Sex, Gender, and Gender Socialization

Written Essay Assignment 2

1. Define the terms sex, gender, and gender socialization. How are these three concepts related to each other? What gender expectations do we have of men and women? Give at least three specific examples. In what ways do traditional gender expectations facilitate personal development, and in what ways do they inhibit personal development? From a newspaper or newsmagazine, select four photographs of men and women showing the following: a woman performing traditional female activities, a woman performing nontraditional female activities, a man performing traditional male activities, and a man performing nontraditional male activities. Briefly give your interpretation of each picture. (If you have a scanner, scan the photographs and attach them to your submission. If you do not have a scanner, provide your mentor with full bibliographic information so that she or he can locate the photographs.)

The word sex is defined as the biological makeup of an individual’s reproductive anatomy with which we are born that determine whether we are male or female. The term gender refers to the socially learned attitudes and behaviors associated with being male or female. (Gender 2012) Gender socialization is the process of learning social expectations and attitudes associated with one’s sex. It is essentially the reason males and females behave in different ways. (Chegg 2012)

Society places many gender expectations on both men and women. Despite a great deal of progress in the past century. Gender roles often depend on what you were exposed to as a child. Women are expected to be feminine and sexual. We are expected to get married and have children and be primarily responsible for raising children; all while being organized and excellent housekeepers. This stereotype is reinforced by parents when they provide their daughters with dolls and dish sets as young girls. Women are also expected to be beautiful all of the time. We spend thousands of...