M.Bonfili –Philosophy of Law, 2015

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 gender thematisations in the psychosexological and psychoanalytical field, to different extents, share the critique of:
biological determinism that postulates the original aspect of nature and the subordination of society
essentialism, which claims anteriority, priority and exclusivity of sex with respect to gender
deterministic-essentialist perspective considers irrelevant even the terminological distinction sex/gender

 Criticize naturalistic paradigm
 Thematize priority of social assumption of gender role for the perception of gender identity in relation to sex
 According to these theories: society significant influence on the perception of subjective identity

 Three types of theories explain gender socialization:
 Psychoanalytic theory(Freud- emphasizes the unconscious processes involved in developing gender identity)
 Social learning theory
 Cognitive developmental theory

 More straightforward than psychoanalytic: focus on observable events and their consequences rather than on unconscious motives and drives.
 Numerous social learning theories but share principles derived from behaviorism in psychology.
 emphasizes the importance of our social environment on our development
 A lot of what you learn for gender-identity is gained by watching your primary and secondary socialisers.

 Primary socialisers (also known as Informal socialising agents) include people such as family, and siblings
 Secondary socialisers (also known as formal socializing agents) include the media, law enforcers, and teachers

 Albert Bandura (1986)
 The reason we act and behave the way we do has been explained in 4 simple ways:
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Imitation
Identification
Reinforcement
Modelling

 Social learning theory also suggests that children learn by observing and imitating the behavior of same-sex adults.
 This is simply copying behaviour and is the fastest type of learning in humans.
 A young girl learns what it means to be female by observing her mother, whereas a boy learns what it means to be male by observing his father.
 This behaviour may be imitated because it is seen as rewarding. Thus the rewards stop and the behaviour too ceases.

 Not all behaviour is likely to be imitated.
 In order to imitate, children need the belief that they have the capacity to imitate a behaviour they have observed.
 They also need Reinforcement of that behaviour to keep them from extinguishing the learned behaviour. Reinforcement strengthens behaviour with positive consequences

 This is direct learning – Our behaviour is strengthened
(repeated/not repeated) due to a particular response (i.e.
reward/punishment)
 According to this perspective, children are reinforced – both positively and negatively – for gender appropriate and inappropriate behavior
 A young boy playing with dolls, for example, might be ignored by his father; the lack of attention serves as a negative reinforcement, so that the boy eventually stops playing with dolls altogether.

 Or, parents might hug a young girl who cries – the hug serving as a positive reinforcement – thereby increasing the likelihood the girl will cry again in the future
 In this way, the theory suggests, boys and girls learn which behaviors are expected of them.
Boys learn that playing with dolls is
‘inappropriate’; girls learn that expressing emotion is consistent with being female.

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An individual desires to be like a specific model or part of a social group because they possess
qualities they view as rewarding, i.e. attractiveness or status.
The child experiences a form of attachment to them and aspires to be like them.
Unlike imitation, identification implies some form of relationship between the imitator and imitated.

 Are children the passive recipients of socialization messages that the theory postulates?
 There is evidence that children seek out message from their environment rather than merely passively accept what models offer.

 Cognitive theories of gender socialization offer a different perspective
 emphasizing the developmental nature of the socialization process, as well as the active role the child plays in the construction of his or her gender identity.
 Lawrence Kohlberg was one of the first to apply theories of cognitive development to gender identity.
 Children develop the stereotypic conceptions of gender from what they see and hear around them.

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Kohlberg believed that once they achieve gender constancy-- the belief that their own gender is fixed and irreversible – they positively value their gender identity and seek to behave only in ways that are congruent with that conception.
Once children establish knowledge of their own gender, the reciprocal interplay between one's behavior (acting like a girl) and thoughts (I am a girl) leads to a stable gender identity, or in cognitivedevelopmental theory terms, the child achieves gender constancy.

 Some discredit his theory by saying that children demonstrate gender-typed behavior as young as two or three years of age, long before they develop gender constancy

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The Gender schema theory proposes that children learn from the culture in which they live a concept of what it means to be male and female. they internalize this pattern as a knowledge as a gender pattern that becomes the core of gender identity that interacts with individual experiences and is reinforced by the mechanisms of reward/punishment received based on behavior.
gender schemas, help children organize information, and maintain a sense of consistency and predictability.

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In your own childhood, as you struggled to comprehend the world, you – like other children – formed concepts, or schema, including a schema for your own gender. Gender then became a lens through which you viewed your experiences.
Through language, dress, toys, and songs, social learning shapes gender schemas. Children then compare themselves with their concept of gender ("I am male - thus, masculine, strong, aggressive," or "I am female - therefore, feminine, sweet, and helpful") and adjust their behavior accordingly

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 tend to be polarized, so that children believe
“what is acceptable and appropriate for females is not acceptable or appropriate for males (and vice versa)” tend to be androcentric; that is, children internalize the message that males and masculinity are the standard or norm, and are more highly valued than females and femininity (Wharton).

