What Is Male? What Is Female?
What is male? What is female?
-The answer to these questions depends on the types of gender roles you were exposed to as a child
-Gender (roles) can bedefined as the behaviors and attitudes expected of male and female members of a society by that society
-Gender roles will vary between cultures as different cultures impose different expectations on men and women
Where Do Gender Roles Come From?
-A person's sex is biological – it is based on whether someone was genetically born as a male or a female
-Gender roles are imposedthrough social influences.
- They are formed during socialization
-The strongest influence on a person's genderrole is his or her parents.
- Parents teach us not only our basic skills (talking and walking), but our attitudes and behavior
- Many people hold traditional definitions of maleness and femaleness and ideas of what activities are appropriate for each gender.
-Parents start early in treating their baby boys and baby girls differently.
- Parents respond more quickly to an infant daughter's cries than they are to those of an infant son (even though males are more fragile at birth)
- Parents tend to cuddle girls more than they do boys.
- Parents tend to allow boys to try new things and activities (i.e. learning to walk and explore) than they are girls
- Parents tend to fear more for the safety of girls.
-In general, people are more likely to appreciate girls' cuteness and boys' achievements.
- Example: a girl may receive the comment, "You look so pretty!" for the outfit she is wearing; repeated over and over can result in the girl believing she is most appreciated for her looks, not for what she can do.
- Example: a boy is praised for he can do--"Aren't you a big boy, standing up by yourself!"
- Many people encourage and expect boys to be more active, and rough-and-tumble in their play than girls (a boy who does notlike rough play (and therefore goes against the gender role he has been assigned) may be labeled a "sissy." A girl who prefers active play to more passive pursuits may be called a "tomboy."
-Children look to their parents for examples and role models.
- If a girl sees her mother taking part in physical activities, she will grow up with the idea that it's okay for girls to play sports.
- If a boy sees his father helping to take care of the new baby, he will integrate this image of "daddy as care giver" into his definition of masculinity.
-Toys are another influence and reinforcement of gender roles.
- A child’s choice of toy supportstheir own view of gender roles.
- Such gifts set children up early on for the roles they are expected to play.
- Examples:
- Parents may give their little girl a doll to sleep with, while the boy gets a teddy bear.
- A grandparent may give a grandson a toy truck but not their granddaughter.
- As children get older, they are influenced in their choice of toys by television.
-Peer pressure is a means of reinforcing a culture's traditional gender roles.
- It can come in the form of taunting or teasing a child who does not fit thetraditional gender roles
-Gender roles are also reinforced by school.
- In school, children are expected to sit still, read, and be quiet.
- These expectations may have been part of the gender role that a child has been learningfrom the parents, especially if the child is a girl.
- For a boy who has been encouraged to be loud and boisterous, these expectations can lead to trouble.
Differences between the Sexes
-Physical differences do exist between males and females.
- Female brains are stronger in the left hemisphere (language), which means typically they do better when tested for language abilityand speech articulation
- Male brains are stronger in the right hemisphere (spatial perception), which gives them an advantage in tasks that require moving objects or aiming.
-Tasks or tests that do not account for differences between males and females tend to penalize one gender or the other.
- Example, boys score better on standardized achievement tests, but girls score better on teststhat require writing.
- Example, math, science, and geography are subjects that males tend to do better in, while females have the advantage in meeting the social expectations of school, such as behaving in class and producingneat work.
-Even if a boy and a girl were raised identically, without gender expectations, they would not turn out the same.
Boys and Gender Roles
-Loud, boisterous, active, hands-on
-Stronger, masculine, able to do heavy labour, the “protector”
-Interests: cars, sports, video games
-Not into school
-Not nurturing
Girls Women and Gender Roles
-Quiet, reserved, shy
-Weaker, feminine, not able to do heavy labour, the one who needs protecting
-Interests: dolls, baking, children, cleaning, dance
-Enjoys school
-Very nurturing
A Shifting in Gender Roles
-The shift in gender roles in the past 30 years has been huge.
-Women are no longer expected to be the “keepers” of the house, however, they are in most families.
-While men aregenerally open to the successes enjoyed by the women they share their liveswith, some still find it hard to celebrate a woman's triumphs because they feel it diminishes their own.