Chapter 5

Summary

Chapter Five begins with a short discussion of stereotypes and myths of men and women.  They also discuss the difference between gender and sex. Gender is a socially constructed idea of male and female and sex is the actual biological differences between males and females. Along with stereotypes, gender roles are discussed. Men and women have different roles socially and these are discussed in this chapter. 

The natural differences between men and women are then brought up.  There are differences in health and sex hormones.  This section also brings up “sex reassignment,” which is the procedure of becoming a man from a woman or a woman from a man. This is very important when talking about the differences in gender and when asking if nature or nurture determines what sex you are.

Table 5.3 on page 112 is titled “Theoretical Explanations of Gender Roles.”  There are five different perspectives; sociobiology, social learning, cognitive development, symbolic interaction, and feminism.  Sociobiology is defined as exactly what the name is; how your biological traits affect your roles socially.  Social learning theory disagrees with the sociobiology theory and believes that all behaviors come from social interactions, not biology.  The cognitive development theory believes that the environment determines if you act as a female or male.  The symbolic interaction theory believes that we unconsciously know how to act as a female or male.  The feminist theory believes that gender is taught.

Next the chapter discusses people that influences individual’s gender.  First, we learn from parents.  Each parent talks to each gender differently. Parents also have different expectations for different genders.  Peers also influence a child’s development. The way that children play with each other also affects the way that child develops.  Teachers and school is another major influence on gender and roles. Roles change throughout education level. The media is a huge influence on gender and youth.  Particularly popular culture and advertisements can show gender roles or determine what a person is “supposed” to look like.

There are traditional views on gender roles they include instrumental and expressive roles.  The males play instrumental roles and the females play expressive roles.  The instrumental role requires the male to be the protector and the breadwinner. The expressive role requires the mother to be nurturing and a good communicator. There are good and bad things about the continuation of these roles.  The gender roles provide stability but also put a lot of pressure on the male.

Gender roles do not only affect children but also, follow us into adulthood.  It determines who makes the decisions in the household and how adults interact with their children.  It follows adults into the workplace and in education. Worldwide, there are different views of women’s roles.  Some countries give women more power than others.

What I learned:

I thought the section about parents in learning gender roles was especially informative, particularly the setting expectations.  It talks about how parents assign different tasks to different genders.  The daughter may be assigned to help her mother clean while the son is assigned to help rake the leaves in the yard. I realized that I perpetuate some of these expectations by constantly calling my boyfriend when I find a bug and ask him to come over and kill it.

Discussion:

I really think people take Barbie dolls way too seriously.  Table 5.4 gives the measurements of what Barbie would be if she were a real person.  I am proud to say that Barbie dolls were my favorite toys growing up and I do not have an eating disorder.  Nor do I believe that women should look like a Barbie.  I don’t think that the majority of young girls think about what a Barbie looks like and aspire to look like her. It’s a child’s toy.

Gina Z