Gender Development

When and Why? Girl or Boy? Gender differences began at birth Color, clothing, and hair

Why not Behavior? Male Female Aggressive Nurturing Task-Focused Sentimental Intimacy Testosterone Estrogen Male Female

Words to Know: Gender roles – expectations about the way men and women behave. Gender identity – our sense of being male or female Gender typed- exhibiting traditional masculine traits or traditional feminine traits.

Theories of Gender Social Learning Theory – We learn gender behavior by observation and rewards and/or punishments. Gender Schema Theory – Combines social learning with cognition. You learn different behaviors and create concepts linked to previously learned behaviors.

Venus Greek: Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty. The planet is so named probably because it is the brightest of the planets known to the ancients. With a few exceptions, the surface features on Venus are named for female figures.

Mars (Greek: Ares) is the god of War. The planet probably got this name due to its red color; Mars is sometimes referred to as the Red Planet. An interesting side note: the Roman god Mars was a god of agriculture before becoming associated with the Greek Ares; those in favor of colonizing and terraforming Mars may prefer this symbolism. The name of the month March derives from Mars

Men are From Mars; Women are From Venus

Gender Issues Communication – What do you hear? Women – Between the lines Men – Between the lines meaning

Language What’s the difference between Mr. Mrs. and Ms.? What’s the difference between an actor and an actress? Why do we attach masculine and feminine to wording in foreign languages?