1. Gender Identity

2. Gender role socialisation
Sociologists argue that masculinity and femininity are socially constructed rather than being part of biology
Gender expectations are transmitted to the next generation through gender role socialisation

3. Hegemonic definitions of Masculinity and Femininity
This is the traditional view of how men and women are supposed to behave.
Hegemony refers to an idea of domination or power
Men and women have roles, and each of those roles carries with it an expected way of being – personality traits
Women should be homemakers and, they should be maternal and loving.
Men are supposed to earn the money – they are supposed to be unemotional, aggressive and rational

4. Primary Socialisation
In the family, from an early age, infants are trained to conform to social expectations of gender

5. Ann Oakley (1974) Famous study of primary socialisation of gender.
She argued that there are distinct gender roles for men and women which are cultural, not biological.
Children’s self-image is manipulated by parents – children are pushed towards toys or activities depending on whether they are male or female

6. Oakley (1974) 4 processes
Manipulation – parents encourage or discourage behaviour based on whether it is appropriate for the child’s sex
Canalization – Parents direct children to “appropriate” toys
Domestic Activities – Children are expected to behave in different ways around the home – girls more often have to do housework chores, while boys help to fix things
Verbal Appellations – Parents may reinforce cultural expectations through language – “handsome boy”, “pretty princess”

7. Gender Codes
These four processes feed into children learning and internalising gender codes – so it then leads to them making “choices” which conform to appropriate gender behaviour – and help to reinforce gender
Colour codes
Appearance codes
Toy codes
Play Codes
Control Codes

8. Secondary Socialisation
Billington et al (1998) argue that the mass media has traditionally portrayed masculinity as dominant and femininity as subordinate, women have been presented on television in a very narrow way.
In the past women were not represented in high status jobs, and were more often seen as the objects of male power

9. Advertising
As women have more economic power today, the advertising industry tends to focus a lot of products towards women – encouraging women to spend large amounts of money on “beauty” and “fashion”. This contributes to the pay gap, as women are expected to spend a lot more money on appearances than men.
“Ideal” types of men and women are presented in the media – unattainable bodies, which have led to a large number of social problems – for example eating disorders

10. Positives
On the other hand – this is a complex issue, there have been many positive effects of secondary socialisation.
LGBT+ rights have increased, largely as some sections of the media and the Internet especially, have promoted more positive ideas of equality and tolerance
TV shows in recent years – have presented more positive images of women, showing a range of “types” of women – Orange Is The New Black