REFLECTION PAPERS on the movie "Hitch"
memozee1020
soc315ch33.pptxGender
Chapter 3
Gender Stereotypes in Pop Culture & Media
People are projected to spend nearly half their lives somehow engaged with the media.
FILM: Although 42% of the women in the US are 40+ years old, 78% of the actresses in Hollywood are 39 or younger (as of 2001).
Women play only 34% of the roles, and earn 1/3 less than men in comparable industry jobs
TV: Women represent only 36% of all prime-time characters; less than 10% of sports news cover female athletes; in music videos, women often shown as sex objects while men show aggression
NEWSPAPERS: In a survey of 20 papers, women appeared in only 13% of front page stories.
During political campaigns, women are typically described in terms of dress, hair color, and family data
COMICS: Women in comic strips spend more time in gender-stereotypical activities like domestic chores & child-rearing, and men are depicted doing more leisurely activities
terms
Sex – biological characteristics individuals are born with that determine whether they are male or female
Gender – socially learned attitudes and behaviors associated with being male or female
Role – behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status
Gender role – behavior expected of a male or female in a particular culture
Sex role – behavior defined by biological constraints; i.e., only women can give birth, only men can donate sperm
Why do gender roles differ?
In 37 different societies globally, it has been found that:
1. Heterosexual males everywhere seem to be drawn to physically attractive young women
2. Heterosexual women have been found to be drawn to men with economic ambitions
4 theories exploring gender differences: (1) sociobiology, (2) social learning, (3) cognitive development, and (4) gender schema
sociobiology
This perspective argues that our social behavior, and gender behavior, result from biological differences
Men have more testosterone, women have more estrogen and progesterone
These theorists say that men seek mates who are more likely to be fertile, and women seek mates that are more likely to guarantee the security of their offspring
social learning theory
This perspective argues that we learn attitudes and behaviors through our interaction with the environment
Learning occurs in 2 ways: reinforcement and modeling
Learning by Reinforcement – desirable behavior is rewarded, and undesirable behavior is punished
Learning by Modeling – learning through imitation of others (i.e., the same-sex characteristics of our parents).
cognitive development theory
Theory proposes that how children think, understand, and reason changes as they grow older, the result of biological maturation and increasing social experience
Piaget & Kohlberg: both showed that children of different developmental stages handle gender identity differently
2 y/o’s – don’t see gender as permanent; decide who was who based on changeable attributes like hair length and clothing
5 y/o’s – would have developed a sense of gender identity and probably identified yourself as wanting to do girl things or boy things because it was comfortable
6 & 7 y/o’s – begin to understand gender as being permanent
gender schema theory
Theory suggests that, as children, we develop a framework of knowledge (a gender schema) about what we think males and females typically do, and we then use that framework to interpret new information about gender
A schema consists of mental categories for organizing our perceptions of cultural stimuli
When boys realize that cultural expectations of being male include independence, aggression, and courage, they include those views into their gender schema. Girls do the same when they learn that being female means being affectionate, understanding and nurturing.
Once schemas are developed, they influence how information about gender is processed, so we’re likely to associate particular activities with girls or boys.
how do parents influence gender socialization?
Fathers:
Tend to spend more time with sons than with daughters
Set higher standards of accomplishment for their sons than they do for their daughters
More aggressive in play and more goal-directed with sons
With daughters, they tend to stress emotions and feelings in their relationships
Children raised fatherless tend to have the same characteristics as children raised in permissive families
Mothers:
Tend to express affection and give verbal praise to daughters and sons equally
Like fathers, also tend to stress emotions & feelings in their relationships with daughters
4 ways parents socialize their children
Using different physical and verbal manipulations: Parents may handle boys a little more roughly, or say things like “such a strong boy”
Direct attention towards certain stereotypical gender-identified objects: Encourage daughters to play with dolls, boys to play with action figures
Boys’ toys tend to encourage physical activity, girls’ toys emphasize physical closeness and mother-child talk
Apply different verbal descriptions to the same behavior: Women are “pushy” or “bitchy” while men are “aggressive”
Encourage or discourage certain stereotypical gender-identified activities: Girls are usually encouraged to indoor domestic chores, and boys are encouraged to do outdoor chores
how peers influence us
Among children, play is often divided by gender, with peers using approval or disapproval to influence our choices of toys, games, food, music, TV programs, etc.
Children actively socialize one another to conform to certain styles of interaction with members of their own sex
Girls tend to emphasize physical attractiveness, boys tend to emphasize toughness
how education influences us
How teachers influence boys:
Boys tend to get more attention from teachers than girls do
Boys are more likely to be called on in class, given more time to talk, and receive more praise but are also disciplined more harshly
Boys tend to talk louder and are more demanding
How teachers influence girls:
Girls do better than boys academically through elementary school, but by middle school boys have caught up and surpass girls in subjects like science, math and reading (slightly questionable)
Girls are not only less likely to be called on than boys but also, if their answers are incorrect, not to be helped to discover the error and correct it
Girls more likely to be praised for their appearance and for being neat in their work
drawbacks of traditional gender roles
Men:
Personal self-worth often tied to job position and income
Men who fall short can experience depression, anxiety or mental illness
Job-related stress
Less time for family life
Limited emotional expression, resulting in loneliness and fear of intimacy
Limitations on child custody if/when divorced
Women:
Reduced income and career fulfillment
Dependence on the spouse, which can result in unhappiness
The “Beauty Problem”
Less personal self-worth
Tend to have lower self-esteem, less social self-confidence, and diminished belief in their own intelligence
the women’s movement
Feminism – belief that women should have the same economic, social, and political rights as men have
Types of feminism:
Liberal feminism – aka “equal rights feminism”; assumes that the cause of women’s inequality is learned customs of gender inequality
Socialist feminism – argues that the sexual division of labor and gender inequality are an expression of class conflict. Wants government support for parental leave and child care.
Radical feminism – considers male oppression to be the cause of inequality, and sometimes advocates separatist roles for women from the existing system.
Key emphasis is physical and psychological violence, as perpetrated by male-dominated institutions against women
Lesbian feminism – focuses on the dominance of heterosexuality
Conservative feminism – promotes a return to traditional roles
the men’s movement
Profeminists – agree with feminist women that patriarchy benefits white heterosexual males but also obliges all men, including minorities and gays, to follow rigid gender roles
Antifeminists – believe that male dominance is natural and therefore women’s attempts to gain equality should be resisted
Masculinists – agree that the patriarchal system causes oppression and isolation, but are more concerned with men’s attempts to achieve self-realization and self-expression
