Report on Construction industry

According to analyst prediction, 2016 was the year in which 6% growth was expected and will become a strong year. If we talk about labor then it is a big issue for construction companies to find skilled labor. Most of the labor is kicked out when there is a recession period so they did not came back. The demand is on increasing side.

The shorthand term “gender is a social construct” means that all the social and cultural expectations, roles, beliefs, and behaviours, associated with particular person on the basis of his sex characteristics determine the gender of an individual (Jason, A., 2012). The gender role of an individual is primarily influenced by the beliefs and expectations of the people in the surrounding social environment. Gender involves attitudes, activities, and norms that society considers more appropriate for a sex over another (Zevallos, Z., 2014). In current age of information abundance, media further strengthens gender characteristics by advertising and broadcasting particular roles for females and males in TV commercials and on internet. Female children are mostly associated with feminist toys such as dolls in pink colour whereas male boys are usually represented as ambassadors of muscular activities which involve strength, power, and dominance.

Social construction of gender is not a bad things because in order for the society to be stable and progressive, there has to be some cultural norms, beliefs, and rituals which must be believed and carried out by a majority of people from a particular sex. For example, in many Asian societies, women are not allowed to work to provide financially for their family and they are expected to be paying more attention to household activities. On the other hand, men are considered the authority with all the power to make decisions, and they provide financially for their family needs (Dreger, A., 2014). These societies respect these traditions because they believe that these traditions keep their society in balance. The biological evidence is how the body of men and women develop based on the type of food that they eat from childhood to their adulthood. The intake of food that are appropriate for boys is socially constructed and same is true for woman.

Social construction of gender is very real and it is not a bad thing. Although social construction of gender is a natural process evident in all the societies in the world, the promotion of oppressive gender roles and identities should be ended. The expectations that women will perform all the household work, childcare, and their pay will be less than others is a social construction of gender because of the constant social reiterations of these social expectations (Dreger, A., 2014). The expectations that men are symbol of authority, dominance, strength, and insensitiveness is also a similar social construct. Almost every culture has a consistency in the social decision of categorizing males and females (Dreger, A., 2014). Boys play with toys which are representations of weapons whereas girls play with toys representing cooking and parenting. All these social expectations are a social decision embraced and promoted by a group of people therefore gender roles and gender identities are considered to be constructed socially.

The binary systems classify gender, sex, and sexual orientation into distinctive, distinguishable, and exclusive categories. The opposite binary terms used for sex are male or female (based on reproductive anatomy), and the terms used for gender and masculine and feminine (Baum, J., 2015). The binary systems can also be represented as the cultural and social attitudes, norms, expectations or beliefs that discourage people from mixing gender roles. For example, inside a binary system a newly born male child is socially considered as being masculine and having heterosexual attraction towards female sex. This categorization of sexes, gender, and sexuality is widely accepted and endorsed in most societies and cultures across the globe. It restrains or encourages individuals to participate in acts related to their gender roles as identified on the basis of their association in the binary system (Baum, J., 2015). Binary systems’ effects of individual’s experiences, attitudes, and behaviour range from lifestyle choices to occupations. Binary systems dictate dress code, private and public behaviour, professional careers, personality traits, and names of individuals aligned in that binary.

            Gender binary align people in two categories; masculine and feminine. While most cultures have their unique way of defining these two categories but there are some characteristics of these terms shared in almost all cultures. The term feminine is used to identify woman and if the popular traits set for feminism are endorsed by men, then these traits are socially considered as either shameful or embarrassing (Barbara, S., 2017). Feminists have the qualities such as physical appearances (bright colours in clothes, style of clothes etc.), sudden emotional reactions, symbols of beauty, and physically weak. On the other hand, masculinity refers to qualities such as aggressiveness, strength, power, and leadership (Barbara, S., 2017).

            Popular gender binary systems in place are promoted and encouraged by mainstream media, religions, educational environments, and social systems. Islam, for example, possesses a lot of authority in influencing behaviour, attitudes, and experiences of its followers and it distinguishes men and women in their binary gender roles. In Islam, woman are considered the primary caregivers of their children and responsible for household works whereas men are the financial providers and primary authority in the house (IPFS, n,d.). Catholics, on the other hand, only allow men to become priests in their religion (IPFS, n,d.). These binary systems often provide a lot of stability in a society in which people shape their gender roles, and gender expressions in accordance with the social teachings.

            The problem with having a binary glasses is that we have to place and judge all actions, attitudes, and expressions of people within the framework of only two possibilities. There are many gender roles which do not include any aspect of gender or may include few characteristics from both genders. The judgment of the people on the binary basis creates a lot of stereotype beliefs about others which may sometimes harm them in the form of discrimination and bullying. Currently scientists are looking forward to adding more categories into the binary systems to better be able to comprehend diverse kind of attitudes and gender expressions.

