The article identifies a paradox in the concept of person and in its use. Modernity, and the liberation
from the logic of status, should have brought about the ultimate consolidation of the idea of
personal value. On the contrary it caused such a drastic functional differentiation within society that
the individual has come to be defined by his/her function (citizen, economic actor, etc.) rather than
as the single bearer of different roles. The concept of person has thus become an expression to identify
only the communicative aspect of social life. That is the reason why in our complex society the
concept of person cannot find a proper location and comes to the fore only when the other codes fail.
The article focuses on gender differences, by highlighting the connection between biology and
culture, on one hand, and gender, culture and education on the other. These all are very relevant themes
to understand gender differences and the attempts to neutralise them.
In dealing with the problem of gender difference, the article extends a mainly sociological perspective
to include some contributions drawn from the field of psychoanalysis. In particular some
feminist psychoanalytic theories are examined in order to present explanations of gender difference
which trace them back to very early phases of child development. These theories also include
accounts for the commonsense view of women as better suited to play caring roles both in the private
and public spheres of society. In the second part psychoanalytic theories of identity are discussed
against the background of a changing social context. Recent sociological theories on the network
society suggest different evaluation of the role of women; in particular their ability to relate can no
longer be considered a sign of weakness; on the contrary it emerges as a positive and strong means of
empowerment in the private, public and economic worlds.
Ethnic, gender and cultural differences represent, for western society, not only a challenge for
its social unity and identity but also an opportunity to debate and to cultural enrichment. Feminism
and multiculturalism picked up this challenge producing new contributions on behalf on cultural differences. But if in the Seventies these two movements were allied in the struggle for recognition of
diversity, now they are like enemies for several reasons. Firstly western feminism was accused of ethnocentrism
by asian and african women movements: the effect was a weakening of struggle for equal
rights as men. Secondly multiculturalism has forgotten the specific topic of gender and defended
some culture that are internally patriarchal. Now the relationship between feminism and multiculturalism
is more complicated by the strong presence of immigrant women in western societies. The article
shows the critical stages of this debate, pointing out the likely and positive opportunity included
in the recognition of social and cultural differences.
In the essay, the value of the practices of intercultural mediation that women put into effect is
analyzed. Gender belonging proves to be an important resource for the dialog among cultures. It is
also able to overcome the obstacles that come from a concept where the cultural belongings and the
identities are seen as strict and unchangeable. First of all, the experiences of the international meetings
of female groups and associations are examined. These experiences have allowed the identification,
beside the differences, also of the common elements that characterize the female condition in
each part of the world. Also analyzed is the role of ‘bridge’ among cultures that the women immigrants
play, when they try to find elements of connection and of possible living together among the
host world and the world of origin. Finally, the results of a research realized among women immigrants
and native-born, who are occupied with intercultural matters, are briefly presented.
This essay is focused on gender differentiation processes in education, with specific regards to
the issue of inequality in educational attainment. After a brief review of the main sociological approaches
(functionalism and conflictualism), the article moves to describe recent findings on the issue
emerging from field studies, both in developed and developing countries. Then it considers how
socialization processes are affected by gender stereotypes, mainly through the adult-child interaction
and pair group dynamics. Some basic differences between females and males in scholarship are
underlined, such as, the higher attainment scores achieved by females, the higher levels of attention
reserved from teachers to male students; the persistence of sexism expressions in pair relations at
school. A rising issue is put under focus by interactionist approach: everyday practices in teaching
and learning usually do not take into account the student’s and the teacher’s gender. In addition to
that, there is a new challenge emerging from globalization and pluralization processes: the combination
between gender and ethnical differences will create new agents and new issues in educational
resources distribution. A short look to recent inquires shows as foreign students are now facing both
inequality (like gender-race gap) and differentiation dynamics (like diversity in motivation for
studying).
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