Lucy Capuano MA Psychology 02 - Chapter 8 Becoming the Woman or Man You Want to Be

What are some traditional Female Roles? Some stereotypes associated with the traditional female role include Women are warm, expressive, and nurturing Women are not aggressive or independent Women are emotional and intuitive Women are passive and submissive Women are more interested in relationships than in professional accomplishments

What are some traditional Male Roles? Some stereotypes associated with the traditional male role include a man’s Emotional unavailability Power and aggressiveness Denial of fears Protection of his inner self Denial of “feminine” qualities Being driven to succeed Lack of bodily awareness

Gender Role Development Terminology: Sex: Biological ascribed sex -i.e. either boy or girl, male or female Gender: A Psychological concept referring to the inferences we make about being male or female Gender-role development: Process thought which children acquire the characteristics and behaviours prescribed for males and females in their culture.

Description of Developmental Patterns Development of gender concept Gender identity: ability to correctly label own gender, and to identify others as boys/men and girls/women Gender Stability - the understanding that you stay the same gender through out life. Gender Constancy: Realization that someone stays the same gender even if they do not adhere to gender stereotypes

The Development of Sex-role Concepts and Stereotypes: Behavior is sex-typed before development of ideas about sex roles and stereotypes. By 18 - 24 months, preference for sex-typed toys, some months before normally identifying own gender. By 4 months, infants have already begun to match male and female voices with faces. Between ages 2 and 3, Children begin to correctly use labels such as “mommy” and “daddy”. By age 3, children typically begin to assign occupations, toys and activities to the stereotypical gender. They prefer own-sex playmates and more sociable with same sex children, but do not yet have gender stability.

The Development of Sex-role Concepts and Stereotypes: (Cont’d) By age 5, associate personality traits with males and females. Between 5 and 7 children realize that gender is unchanging By age 6, gender divide in friendships is marked. By age 8/9 years this stereotypical knowledge is well developed. By age 10 to 11 children’s stereotyping begins to rival that of adults. Early adolescents develop increased intolerance of cross-sex mannerisms and behaviors.

Aggression Boys are more physically and verbally aggressive than girls, starting as early as age two. Boys are 10 times more likely to be involved in antisocial behavior and violent crime during adolescence. Girls display more covert forms of hostility such as undermining or ignoring.

Becoming the Woman or Man You Want to Be SOME KEY POINTS ON GENDER-ROLE IDENTITY The gender-role standard encourages a static notion of “clear roles into which all women and men must fit” Examine the experiences you have had that influence your gender-role identity Reflect on your models that have influenced your views of what it means to be a woman or a man Be patient with yourself in challenging and changing your attitudes Decide for yourself what kind of person you want to be, based on what you truly value

Challenging Traditional Gender-Role Expectations Both women and men often pay a price for staying within the limited boundaries defined for them by their culture Becoming aware of the process of gender-role socialization is the first step toward making choices about assuming expected role behavior Men and women are challenging the societal conditioning that results in rigid role behavior

Alternatives to Rigid Gender-Role Expectations The challenge is for women and men to work together in deciding how they want to be Androgyny is the flexible integration of both feminine and masculine traits Androgynous people can adjust their behavior to what the situation requires in integrated and flexible ways Gender-role transcendence involves moving beyond gender roles

Psychological Androgyny: A Prescription for the Twenty-First Century? Androgyny-individual incorporates both masculine and feminine attributes into his/her personality. Bem demonstrated that these people act more flexibly than more traditionally gender-typed individuals.

Androgynous people do seem to be more highly adaptable, and androgynous children seem to enjoy higher self-esteem. A male or female who has many desirable masculine traits and a few feminine ones is said to be a masculine gender-typed person. One who has many feminine and few masculine-stereotyped traits is defined as a feminine gender-typed person.

Applications: On Changing Gender-Role Attitudes and Behaviors How can we reduce sexism? 1)teach that biological sex is unimportant outside domain of reproduction 2) delay children’s exposure to gender stereotypes by encouraging cross and same-sex play, and by dividing household (mom mowing lawn; dad cooking).