The Prompt

Chapter

Gender: Identity and roles

Learning Objectives

· Define sex, gender, gender identity, and gender role.

· Explain how concepts of masculinity and femininity vary by society and culture.

· Discuss how the following environmental influences mold masculinity and femininity: societal expectations, parents, television, and school.

· Review different theoretical views about the development of “maleness” and “femaleness”.

· Describe masculine and feminine stereotypes and norms and the problems they create.

· Discuss gender-role influences in interpersonal relationships between men and women.

· Discuss differing expectations and attitudes of various ethnic groups; how race, class, and gender are related; gender roles in the family; and the way gender roles affect housework and child care in families.

· Describe how marital quality can be influences by gender-role expectations.

· Define androgyny and identify its possible advantages and disadvantages.

Chapter Summary

1. Sex refers to one’s biological identity, male or female. Gender includes those psychosocial components that characterize one as masculine or feminine. Gender identity is an individual’s personal. Internal sense of maleness or femaleness that is expressed in personality and behavior. A gender role is the outward expression of one’s maleness or femaleness in a social setting.

2. Environmental influences are a major determinant of gender identities and gender roles. Society defines the qualities of maleness and femaleness expected of men and women. Three major influences on children’s individual gender identities and roles are parents, television, and school.

3. The social learning theory asserts that concepts of gender roles and appropriate gender behavior are established through exposure to social influences such as parents, teachers, peers, and media.

4. Cognitive developmental theory suggests that children actively seek out cues and learn gender stereotypes at a particular stage of intellectual development, going through phases of rigidity and flexibility concerning gender behavior.

5. Gender schema theory combines elements of both cognitive developmental and social learning theories, suggesting that children have frameworks (schema) of how males and females act and look.

6. Social structural and cultural theories directly relate power, status, and division of labor to concepts of gender identity. The view of women as subordinates in the workplace parallels the gender conception of women as less powerful and in need of support.

7. Evolutionary theories assert that gender roles have been established through genetic evolution based on biological functions of the sexes and reproductive successes.

8. Biological theories suggest that some of the differences in male and female behavior are the result of genetic, hormonal, and neurobiological influences.

9. People develop stereotyped concepts of masculinity and femininity. Traditionally, males were aggressive, dominant, strong, forceful, self-confident, rugged, virile, instrumental, adventurous, courageous, independent, ambitious, direct, logical, and unemotional. To be a man was to be a big wheel, be successful, have status, and be looked up to.

10. Traditionally, females were submissive, weak, sensitive, gentle, tender, kind, tactful, warm and affectionate, sentimental, soft-hearted, dependent, aware of feelings of others, emotional and excitable, and somewhat frivolous, fickle, illogical, and talkative. Female gender norms included the marriage and motherhood mandates; that is, women were expected to get married and to have children.

11. The problem with stereotypes is that forcing everyone to conform to the same mold severly limits the development of individual personality and personal achievement. New gender roles encourage women to be more assertive and less passive and men to be less aggressive and more cooperative.

12. Females are socialized to believe that the body is the ultimate expression of the self. Television, magazines, and advertisements influence the way women feel about themselves and create unattainable standards for women to live up to, resulting in an increase in eating disorders and negative self-image.

13. Research on white adolescent girls has shown that, in addition to having increased rates of depression and suicide, they are more vulnerable to eating disorders, substance abuse, and low self-esteem. White girls also tend to “lose voice” and become more passive to fit the traditional gender stereotype. But research focusing on minority adolescent girl suggests that they have greater body satisfaction; specifically, African American girls are more assertive and powerful , rather than losing voice.

14. Recent decades have witnessed major changes in the way women perceive themselves: Marriage and motherhood mandates are relaxed and more mothers are employed. Men have redefined their roles as well, becoming more sensitive, warm, and communicative.

15. Gender-role expectations and attitudes have an effect on marital and family dynamics. Some couples prefer an egalitarian marriage with shared power and work; others prefer traditional relationship. Congruence between gender-role expectations and behavior is more important in relationship satisfaction.

16. Egalitarian roles have not been achieved fully, although marital satisfaction, individual psychological well-being, and child-care quality are improved when spouses share in family tasks. Women still spend significantly more time than men doing housework and caring for children, even when they work full-time outside the home. This unequal division of labor is a source of resentment and anger for many women.

17. Depression is an issue for many families and often involves negative behaviors such as lowered motivation, self-focus, and irritability. The causes of depression are varied, such as a chemical imbalance or situational factors, but more researchers agree that depression and interpersonal relationships are affected by one another.

18. The present trend is toward androgyny, whereby people are not gender typed with respect to roles. A mixing of roles is advantageous to both sexes. People may actually change gender roles depending on their social context.

Key Terms

Gender: Personality traits and behavior that characterize an individual as masculine or feminine.

Gender Role: A person’s outward expression of maleness or femaleness.

Gender Identity: A person’s personal, internal sense of maleness of femaleness, which is expressed in personality and behavior.

Transgendered people: People who feel that their biological sex does not match their gender identity.

Transexual: A transgendered person who seeks to live as a member of the opposite sex with the help of hormones and surgery.

Masculinity: Personality and behavioral characteristics of a male according to culturally defined standards of maleness.

Femininity: Personality and behavioral characteristics of a female according to culturally defined standards of femaleness.

Parental identification and modeling: The process by which the child adopts and internalizes parental values.

Social Learning Theory: A theory emphasizing that boys develop “malesness” and girls develop “femaleness” through exposure to scores of influences – including parents, television, school, and peers- that teach them what it means to be a man or a woman in their culture.

Cognitive Developmental Theory: A theory suggesting that gender roles and identities cannot be learned until children reach a certain stage of intellectual development.

Gender Schema Theory: A theory suggesting that people have definite ideas about how males and females should look and behave, based on the framework of logic and ideas used to organize information and make sense of it.

Social Structure/Cultural Theories: Theories suggesting that most of the differences between male and female gender roles are established because of the status, power, and division of labor in a given society.

Evolutionary Theories: Theories suggesting that genetic heritage is more important than social learning in the development of gender roles.

Gender Stereotypes: Assumed differences, norms, attitudes, and expectations about men and women.

Machismo: The Spanish word for “manhood”; masculinity.

Role Ambiguity: The uncertainty felt when choosing a gender role.

Role Strain: The stress of trying to meet the demands of many roles.

Egalitarian Marriage: A relationship of equality rather than strict role definition: the focus is on shared power and shared work.

Gender-Role Congruence: Agreement between partners’ gender-role expectations and their performance.

Androgyny: A blending of male and female characteristics and roles; especially, a lack of gender typing with respect to roles.