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In other words, children adjust their behavior according to their gender norms and expectations.
This theory states that the developing child internalizes gender lenses that are embedded in the discourse and social practices of the culture, and that these lenses predispose the individual to construct a self-identity that is consistent with these lenses
Gender schema is essential in gender role development and it emerges in early childhood.

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 gender-stereotyped behaviors and attitudes may occur this ultimately leads to the androcentrism part of the
Gender Schema theory which suggests that the standards are created from the male point of view, so everything different from this category is considered a deviation from the standard as well as an inferior departure.

 Kohlberg  first to apply theories of cognitive development to gender identity
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“children’s views of appropriate gender roles
...change as they grow older, reflecting their changing cognitive development” once children develop gender constancy – the recognition of themselves as male or female and the stable, unchanging nature of their gender – they become more motivated to demonstrate gender appropriate behavior.

 theory failed to explain why children use gender, rather than some other construct, to organize their view of the world

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This theory posits that portions of an individual's knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences.
It is a learning theory based on the ideas that people learn by watching what others do and that human thought processes are central to understanding personality.
People learn by observing others.

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Learning is an internal process that may or may not change behavior.
People behave in certain ways to reach goals.
Behavior is self-directed (as opposed to the behaviorist thought that behavior is determined by environment.)
Reinforcement and punishment have unpredictable and indirect effects on both behavior and learning

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 interpret socialization as an active process that is not reduced to mere passive internalization of external expectations, but presupposes and involves negotiation and modification.
Children do not limit themselves to the perception of the gender messages from outside, but they interact with others building their own identity.

 Interpret socialization as an active process that is not reduced to mere passive internalization of external expectations, but presupposes and involves negotitation and modification
 Children do not limit themselves to the perception of gender messages from outside, but they interact with others building their own identity

 suggests that almost all behavioral differences we know about between males and females are result of cultural stereotypes about gender (how males and females are supposed to act) and the resulting social roles that are taught to young people

 Gender stereotypes are the common beliefs about people based on the belonging to social categories
 They vary according to physical characteristics, psychological traits, behaviour and to tasks/ functions

M.Bonfili -Philosophy of Law, 2015

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 has had a major impact in the philosophical debate on gender
Critics essentialism
 Social constructionism is opposite to:
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 biological essentialism  that recognizes identity in essence social essentialism  fixes single identity on a social level

 The social construction of gender comes out of the general school of thought entitled social
constructionism.
 Constructionism refers to “constructivism”.
 Constructivism is a predominantly philosophical and epistemological theory according to which it is not possible to objectively represent reality, given that the sphere of our experience is the result of our constructive activity.

 Constructionism is a sociological theory that applies the constructivist theory to society:
 believing that society is the construction
process through which people constantly
create not by means of their being, but by means of their acting and interacting, a common and shared reality, experienced as objective

 Take, for example, money . Money is a socially constructed reality. Paper bills are worth nothing independent of the value individuals ascribe to them. The Euro is only worth as much as value as Europeans are willing to ascribe to it. Note that the Euro only works in its own currency market; it holds no value in areas that don't use the Euro. Nevertheless, the Euro is extremely powerful within its own domain.

 Constructionism does not investigate what people are but rather what they “do” together as part of the social relations in specific historical and cultural contexts

 The key concepts of the constructionist theory are identified in the three phases of the process which, through action and interaction, allow subjective meanings to be transformed into objective facts and to construct socially the reality.

 The first phase is externalization: it is the moment in which the agents, through their activities, create the
social dimensions.
 Then “objectification”: it is the phase in which
individuals, through thought and language,
objectivise reality as, independent of the individual.
 The last phase is “internalization”: it is the stage in which, through socialization, the order constructed subjectively and intersubjectively is accepted and
objectively legitimized.

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This theory has contributed to the social elaboration of gender: starting from the not disputed fact that there are two sexes (man and woman) or sexed identities the gender category refers to the social process or socialization (gendering process) but also to the product of this process, which divides people in society into male and female
In this sense gender is not rooted into gendered beings, but in society (gendered society).

 Social constructionism, affirms that the source of gender is not nature but history and human action/interactions
 Gender is no longer considered as a constitutive element of natural being or inherent essence, but it becomes a quality of social relationship.
 Gender is a human production that depends on everyone constantly “doing gender”
 Gender becomes, therefore, the construction of femininity and masculinity: it is an external creation, influenced by society and determined by culture.

 The process of socialization, in this perspective, is composed by the association repeated in time between one sex
(male/female) and certain social actions/practices
(roles,responsabilities,expectations)

 As a process gender creates the social differences that define “woman” and “man”.
 In social interaction throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected, act and react in expected ways, and thus simultanously construct and mantain the gender order.
 In almost every encounter, human beings produce gender , behaving in the ways they learned were appropriate for their gender status, or resisting or rebeling against these norms.

