1. Chapter 7 Becoming Gendered: The Early Years
Gendered Lives
Chapter 7
Becoming Gendered: The Early Years

2. Today We Will Discuss: I. Entering a gendered society
II. Gendering communication in the family
III. The personal side of the gender drama

3. I. Entering a gendered society
A. Self-as-object = ability to think, reflect, and respond to ourselves
1st it’s external
Next, we internalize
Their views become key to how see ourselves
Cooley (1902)Looking Glass Self- the process of developing a self-image on the basis of the messages we get from others, as we understand them.
1.We imagine how we appear to others;
2. We imagine what their judgment of that appearance must be;
3. We develop our self through the judgments of others ,some self-feeling, such as pride or mortification, as a result of our imagining others' judgment.
Gender is one of first senses of self we develop

4. DO YOU WANT TO LOOK DIFFERENTLY TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE?

5. B. Monitoring We are able to monitor ourselves
We observe and regulate our attitudes and behaviors
We are reminded of what others have told us we are supposed to think, do, look like, feel
Personal identity is social
Influenced by family and society
Even when we don’t identify with prevailing social perspectives

6. II. Gendering Communication in the Family
Families are a primary influence on gender identity
A. Unconscious Process: Identification and Internalization
1. Freud’s Psychoanalitic Theory
“Anatomy is destiny”

7. Freud’s Birthplace and Childhood home
Pribor, present day Czech Republic

8. Sigmund Freud
(1856–1939)
Pictured here in 1884

10. The Structure of PersonalityID
EGO
Psychoanalytic theory concerns how people cope with their sexual and aggressive instincts within the constraints of a civilized society. One part of the mind creates urges, another has a sense of what civilized society expects, and another part of the mind tries to satisfy the urges within the bounds of reality and society. These parts of the mind are in constant interaction. They have different goals, provoking internal conflicts within an individual.
SUPEREGO

11. The Structure of Personality
The Id
Most primitive part of the mind; what we are born with
Source of all drives and urges
Operates according to the pleasure principle and primary process thinking
The pleasure principle is the desire for immediate gratification.
Primary process thinking is thinking without logical rules of conscious thought or an anchor in reality.

12. The Structure of Personality
The Ego
The part of the mind that constrains the id to reality
Develops around 2-3 years of age
Mediates between the id and superego (environment)
The ego recognizes under the reality principle that the urges of the id are often in conflict with social and physical reality.
The ego engages in secondary process thinking which refers to the development and devising of strategies for problem solving and obtaining satisfaction.

13. The Structure of Personality
The Superego
The part of the mind that internalizes the values, morals, and ideals of society
Develops around age 5
The superego determines what is right and what is wrong, and enforces this through the emotion of guilt. It sets the moral goals and ideals of perfection.

15. Sigmund and
Anna Freud
(1895 – 1982)

16. A. Unconscious Processes: Identification & Internalization
Summarize Freud:
Unconscious dynamics comes from psychoanalytic theories
Person’s core identity shaped in early years of life
Biology determines which parent the child will identify with
Will determine how child’s psyche develops
No empirical support for Freud’s theory
More recent scholars say…
Females do not envy penis
May envy power it symbolizes

17. A. Unconscious Processes: Identification & Internalization
2. Earliest stages of life
Primary caregiver
Children of both sexes form first identification with adult woman
Around 3, male and female development diverge
Cognitive theory
Girls continue to identify with mother
Value relationships
Boys lessen identification with mother
Value independence

18. A. Unconscious Processes: Identification & Internalization
Current Family Trends
Fathers in our era
Children of single-parents - difficulty finding models of both genders
Single-father-child discussions tend to be more elaborate than…

19. B. Ego Boundaries
Ego boundaries = the point of which the individual stops and rest of world begins
Linked to gender identity
Feminine gender identity
Interconnected
Masculine gender identity
Autonomous
What traits would this perception facilitate???

20. How does this perspective impact our relationships?

21. C. Parental Communication about Gender
This ties in with the social and cognitive theory
Parents’ communication towards sons and daughters reflect the parents’ gender stereotypes
_?_are rewarded for being helpful, nurturing, deferential
At times for being assertive, athletic, smart
Middle-class Caucasian parents
Chicano families
Asian families
_?_ are rewarded for being competitive, independent, assertive

22. C. Parental Communication about Gender
Within 24 hours of birth, parents respond to babies in terms of gender
Boys = strong, hardy, big, active, alert
Girls = small, dainty, delicate

23. C. Parental Communication about Gender
Mothers’ communication focuses on providing comfort, security, emotional development
More emotional talk with their daughters
Daughters disclose more information to parents
Fathers encourage gender-appropriate behaviors
Talk more with daughters
Engage in more activities with sons

24. C. Parental Communication about Gender
Mothers play with children at children’s level
Today’s fathers are more involved
Encourage initiative, achievement
Fathers’ communication has strong impact on self-esteem

25. C. Parental Communication about Gender
Parents also communicate gender expectations through toys, clothes, and chores
Gender socialization more rigid for boys than for girls
Parents who limit toys limit children’s development of various ways of thinking and interacting

26. D. Parental Modeling
1. Parents most visible models of masculinity and femininity
a. Families in our era much more diverse
Single parents provide more multifaceted models
More women live without a spouse than with one
1950:35%
2000: 49%
2007: 51%
Black women: 70%
Hispanic women: 49%
Non-Hispanic: 55%

27. b. The Role of the Breadwinner
1970: 40% of married women worked outside of the home 2000: the percentage reversed! 2007: 53% of mothers with infants…75% of mothers with school-aged children… 1/2 of white men and 1/3 of black men bring in at least 70% of family income 30% of women in dual-worker family make more money than their male partner

28. c. Same-Sex Couples Gay and lesbian parents becoming more visible
2000: 1%
33% women
22% men
d. Blended families common
Children can observe more diverse ideas of how families can work and gender can be embodied

29. e. Parents model attitudes about gender & appearance
Fathers who workout encourage sons to play sports
Mothers remark about their weight and eating habits
How do their comments indirectly effect their sons and daughters?????
Children are also listening to parents compliments and arguments.
How does this influence a child’s idea of gender?
Personal gender identity changes over time as they develop and interact with diverse people

30. III. The personal side of the gender drama
A. Growing up Masculine (6 themes of masculinity)
1. Don’t be female
2. Be successful
3. Be sexual
4. Be self-reliant
5. Aggression
6. Embrace traditional masculine traits but also be sensitive and egalitarian

31. a. The Downside to Growing Up Masculine
Men who do not measure up may experience depression
More than 6 million
Unwilling to seek help due to views of masculinity
Men 4 times more likely to commit suicide

32. B. Growing Up Feminine 1. Two versions of femininity exist today
Women now have it all
It is not possible to have it all
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE???

33. 2. 5 Themes of Femininity Appearance still counts
Be sensitive and caring
Negative treatment by others
The age
Be superwoman 
There is NO single meaning of feminine anymore

34. C. Growing Up Outside Conventional Gender Roles
For people who do not identify with and perform normative gender, sex, sexuality – growing up can be difficult
Gay men may be ostracized and Lesbians can be scorned
Transgendered socially isolated
Up to 3 million
Hard to find role models
Hard to find acceptance

35. Growing Up Outside Conventional Gender Roles