Chapter 2
Gender
Chapter 2: Gender
Introduction
• Quote: “Newsflash: You’re the boy. I’m the girl.
You text me first or we don’t talk today.”
– Unknown, University Newspaper
• Discussion:
– How does the quote above exemplify
traditional gender roles in our society? Can
you discuss a situation in your own life where
you have either witnessed or been a subject
of traditional gender role ideals?
Chapter 2: Gender
Chapter Outline
•
•
•
•
•
Terminology of Gender Roles
Theories of Gender Role Development
Agents of Socialization
Gender Roles in Other Societies
Consequences of Traditional Gender Role
Socialization
• Changing Gender Roles
• The Future of Gender Roles
Chapter 2: Gender
Introduction
• Food for thought…
– Caster Semenya won
gold in the women’s
800-m race at the World
Athletics Championship
in 2009, but colleagues
questioned if the 18 year
old South African was, in
fact, a woman.
– Based on her picture
and athletic ability, why
would her colleagues
think this?
Terminology of Gender Roles:
Sex
• The biological distinction between females and males.
• Intersexed Individuals: Those with mixed or ambiguous
genitals
• Factors used to determine biological sex:
– Chromosomes: XX for female; XY for male
–
–
–
–
Gonads: Ovaries for female; testes for male
Hormones
Internal sex organs
External genitals
Terminology of Gender Roles:
Gender
• Gender
– The social construct that refers to the social and
psychological characteristics associated with being
female or male.
– Feminine vs. masculine
– Gender differences are a consequence of biological
and social factors.
• Gender Identity
– The psychological state of viewing oneself as a girl or
a boy, and later as a man or woman.
Terminology of Gender Roles:
Gender
• Transgender
– A generic term for a person of one biological sex who
displays characteristics of the other sex
– Cross-Dresser
– Transsexual
• Gender Roles
– Social norms that specify the socially appropriate
behavior for females and males in society
• Sex Roles
– Roles defined by biological constraints; can be
enacted by members of one biological sex only
Terminology of Gender Roles:
Gender
Category
Biological Sex
Sexual
Orientation
Cross-dresser
Either
Either
Transvestite
Male
Gay
Transsexual
Either
Either
Terminology of Gender Roles:
Gender
• Gender Role Ideology
– The proper role relationships between women
and men in a society
• Gender Differences in Viewing Romantic
Relationships
Terminology of Gender Roles:
Gender
• Food for thought…
– What would happen if your healthy baby
boy’s genitals were damaged right after
birth? Watch the Youtube video below about
David Reimer.
– David Reimer: Raised as a Girl (Run Time
10:24) http://youtu.be/QeSvkE9ZtHk
Terminology of Gender Roles:
Gender
• Discussion
– Using the picture to
the right, address the
following terms with
what you believe best
defines this person’s:
• Sex
• Gender
• Gender identity
• Gender Roles
• Gender role
ideology
Terminology of Gender Roles:
Gender
• The picture in the
previous slide was a
male in female attire
and makeup.
• Does this change
your answers to the
terms that we just
discussed? If so,
how?
• Terms on the previous
slide:
– Sex
– Gender
– Gender identity
– Gender Roles
– Gender role
ideology
Theories of Gender Development:
Biosocial
• Sociobiology (Biosocial)
– Emphasizes that social behavior and gender
roles have a biological basis in terms of being
functional in human evolution
Theories of Gender Development:
Social Learning
• Social Learning
– Derived from the school of behavioral
psychology
– Emphasizes the roles of reward and
punishment in explaining how a child learns
gender role behavior
Theories of Gender Development:
Identification
• Identification
– Children acquire the characteristics and
behaviors of their same-sex parent through a
process of identification
Theories of Gender Development:
Cognitive-Developmental
• Cognitive-Developmental Theory
– Reflects a blend of biological and social
learning views
– The biological readiness, in terms of cognitive
development, of the child influences how the
child responds to gender cues in the
environment.
Agents of Socialization
• Sources influencing gender socialization:
– Family
– Race/Ethnicity
– Peers
– Religion
– Education
– Economy
– Mass Media
Gender Roles in Other Societies:
Latino/Hispanic Families
• Although traditional family models in Spain
call for men as providers and women as
homemakers and mothers, a new feminine
culture and a social reality is moving
steadily toward gender equality and
complementariness between genders.
Gender Roles in Other Societies:
Afghanistan Under the Taliban
• Afghan women go uneducated, become
child brides, produce children, and rarely
expect their daughters’ lives to be
different.
Gender Roles in Other Societies:
Caribbean Families
• Family patterns are often characterized by
women and their children as the primary
family unit—the fathers of these children
rarely live in the home.
– Men may have children with different women
and be psychologically and physically absent
from their children’s lives.
Gender Roles in Other Societies:
East and South Africa
• Africa is very diverse with Islamic and Arab
cultures in the north and industrial and
European influences in the south.
