1. September 30th Attendance
Research Paper: How to Present a Sociological Argument
Lecture 4: Gender Socialization
Homework:
Research Paper #1

2. Growing Up Gendered:
Think back to your childhood and fill in the following:
“When I was a child or teenager, I was taught that a proper young man or women should______.”
Think about the following topics:
Etiquette
Physical appearance and hygiene
Sex and Dating
Emotions and affection
Break into groups and take 15 minutes to discuss and come up with a list: one for boys and one for girls
After they are done, write the list on the board.
Then ask the following questions:
Do you think that the characteristics and qualities you have listed are socialized or innate?
From where did you learn these ideas?
Do you think that gender norms have remained the same throughout time?
Do you think you will socialize your children this way?
Why or why not?
What might you do differently?

3. Gender Socialization: Learning Masculinity and Femininity
Lecture Four
Gender Socialization: Learning Masculinity and Femininity

4. Socialization
Socialization: the lifelong process of social interaction through which individuals acquire self identity and the social skills needed for survival in society
Essential link between the individual and society…
Gender Socialization: the lifelong process of social interaction through which individuals acquire a gendered self identity and the rules, roles, and social relationships of the social world
Why is it important?
How society reproduces itself
Through socialization people learn:
Language, cognitive skills
Roles
Self identity
Values, beliefs, ideology

5. Agents of Socialization
Family
Roles, emotion, sexuality
Education
Hidden Curriculum: unstated lessons that we learn at school from peers and teachers
Work
Clerical work vs. managerial work
Mass Media
Vast cultural space in our society

6. Toys and Gender Socialization
Toys and Play
Children separate themselves into same-sex groups for play
Toys foster specific traits and abilities
Girls -Creativity, nurturing, attractiveness
Barbie dolls, Cinderella, Easy Bake Oven
Boys – exploration, construction, competition
Action figures, Legos, Organized Sports

7. Masculinity in Children’s Films

8. What would you do if your child was gender variant?
Knowing that gender-variant adolescents are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than other teens, would you choose to provide your child with hormone treatments that delay physical maturity?
Why or why not? Explain
How do you think your choice will affect your child’s adult life?

9. Mass Media and Socialization
There are many agents of socialization in our society today –family, school, peer groups – but one of the most powerful socializing agents today is the mass media
We live in an “advertising environment”
Adults see an average of 2000 advertisements a day
Children see an average of 40,000 commercials a year
We use 6.5 hours of mass media a day

10. Goffman: Gender Advertisements
Presentations of social interaction are equally important as the actual events in studying society
Symbolic representations of behavior
Functional ranking
Relative size
Ritualization of subordination
The Feminine Touch
Investigation of “Gender Display” in his study of advertisements…
What does the display of gendered norms tell us about the structure of gender relations in society?
As a study of pictures it is about a special kind of picturing ceremony which Goffman calls "social portraiture" through which a society expresses itself.
According to Goffman, Presentations of social interaction are equally important as the actual events in studying society
Analysis of 500 advertisements – large sample
Models are posed so that when we see their ads we interpret them as we would glimpses of social behavior
We know that they are not real, but representations of a social reality out there
With advertisements we can think of them as ceremonial presentations…
Symbolic representations of behavior
Conventionalized norms of ‘maleness’/’femaleness’
Goffman’s analysis focuses on minute details of ads, visual composition of ads, and the presence of specific social themes in ads
Patterns and Themes that emerged...
Functional ranking — the tendency to depict men in executive roles and as more functional when collaborating with women
Relative size — the tendency to depict men as taller and larger than women, except when women are clearly superior in social status
Ritualization of subordination — an overabundance of images of women lying on floors and beds or as objects of men's mock assaults
The feminine touch — the tendency to show women cradling and caressing the surface of objects with their fingers
Family — fathers depicted as physically distant from their families or as relating primarily to sons, and mothers depicted as relating primarily to daughters

11. Magazine Ads and Gender
What does this tell us about men and women…

12. What is the focus?
In advertisements, men’s penis is generally emphasized; while women’s vagina is never overtly addressed, but more presented as an open vessel
How is male sexuality presented here?
Aggressive, strong, confrontational
What role does the penis play?
Main focus
Challenging, daring to compare…
Why do you think crotch grabbing is a sign of manliness or toughness?

13. TV Ads and Gender Coors “Wingman” Burger King “Manthem”
Burger King “Manthem”
How about this commercial….
Cool girl = not talking, dancing sexy…
Not cool girl = talking, investment banker, smart, successful…
Self-centered

14. “Killing Us Softly”
Jean Kilbourne comments that the impossible, ideal image presented by advertisers "wouldn’t matter so much if it didn’t connect with the core belief of American culture that such transformation is possible; that we can look like this if we just try hard enough, buy the right products. If we’re not beautiful, or thin, or rich, or successful, it’s because we’re just not trying hard enough."

15. As you watch the film consider the following questions…
How does Kilbourne say that advertising and violence against women are linked?
Do you feel that the media reflects or creates the ideal image of beauty in our society or both? Why?
Why do you think gender & sexuality play such as significant role in modern advertising?