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Role of socialization in gender socialization
Roles of socialisation on gender socialisation
Case study on gender socialization
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In the society we live in today there is a strong difference between what is considered “boy” and what is considered “girl”. This is because from the time we are born; to the time we die we are expected to conform to a gender role. A gender role is a set of behaviors, attitudes, and personality characteristics expected of a person based on their sex. This process of getting people to conform to their gender roles is called socialization, and it affects children very drastically. There are many different places that gender socialization comes from. It comes mainly from family, peers, and the media. Girls are made to believe that they are supposed to be gentle and nurturing, whereas boys are taught to be tough and even aggressive. Personally, as a child, I learned and have kept to the idea that I’m a girl, and I find that I identify with the things that would make someone a “girl”. These past few chapters have really made me really look into how much of the “girly” things I really like, and how much of it is socialized behavior- where I say that I like something because it’s what I grew up knowing I was supposed to like. Today it’s nearly impossible to go a day without seeing some kind of these gender stereotypes. We socialize our children in a constant cycle of what’s “boy” and what is “girl”.
Gender socialization is most commonly found in the media, and not only is the media a big socializer, but it influences other areas of a child’s life to do the same. It’s not only socializing the child to think in terms of gender separation, but it’s encouraging the parent, teacher, and friends of the child towards that same thing. For this assignment we were told to go to a department store and look at clothes for children, which I did. ...
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...bout boy or girl, it should be about who the child or person really is. This is important because everyone, especially children, should feel like they can do, be, and accomplish anything they set their mind to; they shouldn’t feel like their gender is an obstacle.
Works Cited
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It is widely accepted that masculine is synonymous with male and feminine with female. While it is typical for males to enjoy typically masculine activities, it is seen negatively when males enjoy a typically feminine activity. Not only is it seen as a bad thing, but young boys are often bullied or even punished for liking something that is seen as feminine. Girls are also often shunned for liking anything associated with masculine hobbies, usually having to prove that they “are not like like other girls”, insinuating that even girls who happen to like feminine activities are not to be sought after in this particular social system. Doctor Vanessa Cullins from Planned Parenthood talks about how children learn from a young age how they are supposed to fit into our social system and how damaging that can be during adolescence while the children try to create their own identity. I chose this topic because I think that we, as a society, do not think into this issue too deeply and yet it persists in our everyday lives.
Watch the classical film Grease and one will understand how relationships function in western Society. The film tells a story of a boy (Danny) and a girl (Sandy) who falls in love. Through a series of misunderstandings they break up, but still care enough about each other that they still try revive their relationship. Through ballads such as Summer Night’s that are still popular today, the film shows how differently males and females view relationships. Danny, for example, describes his relationship in more physical terms while Sandy describes her relationship in much more emotional terms –such as what they did that night. Films like Grease are like a mirror, reflecting societal values and how it socializes its members. It makes clear that in relationships, males –like Danny—are socialized to view relationships as mostly a physical, sexual endeavor, while females –like Sandy— view it as an emotional bond, that is has resulted from a deeper connection between the two individuals within a relationship.
Socializing humans into the two accepted categories of gender is the foundation of our society. Humans are taught from an early age how to act and speak according to their gender, but people often do not realize the extent this socialization goes. In our society, people use greeting cards for every occasion and every gift, thus cards can be used to create assumptions a person’s perception of who the receiver of the card as well as the effect of society on the creation of cards. To explore gender socialization throughout life, I analyzed cards for the congratulations on a birth of a baby, children’s birthdays, and anniversary congratulations. My data comes from the examination of cards created and distributed by Hallmark, and it primarily
Members of this society must learn what the appropriate way for them to behave is and what to expect of themselves and others. Growing up, gender roles were set on me as I played with fire trucks and cars, and my sisters played with Barbie's. The types of movies we watched were different and the types of books we read were also different. It would be thought of as bizarre for me, a male, to cry during Titanic, or to read Cinderella.
