Desire, Love and Work Sociology

Desire, Love and Work Sociology
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Introduction
Gender is the interpretation of the combination of one’s physical traits and the internal feelings of identification with maleness or femaleness or both. Ones interpretation of his or her gender subsequently determines his or her behavioral attitudes. African and Western cultures differ on the accepted types of gender and their respective gender roles. This distinction is particularly evident in relation to tolerance for transgender and third gender people. This paper presents a cross cultural analysis of genders and their roles in African and Western cultures. It shows the perceptions of different genders and their expected social and economic contribution in their respective societies. The paper also shows that each gender in both Western and African culture has a significant role in love, desire and work their status, sex or age notwithstanding.
African social culture
African culture requires men to express dominance in their interactions with women. They are also expected to talk assertively and in some instances smile less in comparison to women (Itula-Abumere, 2013). African culture frowns upon transgender and third gender people as it only recognizes two genders. Gender is assigned at birth as either masculine or feminine and identification with a gender type that is outside the assigned gender is considered as socially deviant and thus unacceptable.
African culture views childhood as a stage where children require delicate care of their parents. The end of childhood has historically been marked by ceremonies and rituals that usher in adulthood. Many boys go through circumcision and after this, they are considered as men and not boys who are children. In African cultures some girls undergo female circumcision to usher them into adulthood. For other girls, the onset of menstruation marks their transition into adulthood. For instance in Ghana, the Asante people require that girls sit under umbrellas as a sign to show that they have begun menstruating and are women enough to be married off (Descartes, 2012).
In African culture, women are traditionally expected to perform child rearing work and also work in farms. For instance, women in countries such as Mozambique perform most of the farm labor although cultural beliefs restrict them from owning land (Mukanga, 2011). Women perform most of the farm work in soil preparation and tending while the men participate in harvesting (White, Burton, & Dow, 1981). In some parts of Africa, it is forbidden to talk with cousins and in laws of the opposite sex. In Papua Guinea women are culturally expected to refrain from talking with their brothers out of respect for each other.
How African social culture compares/contrasts with western social culture
Just like in African culture, the Western culture socializes boys and girls to take up gender roles from their childhood. G...