Chapter 5: Socialization & Gender Roles

1. Summary:

Chapter 5 examines gender roles and how they have changed over time. It begins by discussing the stereotypical characteristics of females being weaker than males. Females are stereotyped as being expressive, talkative, patient, and demonstrative, while males are portrayed as strong, aggressive, brave, and motivated. The chapter then presents some key definitions and distinguishes the difference between sex and gender; sex is a biological trait that transpires at birth; and gender is socially constructed in which one learns to be masculine or feminine based on social and cultural expectations. Children develop gender identities early in life and become feminized and masculinized through interactions with others. Most take on the roles, characteristics, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that society expects of females and males. Gender stereotypes and myths often occur because our gender roles are too narrowly defined.

The next section discusses the nature-nurture debates; is human behavior shaped by biology or culture. Biologists look at health differences between men and women, how hormones affect men and women differently, and unsuccessful sex reassignment cases like the Brenda/David case to argue that it is nature that determines the differences in women’s and men’s behavior. On the other hand, social scientists consider cross-cultural variations in gender roles, international differences in male violence rates, and successful sex assignment cases to support their argument that nurture influences behavior. The debate points out that many social activities require the interaction of biological and cultural behavior.

This chapter discusses five of the theories thought to explain why gender roles change throughout our lives. Sociobiology, the study of social behavior and how it relates to genetics and the survival of species; the theory claims that genetics along with evolution factors determine gender roles. But this theory disregards any influence cultural factors may have. Social learning theory argues that gender roles are learned through interaction with others; this theory believes in gender role socialization, which can be direct through procedures such as rewarding or punishing behavior and role modeling, or it can be indirect through observation, imitation, and modeling; this theory mainly focuses on socialization at early ages and overlooks the fact that gender roles can change later in life. It also fails to explain why reinforcement and role modeling do not work for all children. Cognitive development theory maintains that children learn appropriate gender roles by progressing through thinking, reasoning, and interpreting information. This theory ignores individual differences among children. The Symbolic interaction theory suggests gender roles are formed as a result of day to day interaction with others and may differ because of the expectations of others. The theory does not take into consideration the occurrence of negative cultural events. The last theory mentioned is feminism which claims that gender roles are influenced by social factors but differ due to social activities, sexism, and gender expectations.

The chapter analyzes parents, play and peer groups, teachers and schools, and popular culture and media as socialization sources from which gender roles can be learned. Parents send gendered messages to their children at very early ages when they treat boys and girls differently, set assigned gender-stereotyped expectations and tasks, and provide accepted gender appropriate activities and opportunities for children. Play & peer groups are important socialization sources that allow children to develop communication, emotional, and social skills and form friendships; however, they can also foster stereotypical gender roles by gender-typed play and toys. Teachers & schools also send gender-related messages to children; in elementary school and middle school, boys often receive more attention than girls and are expected to do problems themselves, while girls receive more domestic training; high school guidance counselors often guide girls to prepare for traditional female-dominated careers while boys are encouraged to thrive to obtain high income jobs. The media reinforces stereotyping by depicting sexual images of women in advertisements, marginalizing women in newspapers, using women’s appearance in magazines to gain market share, and having mostly white-men playing leading roles on prime-time television. These socializing sources all promote traditional male and female gender roles. 

Traditional gender roles are characterized by men fulfilling instrumental roles, being breadwinners and protectors, and women fulfilling expressive roles by nurturing and providing support. There are many different pros and cons of traditional gender roles for both genders. Both men and females benefit when established gender roles decrease stress by providing stability and certainty. Men often develop confidence knowing they are the provider of the household and in control; women are usually less stressed when they don’t have to manage their time between employment and domestic tasks and can spend more time focusing on family relationships. Although there are benefits, there are also costs that result from traditional gender roles; for men, there is little family time and unemployment often causes a huge burden on ones identity; for women, there is a lot of pressure to raise the children to be successful and if there was ever a divorce, the women could lose  her financial security. Traditional gender roles still exist today.

