We agree to a great extent that gender is a social activity and not an innate quality.

In the context of Singapore, many laws are formulated in a manner that females and males undergo different treatments. In general, females are considered as the weaker sex, thus punishments that females face should they break the law is in some cases lighter than the punishment dealt out to males.

For example, females are not allowed to undergo caning as a punishment for breaking the law whereas males can be caned up to a maximum of 24 strokes. Also, it is mandatory for males only to serve in the army for at least two years.

These laws give people the impression that females are physically weaker than males, hence they cannot be subjected to the same treatment. Thus, children grow up thinking in accordance to these laws of differential social treatment and learn fufill the social behaviours as they become adults.

Another pre-concieved idea os the sexes is that males are more well off than females,which is why females are able to ask for alimony from their ex-spouse in the case of a divorce.

In a way, the Singapore laws has already created an image of what females and males should be like and hence the people would naturally react to it and fit their behaviour into it. Thus, we believe that the argument in the passage about society’s influence on gender holds true in the Singaporean context as well.

The argument about homosexuality not being accepted is also applicable in Singapore. Being an Asian society, Singaporeans are less liberal towards such things and less accepting of the idea of homosexuality. Singapore laws do not grant homosexual couples’ wish to be married, much less give them the recognition and status of other heterosexual couples. Even though there are more homosexuals being open about their sexual preference today compared to a few years back, the society is still unable to accept them and view them as ‘normal’. This argument is hence applicable in Singaporean context.

Evelyn, YingHin, Yihui, Emily, Mansi 09S03K