According to the Social Learning Theory, gender role behaviours are learned from the external social environment. There are two types of learning; observational learning and reinforcements (rewards or punishments) (Kazdin, E. A., 2000). Gender socialization is the process of internalizing social norms and gender roles to exhibit socially appropriate behaviours aligned with the widely acceptable social gender roles (Balvin, N., 2017).  In this process, individuals learn their gender roles either by observational learning or through reinforcements, as described in the social learning theory.

Observational learning refers to the learning phenomenon in which individuals observe the behaviours of others around them and imitate these behaviours and learn from it. Research suggests that people do not imitate all the behaviours but they imitate only those behaviours that are either associated with the same sex or that are socially acceptable and encouraged by the people around them (Kazdin, E. A., 2000). Gender appropriate behaviours are also learned through reinforcements. For example, if parents punish their children for exhibiting a behaviour, it is highly likely that the children will not exhibit the same behaviour again and if parents endorse and encourage a behaviour, then it is most likely that the child will internalize that behaviour and exhibit it with more frequency. Individuals develop, embrace, and adapt to these roles after their interactions with the socialization agents such as family (parents, siblings), peers, schools, religion, or media.

Amongst many others, family, education system, and religion are three major socialization agents. Family plays a central role by socializing children both consciously and unconsciously. Family decides, for example, which toys are given to children or what types of dresses a child wears (Sociology Guide, 2017). The ways in which family interacts with boys and girls is also different so parents socialize children in accordance with the gender-specific roles. Schools is another socialization agent because it greatly influences the behaviours of students at an early age. Children interact with other peers through their social circles in the schools and make the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The things learned during this period become an integral part of an individual’s personality for the rest of life. In schools, children learn the dress code for both boys and girls and they learn about their interests and cognitive abilities in academic courses. The behaviour of teachers based on gender-identities and their degree of engagement with boys or girls influences the gender socialization of children in schools (Sociology Guide, 2017).

Children learn to behave in socially acceptable manners from these agents of socialization. They learn to dress up, play sports, engage in conversations, and use toys (Sociology Guide, 2017). While parents teach children how to interact with same-sex and with opposite-sex, they also teach them to play mobile games which are specific to a gender role. The whole process of nurturing develops the process of gender socialization in children.

The Florence cathedral, the most beautiful and the biggest cathedral of its time, had been completed by 1418 with the exception of its crowned dome. The construction of the church had begun in 1296 to show that Florence was the cultural and economic hub of the Europe but the construction was halted because of many architecture complexities. Filippo Brunelleschi was a Renaissance genius because innovatively and ingeniously proposed new ways to build the dome of Florence and successfully constructed the largest dome of the world which lead to many discoveries in the field of Architecture, Astronomy, Mathematics, and paved the ways for cultural and economic developments of the century.   

The traditional European construction techniques required building of a temporary wooden scaffolding under the dome onto which the stone bricks were mortared (88). Once the stone mortar had hardened, the temporary support beneath the dome was removed. This traditional construction technique was not practically doable for the largest dome of the world because there was not enough wood in all the forests of Tuscany to provide support for the dome. The dome was to be built onto an octagonal structure which was 54 meters above the ground and the top of the dome added another 36 meters to the height. A wooden scaffolding structure could not hold the 40,000 metric tons weight of the dome and Filippo was the first architect who was innovative and analytical enough to identify this problem in construction of the dome (89). Before the closing date of submitting proposals, Filippo Brunelleschi proposed the most astonishing design of the dome which did not require any wooden support and proposed to build the dome from semi-suspended bricks.

Filippo was the son of a recognized notary of Florence who was trained as a goldsmith and sculptor in the early years of his life. By 1398, he had become an expert and well-reputed master goldsmith. In 1401, Filippo contested against Lorenzo Ghiberti in the competition among sculptors to make bronze reliefs of the Baptistery Doors of Florence but he lost the competition and Lorenzo was commissioned to make the sculptors. This was the high time of his career as a goldsmith and a sculptor but he was disappointed by his defeat at the competition and pursued his career as an architecture expert. It was the time when Filippo, along with his sculptor friend Donatello, visited Rome and studied the physical presence of ancient ruins of Rome. It was the time when Filippo rediscovered the principles of linear perspective according to which one can paint of draw using a single vanishing point. The other architecture engineers were able to use two-dimensional canvasses to create illusions of three-dimensions using the ideas of Filippo. He also helped build many military weapons and defensive mechanisms in many Italian cities. He was also able to build hoist-like mechanism to help perform theatrical religious performances in the church.