 This determines the association of the female with the reproductive and domestic role and the male with the economic and political role.

 Hierarchicalisation may arise from opposition: in this sense, hierarchy does not come from natural distinction, but from the social construction associated with the natural distinction, insofar as society privileges one category, placing it in a position of superiority or exclusivity, and devaluing the other.
 Constructionism believes that people are not marginalized because they have different sex, but different because marginalized in relation to gender.

 In societies that create the greatest gender difference, such as saudi arabia, women are kept out of sight behind walls or veils, have no civil rights and often create a cultural and emotional world of their own.
 But even in societies with less rigid boundaries, women and men spend much of their time with people of their own gender because of the way work and family are organized. This spatial separation of men and women reinforces gendered differences and ways of behaving.

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It is a theory that is different from essentialism, as it states that man/woman differentitiation is also a social process, not only the direct expression of nature; it criticizes the overlapping of sex and gender, and introduces a contrast between sex, the term fixes identity statically to nature and gender, which flexibly indicates a process
According to this theory gender varies from culture to culture
Changes form time to time

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A number of different discourses construct and maintain gender identities and expectations.
When we are being socialized: we have all these different levels of socialization from primary socialization and secondary socialization to everyday acts of maintenance that confirm and sometimes challenge our gendered worlds.
So basically human beings are affiliated with a number of institutions and each institution has its own discourse they espouse, that help program our gendered outlook on the world.

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So some examples of this would be religious discourse:
People who are affiliated to different churches, these different worship places will expose their followers to gendered discourses that tell them the appropriate behavior of men and women. Like in a number of religious discourses women should defer to the judgment of men
Also medical discourses, doctors also shape us our understanding of appropriate gender performances, legal discourse definitely come into play here: who should have what opportunity in the job force and then other discourses and institutions include education. Media discourses that help us understand the way man and women should look

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Discourses make the normative appear natural. So in a lot of these discourses we try to make it seem like: “this is the way it should be done”, this makes gender appear as a natural construct rather than something socially constructed
There isn’t only one discourse but more discourses that model our gender.

 The theorization of gender as a cultural construction is along the same lines
 Also criticizes the essentialist claim that explains sex biologically  as an innate, deep and unchanging character which is
“uncontaminated by cultural influences”

 The thematization of gender as cultural construction is delineated by following different paths:
 Gender as a cultural construction of sex
 Gender as a cultural construction of sexuality

 Ann Oakley in her book, sex, gender and Society written in 1972 explores the term gender
 She notes that gender is a matter of culture as it refers to the cultural classification of masculine
and feminine as opposed to sex, that biologically distinguishes male from female.
 'Gender' is a matter of culture: it refers to the social classification into 'masculine' and
'feminine'.

 The constancy of sex and the variability of gender is revealed:
 this proves that biology has a minimal role in the development of gender identity and that gender is not a direct, mechanical and automatic product of sex.

 According to the author cultural learning far exceeds biological determination
 Oakley says that in the Western culture women play the roles of the “housewife” and
“mother ‟ .

 The Author identifies in the sex/gender distinction the most effective conceptual pair to express the male/female relationship:
 sex indicates the natural differences that in itself does not produce different social roles
 gender indicates the roles produced by culture and the socio-historical context.

 Gender is defined as a “socially imposed division of the sexes” but also as the product of the social relations of sexuality.
 The sex/gender system refers to the series of measures by which biological sex and sexuality are configured on a social level, with reference to the organization of human sexual relations, or institutional forms of sexuality through the structure of kinship and marriage.

 According to Rubin, the sex/gender system has-in recent Western societies- led prevalently to the domination of men: heterosexual marriage and the division of labour according to sex have led to attribution of the maternal-domestic role to women and of the public role to men

 The Author reconstructs a pyramid of sexual relations, revealing how cultural priority is given to those that are heterosexual, married, monogamous, reproductive, and noncommercial” and how in contrast those that are homosexual, not married, promiscuous, non monogamous not reproductive, and commercial are marginal and considered inferior.

 identifies, through an empirical, anthropological and cultural investigation of the organization of family and kinship the heart of the sex/gender system, therefore the structure of society. These roles are related to cultural appertainance; consequently, they are variable within the different geographical areas and historical periods.

 the author highlights that what feminism has to fight- so that woman can reach a position of equality to men- is not the difference of sex, but the difference of gender.

 One method, in her opinion, is through the abolition of the division of gender roles and through the expansion of care to the father alongside the mother: the care of both parents from birth would take away alongside the mother: the care of both parents from birth would take away the root causes of the
Oedipus and Electra complex, which gave rise to gender roles.

 It should be noted that Oakley and Rubin emphasize the cultural construction of gender but assume without questioning the biological basis of sex on which the distinction is grounded: in the case of Oakley the anatomical sexual difference, in the case of Rubin, procreative sexual activity.