To say that an identity is socially constructed is to deny that it has the objective reality ascribed to it. Rather, that identity is
the result of beliefs and practices in society or specialized segments of society
and it may or may not have a factual foundation apart from those beliefs and practices.
What is identity and how are identities constructed?
Identity is
how we make sense of ourselves
. We construct our own identities through experiences, emotions, connections, and rejections. Identities are constantly changing. The most powerful way to construct an identity is by identifying against other people.
Race, gender, sexuality, and ability
are socially constructed cultural identities that developed over time in relation to historical, social, and political contexts. Race, gender, sexuality, and ability are cultural identities that affect our communication and our relationships.
To say of something that it is socially constructed is
to emphasize its dependence on contingent aspects of our social selves
. … There are certainly many things, and facts about them, that are socially constructed in the sense specified by this core idea: money, citizenship and newspapers, for example.
One way humans create social constructs is
by structuring what they see and experience into categories
. For example, they see people with different skin colors and other physical features and “create” the social construct of race.
An example of a social construct is
money or the concept of currency
, as people in society have agreed to give it importance/value. … Strong social constructs rely on the human perspective and knowledge that does not just exist, but is rather constructed by society.
3 stages of construction.
Externalization, Objectification, & Internalization
. Through interaction, people create a meaning.
| gender role cultural norm | femininity gender norm | masculinity tradition |
|---|
He argues that
many mental health conditions are as much a social construct as medical diagnosis
, with doctors or therapists and their patients creating them together. “There are certainly serious conditions, like schizophrenia and manic depression, that are not a social construction,” says Borch-Jacobsen.
First, while acknowledging the historical contingency of the present conception of religion, he argues that religion is real (2014: 89). That is,
religion is both socially constructed and real
, much like sexism, colonialism, imperialism, molecules, and magnetic fields (p. 92).
Age is socially constructed
because notions of age vary around the world. Different cultures fix age with different meanings and different values. … In Western societies, people take pains to appear younger than their biological age.
Social constructs are often created within specific institutions and cultures and come to prominence in certain historical periods. Social constructs’
dependence of historical, political, and economic conditions can lead them to evolve and change
.
Poverty is
a social construct based on social and economic factors
. To be poor means you have limited resources and opportunities. … Many Americans born into poverty have a lesser chance to mobilize upward than those born in middle-class families. About 7.8 million of the United States population lives in poverty.
Happiness is a social construct:
an abstract state of satisfaction made by modern society for
us to buy things and services (as brilliantly illustrated in this short by Steve Cutts).
Time is one of the most basic examples of something that is socially constructed.
We collectively create the meaning of time
—it has no predetermined meaning until we give it meaning. … Cultures often mark time based on important events relative to their belief system or major political events.
Marriage serves important social functions, and social norms often determine the role each spouse takes in a marriage. Because
marriage is a social construct
, cultural norms and expectations determine what a marriage is and who can marry.