• In eastern African cultures, gender roles
can be very different from what Americans
are used to.
• In South Africa, the family has traditional
gender role relationships and patriarchy is
the norm.
Consequences of Traditional Gender
Role Socialization:
Female Roles
Consequences of Traditional Gender
Role Socialization:
Feminization of Poverty
• Disproportionate percentage of poverty experienced by
women living alone or with their children.
• Poverty contributes to teen pregnancy, since teens have
limited supervision and few alternatives to parenthood.
• Early childbearing interferes with education and restricts
earning capacity.
• Offspring are born into poverty, and the cycle repeats.
Consequences of Traditional Gender Role Socialization:
Female Genital Alteration
• Surgical procedures involving partial or
total removal of the external genitalia or
other injuries to the female genitalia for
cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons.
• Parents believe female circumcision
makes their daughters marketable for
marriage.
• Many daughters view it as a rite of
passage.
Consequences of Traditional Gender Role Socialization:
Relationship Choices for Women
• A woman who is not socialized to pursue
an education may feel pressure to stay in
an unhappy relationship.
• Women who are socialized to not initiate
relationships are limiting interactions that
could develop into valued relationships.
• Women who are socialized to accept that
they are less valuable than men are less
likely to achieve egalitarian relationships.
Consequences of Traditional Gender Role Socialization:
Relationship Choices for Women
• Women who view their worth in terms of age and
appearance are likely to feel bad about themselves as they
age.
• Women who are socialized to accept that they are solely
responsible for taking care of their parents, children, and
husband are likely to experience role overload.
• Women who are socialized to emphasize the importance of
relationships will seek relationships that are emotionally
satisfying.
Consequences of Traditional Gender
Role Socialization:
Male Roles
Consequences of Traditional Gender Role Socialization:
Relationship Choices for Men
• Men who are socialized to define themselves in terms of
their income leave their self-esteem vulnerable should they
become unemployed.
• Men who are socialized to restrict their expression of
emotions are denied the opportunity for interpersonal
sharing.
• Men who are socialized to believe it is not their role to
participate in domestic activities will not be competent in
these life skills.
Consequences of Traditional Gender Role Socialization:
Relationship Choices for Men
• Heterosexual men who focus on cultural definitions of
female beauty overlook potential partners.
• Men who are socialized to view women who initiate
relationships negatively are restricted in their relationship
opportunities.
• Men who are socialized to be in control of relationship
encounters may alienate their partners, who may desire
equal influence in relationships.
Changing Gender Roles:
Androgyny
• A blend of traits stereotypically associated
with masculinity and femininity
– Physiological androgyny refers to intersexed
individuals.
– Behavioral androgyny refers to the blending
or reversal of traditional male and female
behavior, so a biological male may be gentle
and nurturing, and a biological female may be
assertive and selfish.
Changing Gender Roles:
Positive Androgyny
• Devoid of the negative traits of
masculinity:
– Aggression, hard-heartedness, indifference,
selfishness, showing off, vindictiveness
• Devoid of the negative traits of femininity:
– Passivity, submissive, temperamental, fragile
Changing Gender Roles
• Gender Role Transcendence
– Involves abandoning our gender schema so
that personality traits, social or occupational
roles, and other aspects of our lives become
divorced from gender categories
• Gender Postmodernism
– View that abandons the notion that genders
are natural and focuses on the social
construction of the individual in a gender-fluid
society
The Future of Gender Roles
• Ideas about characteristics that are
traditionally associated with men
(aggressiveness, independence, strength)
and women (nurturance, passivity,
emotions) are changing.
• Both sexes are considered equal, and
women and men may pursue the same
occupational, political, and domestic roles.
The Future of Gender Roles
• Food for thought…
– Imagine a society in which women and men
each develop characteristics, lifestyles, and
values that are independent of gender role
stereotypes.
– Is such a society possible? Discuss.
Quick Quiz
1. Which of the following refers to the
biological distinction between females
and males?
A.
B.
C.
D.
role characterization
sex
gender
sexology
Quick Quiz
2. Which term refers to a blend of traits that
is associated with both masculinity and
femininity?
A.
B.
C.
D.
gender orientation
hermaphroditism
transgendered
androgyny
Quick Quiz
3. Which theory emphasizes the role of
reward and punishment in explaining how
a child learns gender role behavior?
A.
B.
C.
D.
gender role transcendence
identification
cognitive-developmental theory
social learning theory
Quick Quiz
4. The social norms that dictate what is
socially regarded as appropriate female
and male behaviors make up one's:
A.
B.
C.
D.
gender role
gender identity
sex role
socialization
Quick Quiz
5. Which of the following is not a negative
consequence of traditional female role
socialization?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Less income
Feminization of poverty
Longer life
Negative body image