Chapter 5 also describes changes traditional gender roles have undergone in the past and discusses how gender inequality still exists. Over the past years, the roles of women have changed as more and more women join the labor force; they must often take on the “second shift,” carrying out household work and child care after working all day. However, the amount of domestic work women do has decreased recently as the amount has increased for men. There has been an increase in the amount of time male partners participate in childcare, but women still do most of the household chores. Women are thought to hold the decision-making power in the family; however, older couples have proven to be more equalitarian than young couples in terms of decision-making power. There has been greater equality in the workplace between men and women, yet gender discrimination and sexual harassment still exists. Women are often discriminated against by not being considered for higher paying positions in organizations. Political empowerment of women in the U.S. remains low in comparison to other nations; perhaps because there are few women in political office or because of the prejudice that remains among men and women and the lack of encouragement women receive to run for office. Religion often shapes both gender and family roles as well as the division of labor in the home. One last point the chapter discusses is the different communication patterns men and women have. In order to eliminate discrimination and negative role stereotypes, society must accept that masculine and feminine characteristics can exist in the same person.

 The chapter concludes by discussing the equality between men and women in many countries. The Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) points out that other countries are much more progressive than the U.S. regarding the accepted roles for men and women.

 2. What was interesting/what did you learn:

            The section about gender-typed play and toys caught my attention. The chapter does a good job describing many different toys that could promote gender-stereotypical attitudes and behavior. I never really considered how toys like Barbie or GI Joe could influence a child’s behavior.  Eating disorders in girls and steroid addiction in boys have been attributed to children wanting to mimic their appearances. I found the section suggesting that toy catalogs are often sexist when they distinguish the boy toys from the girls with images of boys playing with toy guns and Legos, and portraying boys as athletic with sports equipment compelling; on the other hand, girls are shown playing the gender role of housekeeper and cook with Easy-Bake ovens and Fisher-Price cleaning sets. Images that depict significantly different gender roles influence the socialization of children into gender-stereotyped roles. I found it interesting to read that toys and how they are advertised could influence child development. This section provided insight into the possible effects some have been know to have on children.

3. Discussion Point:

I also found the section on unsuccessful sex reassignment very interesting. My stance on intersex children is that I believe children should be given the right to choose their gender for themselves. Surgery should be postponed until the child is old enough and mature enough to decide his own gender and give autonomous consent. Nobody truly knows better than oneself what his or her sexual origins are. Parents should control a child’s choices regarding their health and safety but they should not choose their child’s gender because they cannot know for certain what the child’s gender identity is until the child grows and matures enough to recognize his own feelings. Likewise, doctors should not make a decision to perform surgery at birth based on external factors at the birth of an intersex child. Psychological and behavioral factors are as important as physical features in regards to a person’s gender identity. Making a wrong gender choice for a child may cause emotional distress and result in unwanted physical features. An intersex child who later wants genitals different than what the doctors chose may have to live with the genitals chosen for him because surgery in the same area is often impossible or highly dangerous. Allowing a child to decide on his or her gender only exposes the child to a temporary period of stigma and rejection, once the child chooses the suitable gender he/she should be mature enough to deal with the situation appropriately.

 I believe human behavior is shaped by nature. With the Brenda/David case, it was obvious that the twin was born with male characteristics and even though he was nurtured as a girl he identified his appropriate gender. I think it’s horrible to allow parents to choose a sex for the child and decide upon surgery. Even though social interactions may influence ones behavior, biology takes precedence, because in my opinion you can’t change the person you are born to be; everyone is born a specific sex, what one does from there is their own decision to either except that sex and take on the gender characteristics that is culturally excepted for that sex or to change oneself. Culture influences our gender identity, while biology forms our identified sex.

When analyzing the nature-nurture debate like I have, do you think it is nature or nurture that shapes human behavior? Or is it both? Do you think Brenda/David would have still identified as a boy if he was originally born a girl and hadn’t underwent any surgery?