Introduction

In the current worldview, men and women have been viewed as two separate beings both physically and psychologically (Lorber, 1994, p. 725). The inside and outside mapping of the bodies has remained unchanged for centuries. The only variables are the justifications of gender inequality. Many people are familiar with the common comparison of both genders in sports, personal situations, and workplaces merely based on physiological or biological aspects. The set differences bring about separate genders that would not prevail without a culture that causes divisions, groupings, and categories. In the work of Judith Lorber, she passionately delves into the issue of gender inequality, pointing out how it all begins with basic physiological differences and the manner in which society transforms those dissimilarities into sociopolitical issues from a biological aspect (Lorber, 1994, p. 733).

Gender Divided: Stigma Created by Culture

This essay delves into Lorber’s persuasive literature that presents statistical evidence, evaluations based on research, and her opinions on gender issues that people face daily in the struggle for gender equality. Judith Lorber is one of the widely read gender theorists in the modern world, and her role as a professor at City University of New York and Brooklyn College, where she teaches Women's Studies and Sociology, cements this. Lorber’s decision to write about gender inequality is backed by her educational background. She has authored several books, among them: Gender Inequality: Feminist Theories and Politics: Degendering and Feminist Change and Paradoxes (Evans, 2015, p. 24). Lorber has been awarded multiple accolades due to her constant enlightening on issues pertaining to gender inequality.

Understanding Lorber's Inspiration and Audience

In the lecture delivered by Lorber, there were no particular events that happened to inspire her literature, but her inspiration was through a chain of situations and events she needed to convey thoughtfully to her listeners. The requisite was that there was, or there is, a socially based prerequisite to divide people. Lorber’s literature clearly presents and discusses the specific inevitable reality that women and men are divided into females and males simply based on bodily variations (Lorber, 1994, p. 732). The creation of these two categories leads to stigmas that hold these genders back and dictate the roles and responsibilities they must play. Lorber sees these as cultural creations that lead to division through rules enacted by generations of social influence. The extensive research conducted by Lorber, and her involvement in the feminist and socialist world, has allowed her to carry out massive studies and led to a developmental understanding of societal internal workings, reaching a cogent conclusion that inspired her lecture. We can assume the audience the lecture was delivered to comprised students, graduates, faculty, and intrigued members of Brooklyn College.

Engaging with Skeptics

Currently, the audience has evolved to include many readers from academic writing to inquiries, as well as Judith Lorber’s followers. Through her intellectual capability and as a professor, her intentions were to bring awareness to her readers and inspire some change in society. On the other hand, it is evident that Lorber wants to reach out to her skeptics when she states, “I am not saying that physical variations between male and female bodies do not exist, but these differences are socially meaningless until social practices transform them into facts” (Lorber, 1994, p. 731). That statement does not only provoke thought among skeptics and readers but also approaches the topic with a valid argument that strongly supports every statement made by Lorber during her lecture.

Persuasive Techniques and Ethos

In Lorber’s transcribed speech, there is a lot of persuasive material that seeks to persuade the audience using rhetorical methods. The way she conveys valuable information with normal ease commendably sways the reader (Evans, 2015, p. 76). Based on Lorber’s ethos, she is allowed to deliver thorough and substantial information because of her background in gender studies and her constant involvement in socialist and gender equality movements. Her coherent content is backed up using studies, interviews, and statistical data. For example, in her opening status, she provides a historical background of the creation and growth of power that divided the two genders (Lorber, 1994, p. 732). The scientific studies and discoveries later created modern excuses for society to produce variations that presented more struggles for women, and these powers were created by men.

Research and Real-World Applications

In further research, Lorber presented an interview of six medical specialists conducted by Suzanne Kessler in 1990 (Lorber, 1994, p. 727). In that study, it was discovered that children were categorized as boy or girl depending solely on the size of their penis. It is unfortunate that many of the existing physiological attributes are the determinants of gender, providing society with an opportunity to divide both genders depending on their physical characteristics. The same criteria are used in the Olympic Games, where each partition is based on the existing natal factor of athletic ability and genetic material. Lorber’s application of pathos assists her in connecting with her listeners and readers, as well as her studies in many ways.

Personal Experience and Connection

Being a female, it is apparent that she has firsthand experience with issues of sexism and gender discrimination. As an educated professor and renowned scholar, one can easily guarantee she has experienced her share of skeptics and doubters that only acted as building blocks for her valued opinion and research. On the other hand, Lorber uses the word ‘we’ in the closing remarks of her lecture to connect with her followers and audience (Lorber, 1994, p. 733). The intentional association with the audience places her on the same level as them, rather than being superior. Her association with the audience makes her part of the cultural stigma and automatically includes herself as part of society.

Cultural Grouping and Inequality

Throughout her lecture, she provides facts and studies that are undeniable on issues of gender inequality. Lorber points out to her listeners that as a culture, there is a tendency to group things and people into definite groups. That split is evident among religious affiliations, ethnic groups, genders, and scholastic backgrounds. Regardless of the truth of the existing biological differences, it is socially “right” to point out those differences and afterward bring a valedictory that not only lacks understanding and acceptance but causes hazardous generalizations concerning each gender’s desires, aptitudes, and conventional behaviors. The issue of femininity inequality is not, and has not existed for a while, just a woman’s issue (Evans, 2015, p. 88). Males are affected by the social stigmas in the same way as females. Conversely, that stigma does not come with the division of the financial situation existing among them and workplaces. Society expects men to be the breadwinners and be masculine, possessing the power that permits them not only to harm women but also to inflict self-harm. It is therefore wise for such men to step in and be part of this change. Lorber states, “when we rely on the conventional categories of sex and gender, we end up finding what we looked for—we see what we believe, whether it is that ‘females’ and ‘males’ are essentially different or that ‘women’ and ‘men’ are essentially the same” (Lorber, 1994, p. 733). She uses that statement as part of her closing remarks during the lecture and also sums up this essay into one effective statement.

Conclusion

A huge percentage of her lecture involves Lorber constantly discussing the reasons for gender disparity and why culture is culpable for the current situation. She employs knowledgeable research, numerical data, and her academic context to present her arguments that despite the biotic differences among men and women, there should exist no separation whatsoever. Physiological factors should not be used as the determinants of how a person should live their life. Lorber is able to gather intellectual evidence of how society values groups and categories and does that by explaining the harm of each gender divider. There is a strong connection created by Lorber as she presents her point of view and facts with ease and grace. The talk not only brings a fresh dawn to an already existing battle of gender inequality but also poses a rhetorical question to the readers: “What are you going to do about it?”

References

Evans, M. (2015). Feminist Theory Today: An Introduction to Second-Wave Feminism. SAGE Publications.

Lorber, J. (1994). Paradoxes of Gender. Yale University Press.