Peace

Group #2 1:00-2:00 TThS

January 18, 2014

GENDER SOCIALIZATION

* Gender socialization is the process of learning the social expectations and attitudes associated with one's sex. Boys learn to be boys and girls learn to be girls. Boys are raised to conform to the male gender role, and girls are raised to conform to the female gender or role.

*Gender role- a set of behaviors, attitudes, and personality characteristics expected and encouraged of a person based on his or her sex.

- For example, girls learn to do different household chores than boys; girls learn to bake and clean, and boys learn to mow lawns and take out garbage

*Gender norms- what we expect of women and men

*Gender stereotypes- How we generalize our understanding of women and men

* Gender versus sex

Gender is the socio-cultural phenomenon of the division of people into various categories such as male and female, with each having associated roles, expectations, stereotypes, etc. Sex pertains to either of two main divisions (female or male) into which many organisms can be placed, according to reproductive function or organs.

* Gender socialization occurs through such diverse means as parental attitudes, schools, how peers interact with each other, and mass media.

a. Influence of Biology (Biological Essentialism)

-Men and women are biologically different:

Anatomy

Hormones (testosterone, estrogen, etc)

Size (strength, size, weight)

-Example: There are some significant differences between female and male brains. The language center in the male brain is usually in the dominant (usually left) hemisphere, whereas females use both hemispheres of the brain to process language. This may explain why females seem to have stronger communication skills and relish interpersonal communication more than males and why, on average, girls learn to speak and read earlier than boys.

b. Influence of Family

-Every culture has different guidelines...