Essentialism Vs Constructionism

People are primarily brought up in a society where people are supposed to live within the rules that the majority considers to be right. These rules are mostly referred to as social norms. These particular rules primarily shape the ways by which the society usually view what is particularly right and separating them from what is viewed as something wrong.  Social philosophy primarily refer to this particular regulatory arrangement of the norms as either essentialism or social constructionism. People are primarily urged to simply follow certain rules without actually questioning them simply because of the fact that the said rules are what actually shape the society that they are primarily living with.

However, changes happen. This is the reason why the social norms for about ten years before the present time may not be effective anymore.As the views of living are changing, so are the norms developing in an aim of revolutionizing the ways by which people particularly live with.

How do these changes happen? And how are they eventually accepted by the society who used to avoid certain situations and human actions that are now considered to be normal and simply expressive in terms of the human art? These questions shall be discussed fully within the paragraphs that follow through differentiating what social constructionism is from that of essentialism.The Social Theories and their Effect of Norms of Human SexualityEssentialism has been referred to as a factor that secures certain rules in the society in becoming more stabilized and unchangeable[1].

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Most likely, this shall support the fact that there are certain social traditions that are still kept in preservation through cultural application of the different countries around the world simply because they are considered “essential” for the human growth.  On the other hand, social constructionism is the way by which the human society tend to develop their ways to be able to cater to the needs of the people during the present era that they are dealing with[2]. This process is pointed by social psychologists as one of the reasons by which people intend to revolutionize or liberate their ways of living.From this particular presentation of both social theories, it could be noted that social constructionism could actually be pointed as one of the most explainable reasons why people of the earlier generation have a great difference in viewing human sexuality compared to how the people at present view the said issue. To understand better, what really is sexuality? According to Brian Caroll “sexuality is simply the artistic way by which a person presents himself to the society: it is the inner expression of one’s deepest desires that primarily makes up a person the way that he is”[3]. This statement indeed points out the fact that several people view sexuality as something more than a fleshly desire that is kept within a person’s inner self, which was originally the belief accepted by the society before. Today, people believe that the more they express themselves, the more they become true and satisfied with the way they leave. Gone are the days when people used to concentrate on being simply “secretive” on the part of their personal satisfaction and desires. Now, sexuality is viewed as the very factor that makes up a person who he really is. With which, it has been derived that expressing one’s sexuality is becoming true to ones’ own being.As one of the results of this particular social theory, homosexuality and the recognition of the third-sex community has been established during the late 1980’s towards the early 1990’s[4]. Liberalization of beliefs and traditions with regards the said group of people began to progress making the used-to-be unaccepted gender an accepted and even recognized group of  population in the present times. It could not be denied too that this particular recognition caused for the increase of people becoming lesbians or gays in ratings every year. The opening of the employment industry to the said selection of gender have even increased the possibility by which the said sector of the society would be widely accepted in terms of political and social power in the future. [5]ConclusionThrough the presentation shown above, it could be observed that essentialism is a long forgotten theory that the society seldom apply in terms of recognizing practical traditions that apply to their wants and needs at present. People particularly want to see some changes every now and then. From this particular claim, it could be derived and understood that people are to expect still massive changes within human sexuality in the future. Among the changes include women becoming more aggressive than men, homosexuals being totally free from the restrictions given to them by the society and so many others. Knowing this though should help people realize that social constructionism does not always bring great results for the society.  Most likely, viewing the situation in a balanced view would imply the need of implementing both essentialism and social constructionism in a balanced procedure that would much help the human society progress towards a more improved and not less-moralized civilization in the future.