Gender

Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D.Psychology of Adolescence

Understanding Gender• Early Perspectives: Psychoanalytic (e.g. Freud)

– Essentialist Perspective: knowing one’s biological sex allowed others to make broad generalizations

– Females were seen as fundamentally different from males

• Contemporary Perspectives: Social/Cognitive (e.g. Bussey & Bandura, 2004)– Understanding gender is grounded in biological,

socio-cultural, and individual experiences– Females and males share many common

attributes, potentials, and abilities

Developing Gender within Cultural Boundaries

• Gender is a product of socialization – Self regulation– Role preparation– Sources of meaning

• Socialization can lead to individualistic or collectivistic orientation– Broad Socialization: many choices left to the

individual– Narrow Socialization: few choices typically

controlled by tradition, culture, religion, generational status

Developing Gender within Cultural Boundaries

• Gender differences and Traditional Cultures – Females and Narrow Socialization

• Typically have limited contact with peers• Linked to tasks related to child care & homemaking• Little freedom for free exploration beyond the home• Linked to value of “purity & domestic arts”

– Males and Broad Socialization• Typically less contact with family and more with peers• Linked to tasks for providing, protecting, and

procreating• Greater freedom for exploring adult male roles• Linked to individual decision-making

Developing Gender within Cultural Boundaries

• Risks for transgression of traditional gender roles:– Females: isolation, injury, death– Males: isolation, ridicule, injury, death

• Risks not necessarily limited to so called traditional cultures– E.g. Matthew Sheppard case

• Marriage is frequently arranged formally or informally by parents/brokers

Adolescents, Gender and early U.S. History

• Gender roles and socialization based on many of the traditional and essentialist beliefs:– Women were weaker– Women were to comply with narrow socialization

of purity and piety– Women were to comply with male ideals of

attractiveness– Civil rights grounded in a patriarchical system– Socialization based on narrow rules and restricted

social organization grounded in those narrow rules

Adolescents, Gender and early U.S. History– Males’ gender role and social traditions have

evolved across US history– Moved from a collectivist (communal manhood)

to individualist view (passionate manhood)– Socialization has move from broad to more

narrowly defined system in many domains– Characteristics of independence, assertiveness,

and other characteristics associated with masculinity have persisted

Socialization and Gender• Gender Intensification

– Across late childhood and adolescence, perceived differences between masculinity and femininity become more pronounced due to increased pressure

– Highest among those in so called traditional cultures

– More recent research indicates that intensification is greater for males than females

– Socialization toward traditional roles tends to increase gender intensification (e.g. family)

Socialization and Gender• Sources of socialization:

– Family (traditional/non-traditional parental models),

– Peers (subtle cues, selected activities, etc), & – School (formal/informal curriculum, teachers’

subtle/intentional cues, rules/dress codes)– Broader cultural signals (prohibitions on roles

based on sex/gender)

Socialization and Gender• Sources of socialization

• Media (magazines pg.132, MTV, internet)– Magazines focus on:

» Physical appearance» How to “get a man”» Photos tend to focus on sexuality

Gender Socialization and Problems

• Problems typically associated with socialization forces:– Body imageExtreme dietary and exercise

practices – Behaviors Boy’s Aggressiveness (protect,

provide, procreate)– Gender-inappropriate behavior/appearance is

typically met with ridicule, aggression, & isolation

Cognition and GenderKolhberg’s Cognitive Developmental Theory of Gender

• Gender is a fundamental way of organizing ideas about the world

Age 3Understand

themselves as being either male

or female

Age 4 or 5Identify things as appropriate for either males or

females

Age 6 to 10Perceptions of gender become

less rigid

Age 12 to 16Perceptions of gender become

more rigid – gender

intensification

As adolescents become more capable of reflecting on these issues they become more concerned with compliance to gender norms

for themselves and other.

Cognition and Gender• Cognitive development from concrete through

formal operations can account for some changes in gender understandings

• Experience and development of a gender schema account for major parts of our gender understanding.

Sandra Bem: Gender Roles• Bem: stereotypes and cultural practices reflect

gender-specific attributes

– Instrumental traits attributed to masculinity

– Expressive traits attributed to femininity

Sandra Bem: Gender Roles• Feminine expressive, collective• Masculine instrumental, individualistic• Androgynous balance of each• Adolescent females who are androgynous

tend to have more peer acceptance and higher sense of self esteem/self efficacy

• Adolescent males who are more masculine tend to fare better

• WHY???????

Gender Roles in Minority Groups• Impact of gender roles difficult to unravel

from impact of minority status– Minority in light of political, economic, & social

power– Differences in gender roles between minority and

majority cultures likely due to the interaction of multiple factors

– Beyond racial differences, what other minority groups might yield differences in gender roles?

Gender Stereotypes in Emerging Adulthood

• Stereotype: beliefs about others based on group membership rather than direct experience

• Stereotypes can serve two functions:– Descriptive– Prescriptive

Persistence of Gender Beliefs• …the more a nation believes in the stereotype

of the scientific male (even unconsciously), the greater the gap in performance between boys and girls in both science and math. (Nosak, 2009)

Understanding Sex Differences

• Even when gender difference exist between males and females

• the portion of the two bell curves that overlap is much

• greater than the portion that is distinctive to• Even when gender difference exist between males and

females the portion of the two bell curves that overlap is much greater than the portion that is distinctive to either gender and likely within test error

Persistence of Gender Differences

1. Gender schemas tend to shape the way we notice, interpret and remember information according to our expectations about genders

2. Social roles for males and females enhance or suppress different capabilities (social roles theory)

3. Differential gender socialization leads males and females to develop different skills and attitudes which leads to different behaviours – the differences in behavior seem to confirm the appropriateness of the different roles

Gender and Globalization• Adolescent girls today have opportunities that were unknown

to women in previous eras of Western history

• The proportion of females in fields such as medicine, business and law are considerably higher than 20 years ago

• However, women tend to earn less money than men even when they are doing similar work

Gender and Globalization• In countries outside the West, adolescent girls have much less in the way

of educational and occupational opportunities

• In most developing countries adolescent girls are considerably less likely than boys to go to a secondary school

• As traditional cultures proceed toward economic development, they may offer more opportunities for girls

• As economies become more developed and complex, brain matters more than brawn and men’s physical advantage ceases to matter in work – women may have more opportunity for different gender roles

• Examine the list of terms and phrases below and select 6 that you would use to describe an ideal person—make your list

• In your groups, reach consensus on the 6 terms your group would agree for their ideal person

Self-Reliant

Compassionate

Shy

Analytical

Dominant

Ambitious

Loyal

Understanding

Assertive

Cheerful

Affectionate

Independent

Aggressive

Sympathetic

Athletic

Child-Like

Tender

Individualistic

Competitive

Gullible

Gentle

Forceful

Sensitive to others

Defends own beliefs

Eager to soothe hurt feelings

Has leadership abilities

Yielding