Gender Socialization And Identity Theory Summary

For instance, whenever my mom would be getting ready to go out for the night I would sit in her room and rummage through all of her heels trying on each pair to see if I could walk in them. I was so fascinated at such a young age with watching my mom apply makeup, do her hair, and dress up to go out. This was the gender socialization that formed how I am today with my appearance and led me to follow the gender norms associated with being a woman. In the reading Gender as Structure by Barbara Risman she explains how once you categorize yourself as a woman you are expected to “do gender” and follow the gender norms that correspond to the gender you identify yourself as. By being presented with all of the gender norms at such a young age I carried those ideas with me as I grew older, which allowed myself to “do gender” by expressing my appearance as a typical woman such as by wearing makeup, doing my hair, and dressing

Burak defines gender socialization as “the process of interaction through which we learn the gender norms of our culture and acquire a sense of ourselves as feminine, masculine, or even androgynous” (Burack, 1). According to Burack, people of different genders behave differently not due to biological factors, but due to socialization that teaches individuals to behave in a particular way in order to belong to a certain gender. For example, women may tend to be nurturing, not because they are biologically programed to be caretakers, but as a result of society teaching them through toys and media to act as mothers. In this way, gender becomes a performance based on expectations rather than natural behaviors or biology, a phenomenon called “doing

Aaron Devor discusses the patriarchally-expected gender roles of today’s society. He delves into the discussion of femininity versus masculinity. Society associates femininity with weakness, whilst associating masculinity with greatness.

In this research study (experiment) a large amount of monkeys and rats were used to see the effects of drugs and drug addiction. The drugs tested on these animals included morphine, alcohol, codeine, cocaine and more. The researchers working on this case trained these animals to inject themselves with the given drug. The monkeys and rats were then left with a supply of their given drug and observed by the researchers. This caused the animals great stress, some ripping the fur off of their bodies, enduring withdrawals or even death.

Aaron Devor’s essay “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender” thoroughly explains with unbiased and compelling evidence how gender roles are the product of socialization. According to him, they are the result of lessons taught and instilled in the minds of children so early in life. The story of Brandon Simms, a lively eight year old boy, challenges the argument presented in Devor’s account. While Devor advocates the development of gender identity based on

The phrase gender role is concept of society that defines what behavior society expect form men and women and how they are suppose to act in society . While evolving, what kind of passive and active toys are allowed to play with? What kind of clothes and colors to wear? Unaware route of molding a person to fit in with society 's norms and values is called sociologists as "socialization." Many think that gender stereotyping in form of clothes, toys or books or along with other aspects, teach a children rising up to fit into conventional gender roles. Some disagree and says that a boy can dressed in pink but still grew up and be a man traits and so claim that this theory cannot be correct. While on the other hand it has to be consider, still, and neither side has been accepted or rejected.

Some folks assume that girls and boys behave and like different things based on their distinctive innate nature and physical differences. While it might be true that they identify themselves based on biological traits like their gender/sex, Penelope Eckert, the author of Learning to be Gendered, argued that receiving different treatments and nurture can have influence on how girls and boys learn to identify themselves. Penelope suggest that there’s a social matter where an individual’s gender can be a heavy label on how he or she would be like, but part of the gender label is developed by parenting while growing up. Even at birth, gender roles are conditioned by their milieu. Baby girls are given flowery or pink gifts while boys are

The essay “Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls”, by Katha Pollitt, argues how boys take the role of being strong and masculine, while girls embody politeness and ladylikeness. Pollitt asserts that males and females’ mentality and actions are a result of social conditioning. She takes dismissive attitude towards any kind of study or theory which proves that there are innate differences between boys and girls, and also claims that these studies are an excuse which parents can use to justify their attitudes with their children. Pollitt has a point when she says that the different personalities opposite sexes have are based on cultural influences, but I think that innate biological mechanisms

In today’s society women are still seen as fragile objects that can be broken. Moreover, Women are hired in cashier positions rather than a position that would require strength. Television depicts men as scientists thus teaching the youth that women are meant to be seen and not heard. Women have expectations and roles assigned to them even before birth. Immediately, a girl’s nursery is decorated with pink butterflies and she is expected to be gentle. Boys are told to not be a girl, that they cannot wear pink, and cannot play with Barbie’s. If a boy acts outside of this stereotype he is considered a homosexual. Stereotypes and traditional roles need to be squashed. Restricting a child to one set of behaviors can psychologically damage them. Maria do Mar Pereira, a sociological researcher, found in a study that “constant effort to manage one’s everyday life in line with gender norms produces significant anxiety, insecurity, stress and low self-esteem for both boys and girls, and both for ‘popular’ young people and those who have lower status in school” (Forcing

This book refers to the construction of gender and how it is formed from a young age and continues through to adulthood, linking to the formation of gender and sexual identity.

Unlike ‘sex’, which typically refers to the biological and physiological differences, gender is a sociological concept that describes the social and cultural constructions that is associated with one’s sex (Giddens & Sutton, 2013, p. 623-667). The constructed (or invented) characteristics that defines gender is an ongoing process that varies between societies and culture and it can change over time. For example, features that are overly masculine in one culture can be seen as feminine in another; however, the relation between the two should not be seen as static. Gender socialization is thought to be a major explanation for gender differences, where children adhere to traditional gender roles from different agencies of socialization. Gender

To understand the linkage between sexuality and gender, it is important to reimagine the relationship between sexuality and gender and the rapport they hold with self-identification. Not long ago, sexuality was tied to procreation - becoming the core of one’s identity. Gender had always been tied to biological sex. However, a crisis of gender identity emerged and blurred the gender and sexuality binaries that had become commonplace social facts. A fluidity was created that allowed individuals to not feel the pressure of fitting inside distinct identification categories. Steven Seidman’s Revolt Against Sexual Identity provides anecdotes that describe the liberation that comes with rejecting these norms, “...her identities as transgender, female,

Children and young adults are identifying with gender roles at a young age due to mass media. Children develop within a society that is gender-specific when it comes to social and behavioral norms. These come from the family’s structure, how they play with others and by themselves, and school.

The question about whether or not an individual’s identity is innate or acquired, has always been a debatable issue. Some people argue that gender identity is a result of the social context they live in, while others believe a person is born into it. Gender identity is a “person 's subjective sense of themselves as masculine or feminine and is exhibited by the degree to which they act upon their gender roles” (Whalen & Maurer-Starks, 2008). However, based on the current society people live in, it is more likely that an individual’s identity, such as their sexuality, education, and social status are acquired as a result of the social context they live in.

Post-colonialism as a branch of epistemology, politics and ethics addresses the problem of submergence and loss of identity, individuality and distinctiveness of the colonized ‘other’ and his gradual acquiescence of the values of the colonizers by treating them as superior to his own and it also tries to provide some space and voice to the marginalized other or the subaltern. Globalectics is essentially concerned with the relation, tension, connection and perception that exist among different cultures and how they interact with each other and how they are related to the centre and how the apparent attire of the entire world affairs and international politics is shaped by the invisible, internal dynamics of the dialectical. Now a contrapuntal