2.2 Theoretical Framework 2.2.1 Gender Stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity Brannon (2004), defines gender stereotype as beliefs about the psychological traits and characteristics of, as well as the activities appropriate to, men or women. Gender roles are interpreted by behaviours, but gender stereotypes are about the beliefs, views and attitudes towards masculinity and femininity. Therefore, gender stereotypes are very influential; they impact conceptualizations of women and men and establish social categories for each gender. These categories represent what people think, and even when beliefs vary from reality, the beliefs can be very powerful forces in judgments of self and others. He further classifies gender stereotype in two categories
Global Perspectives of Masculinity Connell, (2005) noted that, to understand masculinity, we must start by understanding the gender system, in which masculinities are defined. a. “Role theory” is a theory of society based on the power of custom and social conformity. People learn their roles, in the course of growing up, and then perform them under social pressure. “Sex role” theory explains gender patterns by appealing to the social customs that define proper behaviour for women and for men.
Gender inequality is a social justice issue that is prominent in several societies as it is a direct reflection of the systematic power distribution amongst the two binary genders. This form of inequality is reflected through a set of adverse behaviours projected from one individual to another, known as domestic violence. Individuals perform the identities that is associated with their gender role because it is what is culturally acceptable within their given society. Judith Butler’s theory of ‘Gender as a Performance’ depicts that the practices that individuals repeat and perform assure the elements that an identity is composed of. This theory is an embodiment of domestic violence as it establishes the inequality amongst the different genders, by allowing the male to perform his dominance, causing the female to feel inferior to this.
Cohen states that, “a monster signifies something other than itself” [Cohen 8] which signifies with gender setting boundaries based on strict rules of beliefs that shape how people behave and relate to one another. Ultimately, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender” is proven to be more credible using the CRAAP test analysis than Cohen 's, "Monster Culture (7 Theses)" because Aaron H. Devor’s use of factual evidence is based on proven sociological studies rather than Cohen’s topic based on outdated currency and subjective interpretations. The first step in determining the credibility of both Devor’s and Cohen’s work is by looking at the publishing date and and the writing’s currency. Devor’s article “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the
INTRO - "An Act of Vengeance" by Isabel Allende is a latin-american piece of literature. - According to feminists critics, literature adapted to this patriarchal society we have, and the feminist author, Isabel Allende, has exposed how men and women are in the society through her characters Dulce Rosa Orellano and Tadeo Cespedes. - The feminism theory is the outgrowth of the general movement to empower women worldwide. It recognizes and critiques male supremacy combined with the efforts to change this patriarchic view. - The goals of feminism is to show the importance of women and to bring gender equity.
Differences in men’s and women’s speech People will consciously and unconsciously perform each identity. Language is a form of performance. The conventions of linguistic behaviour of men and women are strained from the performance of the felt and desired gender identity of a person. The above-mentioned conventions are based on natural discourse of the genders as well as on the ideologies of gendered speech behaviour within a society. Feminist movements realized that language was one of the instruments of female oppression by males.
One of these perspectives is analyzing communication through gender. In the book, You Just Don’t Understand, Deborah Tannen (1990) popularized the term “genderlect” to describe the way in which men and women communicate with each other. She suggested that men and women have different styles of conversing, forming two distinct dialects. In a review of Tannen’s book, DeFrancisco (1992) attributed the differing communication styles of men and women to the respective cultures in which they grow up. Because of such gender differences, misunderstanding between men and women creates a gap in the communication process.
Masculinities concern the position of men in a gender order. They can be defined as the patterns of practice by which people (both men and women, though mainly men) engage in that position (Raewyn, Connell’s.
Socialization Gender stereotypes are over-generalizations about the characteristics of an entire group based on gender. Even though gender stereotypes have been perceived as having negative connotations, they can also have positive ones as well. We typically are defined by society due to gender roles which refers to the attitudes, behavior, and activities that are socially defined as for each sex and are learned through the socialization process. I believe when you have a society that has a manual on how to be a “REAL MAN” or “REAL WOMAN” and each sex has to have certain attitudes, behavior, and activities in order to be considered that is when stereotypes come into hand. We forget that men or women may do what the other does in their everyday
Gender is the socio-cultural definition of man and woman with roles and behaviour assigned to them by society. Gender is variable; it changes from time to time from culture to culture and from family to family. Sex defines a person as male or female but it is gender, which makes them masculine or