Social Construction -- what is it?Explain the concept “social construction”.

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rrteacher's profile pic

rrteacher | College Teacher | (Level 2) Educator Emeritus

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Race, at least as popularly imagined, is a cultural construct. People have different levels of skin pigmentation, which is a biological fact. But virtually everything else that we associate with race is a cultural construct. Some have argued that disability is a cultural construct. Some people have difficulty with mobility, but this is a problem because the architecture and logistics of our society are privileged toward mobility. It is a major debate in education- there are certain disorders (ADD, for example) that become serious because we structure education to privilege people who can sit still and pay attention for extended periods of time.

pohnpei397's profile pic

pohnpei397 | College Teacher | (Level 3) Distinguished Educator

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A social construction is something that we make up as a society.  This is as opposed to some sort of biological fact.  For example, sex is not a social construct.  By your biology, you are either male or female.  But gender is a social construct.  It is what we expect males and females to be like and that is based on our societal values and prejudices.

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