SOCA01H3 Study Guide - Social Constructionism, Startle Response, Symbolic Interactionism
Document Summary
Level of inequality, rate of male violence against women, criteria used for mate selection and other gender differences that appear universal to essentials have variance in them themselves. Variation deflates the idea that there are essential and universal behavioural differences between men and women. Women have become more assertive, competitive, independent and analytical recently. Gender differences are not constants and are not inherent in men and women, they vary within social conditions. Essentialism tends to generalize from the average ignoring variations within gender groups. Men are more verbally and physically aggressive than women are on average. Essentialists make it seem as if all men are inherently more aggressive than women. Scores vary widely within gender groups when rated on aggressiveness. Thus many women are more aggressive than the average man and many men are less aggressive than the average woman. Little or no evidence directly supports the essentialists major claims.
