Literature Review On Gender Roles

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 development of roles for men and women falls down to their gender roles which their qualities and characteristics that society describes them as each sex. Yes, people are born female or male but over time society helps them to become women and men. In class we talked about how society has its “ideas” on what the different gender roles should look like. Men need to be the head provider for a family, they need to work a full time job and provide for his family. A women has responsibilities and that is to maintain the household, raise the children and always prepare food for her family. Different cultures have different gender roles and other factors can also determine what the female and male gender roles should look like.

In "Learning to Be Gendered", Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet argues that the gender identification does not begin at birth. The dichotomy between a male and a female in biology is what sets them apart. The authors address the false assumptions with gender identification for people who think they figured out the pattern for boys and girls. The article gives examples of instances where parents and adults have unconsciously made judgments for males and females based on their expectations and roles. As a result, boys have learned to perform as a male and girls have learned to perform as a female.

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

This author uses essays from the book Exotic No More: Anthroplogy on Front Lines to support her research about the various roles of gender in societies. Her main focus, and example was showcasing the Western society and how they classified gender. In the past, gender roles were mostly composed up of the same gender. For example, domestic duties were for women, not men.

Gender role is the behaviors, attitudes, and activities excepted or common for males and females. In the Hmong culture for example, men are generally expected to work, to support his families, and to be a leader; women are generally expected to stay home, to take care of the kids, and to respect her husband. Throughout almost every culture history, the gender role is similar to the Hmong culture. However, both gender have a central issue they’re facing in our society. A issue boys are facing is the chances of failing a grade because of their lack of interest such as having boring classes and also the lack of study because they don't want or dislike the subject they have.

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

In the essay “Even Nine-Month-Olds Choose Gender-Specific Toys,” Jennifer Goodwin acknowledges the possibility of gender being innate, as a research showed that “even 1-day-old boys spent longer looking at moving, mechanical options than 1-day-girls, who spent more time looking at faces” (89). However, she claims that even actions this early in life may already be influenced by the parents’ different treatments, which start almost instantly after their child is born. Goodwin states that, even when their children are still infants, parents tend to show more affection towards girl than boys, who are dealt with in a more active and playful manner, which could explain the findings of the research mentioned. This difference in treatments is later

A child's earliest exposure to what it means to be male or female comes from parents. From the time children are babies, parents treat their sons and daughters differently. Parents’ dress their children gender specific colors, give them gender differentiated toys, and expect different behaviors from boys and girls. Parents inspire their children to participate in sex-typed activities. Such activities include doll playing and engaging in housekeeping activities for girls, and playing with trucks and engaging in sports activities for boys.

From the very beginning of our lives, a majority of us are told or taught upon by cues on how to act according to our gender. Saying that if one wants to perform gender right, than girls should act a certain way, while boys act another. In,“Night to His Day,” Judith Lorber discuses how the formation of gender begins, “For the individual, gender construction starts with the assignment to a sex category on the basis of what the genitalia look like at birth” (Lober 1994:55). Solely based off the genitalia, it will be determined if the child is a boy or a girl; from their parents will dress their child in a certain way to make that gender prevalent to an outsider.

Although some people believe that nature affects the gender identity, others argue that, based on the education an individual receives, it is actually nurture. For example, John Moore, a teacher at a female-only school, says, “My findings suggest that, in some senses, the single-sex school is strongly feminist” (Moore, 2005). On the other hand, many societies teach the children gender stereotypes to try and limit them from becoming against what the society feels is appropriate. Gender roles or stereotypes are “a set of qualities, behaviors, and attitudes that are considered appropriate for males and females based on their biological sex” (Whalen & Maurer-Starks, 2008). Most of the time, these stereotypes are taught and explained to the children in the early stages of learning, since as mentioned above, gender identity is most likely detected after the child is two years old.

Such conflicts can confuse the development of children’s gender

It is well-known in modern culture that children begin developing gender identities from a very young age. As soon as children are able to comprehend media and the actions of those around them, they are bombarded with examples of gender roles. In fact, they are presented with these examples even before they can comprehend them. Parents may begin reading children books right from birth. The gender roles that are often present in these picture books aimed at young children become ingrained in the minds of the children, kickstarting the development of gender identity.

According to the “Gender and Group Process: A Developmental Perspective” by Maccoby who illustrates that sex typing, socialization pressure, and same-sex groups that mediate and influences on our gender development as we grow up. Sex typing obtains sex distinctive characteristics such as various of behaviors, interests, personality traits, and cognitive biases in which to identify the person is becoming more/less masculine/feminine. Also, socialization pressures from parents tend to shape the child gender identity toward their biological sex by giving the toys and activity preferences, acknowledge the gender stereotypes, and their personality traits. Social psychologists claim that same-sex groups and group size are matters which can describe

Rosemary Okumu PSYC 1113 – Section 11/18 /2016 Gender Gender is the state of being male or female. Male are thought to be adventurous, aggressive, strong whereas females are to be affectionate, attractive, shy and sexy. While I highly identify with my feminine gender characteristics, at times l possess masculine characteristics like confidence, ambition, and sometimes aggression.