In society, many social institutions give a specific culture their specific functions and purpose. For example, education facilities provide knowledge to people in the community; families offer safety for children, and churches give spiritual nourishment to Christians. Understanding gender in communication requires more than understanding micro politics and interactions but also communication in the social institutions present in society (DeFrancisco et al., 2019). Some of the characteristics of social institutions include that they are social, facilitate behavior, are constituted of people, are contradictory, have a legitimate ideology, and continually change. These characteristics define the true nature of reality and explain the help in explaining why how institutions affect communication in gender.
The various cultural approaches interrogate the relations among groups and institutions in how they practice gender. Institutional gender discrimination comes from the different sets of rules and regulations that society has put in place through their beliefs and practices (DeFrancisco et al., 2019). An example of institutional discrimination is how black people are underrepresented in the US army but are highly represented in the American prison due to systematic racism. Another frequent microaggression resulting from systematic inequalities is the Pink tax, where women’s clothes are often sold more expensive than male attires (Sue, 2010). . Indeed, many women make less than men, so selling their clothes expensive is a form of discrimination. An example is Old Navy charging five extra dollars for women jeans trousers while the material used in making them is the same.
Notably, women pay more for car repairs than men, regardless of their knowledge of the correct prices. However, women who asked for discounts are likely to receive it as compared to men. The fact that women are paying more for the same goods and services is a clear indication of the retailer’s prejudice against the women in the society (DeFrancisco et al., 2019). Although individual bias contributes to systems discrimination, the engines that drive heterosexism, sexuality, race, gender, and cissexism are found in the community.
Movies and films are areas where microaggressions are highly portrayed by actors, either knowing or unknowing (Sue, 2010). . Women are the most common victims of macroaggression, and as actors stare at women’s breasts and bottoms. Although it appears funny in many contexts, many women are offended by such acts. Asians also regularly face macroaggression as they try to ask their actual county of origin. Most Japanese are perceived to be Chinese, while Koreans and Chinese are also confused with other Asian nationalities. Macroaggressions are common among Americans of black decent as many people understand then to be criminals or cause harm to members of society. People should avoid judging people according to how they look since all people are not the same.
