A social construct is an idea or category that exists because people in a society have agreed to treat it as real, rather than because of an objective fact of nature.
Historical proponents:Mary Wollstonecraft, W. E. B. Du BoisGender roles are mostly rather than natural differences.
Nothing is sent anywhere.
Money, borders, citizenship and the rules of a game are everyday examples: they are real in their effects, but they exist because people share the belief and behave accordingly. Sociologists use the idea to show how categories that seem natural can vary across cultures and over time.
Debate arises when the idea is applied to categories such as gender or race. Many scholars argue that the meanings and social roles attached to these categories are socially constructed, while others stress that biology also plays a role and that treating something as constructed does not make it unreal or unimportant. Positions often follow political lines, but the underlying questions are empirical and philosophical.
Influential figures in the 12 axes thinker pool who advocated, analyzed or shaped ideas around this concept.
Writer & advocate of equality · 1759–1797
She argued that women should develop as independent, rational citizens, with education and rights rather than dependence on inherited privilege.
“Equal education challenges conventional gender hierarchy.”
Sociologist & civil rights leader · 1868–1963
An American sociologist who co-founded the NAACP and argued that Black Americans should claim full citizenship without giving up a spirit of their own, then turned to Pan-Africanism, socialism and the peace movement.
“The Stanford Encyclopedia reads his early politics as expressive modernization, which brings the masses into the norms of modern life while heeding the ethos of the folk.”
Real cases that people point to when they use the word.
Money: its value rests on shared trust, not on any natural property.
National borders, which change with agreements and wars.
The meanings of gender roles, which differ between societies and eras.
Reasonable people disagree about this. These are the strongest points made on each side.
The test asks about it in a statement. Your answer moves one axis score.
Agreeing that gender roles are mostly social constructs moves your score toward the Progressive side of the Progressive vs Traditional axis.
Which way agreeing pushes the score
Agreeing with a statement about social construct moves your score toward Progressive.
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Three statements gave you a first reading. The full test scores all twelve axes and finds your closest countries and ideologies.