Social Construction of Gender

At first glance I am torn between the socialization approach where biology provides a framework and the social construction of gender where society completely builds the identities and differences. But after reading "Gender identities emerge, ....., in relation to perceived sex differences in society and in turn help shape those differences", it is not as hard to totally discount biology as having any effect on individual identities. Is it a boy or is it a girl is the first question asked of new parents. We then treat the child according to long standing traditions. If that child was left to their own devices how would they be? To take it a step further we look at body types and steer the boy with the muscular frame towards football and the boy with the slighter frame toward band or baseball so he doesn't get hurt. We are constantly adjusting the socialization of the child to make up for perceived inadequacies or differences in physical appearance. Society does shape and cultivate the body image and mannerisms based on it's perceptions and long standing cultural values otherwise gender roles would not vary across different cultures. My personal experiences definitely support the sociological perspective of social construction of gender. We treat boys and girls differently because of the gender label society puts on them.