What is the difference between the constructionist and essentialist views

This sense of being stronger, or in charge, led people to believe that men had to be the aggressor and females had to be the caring ones that looked after their kids that they were already connected to at least physically. These beliefs, set on by conditioning, yet triggered by physical differences, is how gender roles came to be.

It could be stretched to state that this represents essentialist feminism because Hermione is physically different and therefore connected to nature in this case magic, making her better as well as others. Then again, this really could just be an effect, not a cause like stated above. Either way, feminism is more present than I would have previously expected.

Skip to content Simply put, essentialist feminism argues that gender is decided at birth because of physical differences, while constructivist feminism argues that gender is socially constructed through conditioning orchestrated by the patriarchy. Previous: Loose Definition of Feminism.

Sociologists see race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexuality, and pretty much everything else as a social construction. The fact that one of them is worth times more than the other does not come from their material differences, but rather the differences in how they were socially constructed. The Thomas Theorem states that situations defined as real are real in their consequences Thomas and Thomas The big idea here is that the meanings we attach to symbols, objects, and every other thing in society are separate from the symbols, objects and things themselves.

The meanings are not inside the things, but rather they are attached to them socially. With this in mind, think about everything around you now. The names you call these things, the ways you think to use these things and the messages you think these symbols communicate to others are all social constructions. The very words you would use to describe these things come from language, which is obviously a social construction.

Essentialism is an oppressive and dangerous logic. If boys will be boys, then there is no reason even to try changing how our society conceptualizes masculinity as violent and dominating. If all Muslims are violent terrorists, then discriminating against them is both logical and just. If an entire group of people all have an inherent nature to them, then there is no reason to consider the individuality of each member of that group.

When we pretend like social constructions are natural or inherent to the people, objects, and things around us, we flatten the complexity of the real world, impede critically thinking, and legitimate discrimination and oppression.

Also, Dr. Eric Grollman has an excellent essay on the Thomas Theorem and sexism on his blog Conditionally Accepted. Theory November 7,