But then you can’t just determine one’s gender because of that, there are lots of girls who loves boys clothe or rather who loves being boyish, but are not gay and there are boys who actually behave feminine, have a tiny voice, loves to wear tight pants and they are still straight. In the reading “‘No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That!’: Parents’ Responses to Children’s Gender Nonconformity” by Emily Kane, she talks about how parents determine their kids ' gender and sex, how parents are the major teacher when it comes to gender and of their children, through clothes, toys and other things they purchase for them. They teach the girls to behave like girls, wear them pink dresses and the boy dresses as heroes: superman, batman… in this reading, some parents talked about how they are ok with their daughters behaving boyish and not ok with the boys playing with Barbie dolls. I ask what is the difference between boys and girls, there are so many things boys do and girls do too, there is Bill Gate and there is Christy Walton, there is Michael Jackson and there is Beyoncé, Messi and Alex Morgan. All I am saying is that everyone, men or women, boy or girl can also be great in life not minding their
I will not impose “gender specific” toys on them or tell them that it is not acceptable for a boy to play with a baby doll or tell my future daughter that it is not allowed for her to pretend sword fight. My children will be able to decide what they like and what they do not like and I will not allow anyone to decide that for them. This assignment has definitely opened my eyes to the market that is out there stereotyping children without much notice. Taking time to actually look into what is being done with toys and society with children has broadened my understanding and awareness of the impending problem that children are being faced with. I hope that one day we will see an end to gender stereotyping so that my future children will not be forced to feel out of place if they do not identify with a specific feeling or emotion that a boy should have or a girl should have. It sickens me and breaks my heart that things so minuscule such as toys can have such a negative effect on lives, especially on such a young children. This ideology of gender segregation should not be supported or further produced because it is harmful to the children that are directly or indirectly being affected by
Gender Socialization Part II: Annotated Bibliography on Annotated Bibliography on Masculinity, LBGT as other, and Rape Culture
‘Boys will be boys’, a phrase coined to exonerate the entire male sex of loathsome acts past, present, and potential. But what about the female sex, if females act out of turn they are deemed ‘unladylike’ or something of the sort and scolded. This double standard for men and women dates back as far as the first civilizations and exists only because it is allowed to, because it is taught. Gender roles and cues are instilled in children far prior to any knowledge of the anatomy of the sexes. This knowledge is learned socially, culturally, it is not innate. And these characteristics can vary when the environment one is raised in differs from the norm. Child rearing and cultural factors play a large role in how individuals act and see themselves.
Socialization refers to “the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture”. (Macionis, 2012) By gender socialization, the simplest explanation is the process of learning what it means to be a male or female in the society, in which gender stereotypes and bias are usually involved. For example, boys should be tough, brave, strong, sporty, while girls are soft, moody, passive, and allowed to cry.
As a child develops, their surroundings have a major influence on the rest of their lives; if boys are taught to “man up” or never to do something “like a girl”, they will become men in constant fear of not being masculine enough. Through elementary and middle school ages, boys are taught that a tough, violent, strong, in-control man is the ideal in society and they beat themselves up until they reach that ideal. They have to fit into the “man box” (Men and Masculinity) and if they do not fulfill the expectations, they could experience physical and verbal bullying from others. Not only are friends and family influencing the definition of masculine, but marketing and toys stretch the difference between a “boy’s toy” and a “girl’s toy”. Even as early as 2 years old, children learn to play and prefer their gender’s toys over the other gender’s (Putnam). When children grow up hearing gender stereotypes from everyone around them, especially those they love and trust like their parents, they begin to submit themselves and experience a loss of individuality trying to become society’s ideal. If everyone is becoming the same ideal, no one has a sense of self or uniqueness anymore and the culture suffers from
In conclusion, we see that gender roles, as specific as they are in our culture, vary from culture to culture. And the variation of gender roles, in a global perspective, demonstrates that they are learned through socialization as oppose to stemming from nature, instinct and drive.
A stereotype is a thought about a person, a group or a way of doing things that may not necessarily be true or reflect reality.In other words grouping races or individuals together on basis of things they have no control on or were born with like nationality, colour,gender,social group or religion, and make a judgment about them without knowing them. Stereotypes are often wrong as they are not based on an actual experience or reason. They are usually cruel, offensive, and can even turn a person's life upside down. Stereotypes can remain persistent, even if inaccurate, if a member of the stereotyped group behaves as expected; the behavior confirms and even strengthens the stereotype. One of the common stereotype examples is stereotypes is saying that men are the "backbone."This is also an example of "gender stereotyping" which is a major problem in today's world. Although women, nowadays, have somehow gained more status, independence and freedom as they have become more aware of their rights due to the feminist movement, women still suffer from gender stereotyping. Through the ages, men have been considered to be financial providers, independent and assertive, whereas women have been shown as low-position workers, loving wives and mothers, responsible for doing housework and raising children. Sex stereotyping can have a great effect on women's life and limit the development of their abilities and natural talents as well as their life experiences and educational opportunities. Gender stereotyping is a big problem that affects a significant number of people, thus, its causes and effects must be discussed in depth and solutions must be suggested and put into action.
In elementary school one of the most common phrase used was, “You can’t do that you're a girl.” Society puts gender stereotypes and expectations on children at a very young age. I never really understood these stereotypes and expectations until later in my life. I couldn’t figure out why it was that boys were not allowed to like the color pink, and if the girls wanted to play “boy” sports it was seen as unusual. My family consists of my parents, my sister and I; so I never had sibling of the opposite gender in my life. I didn’t have someone to compare gender differences with. I was given toys no matter what gender they were geared towards. I remember receiving hot wheels cars and baby dolls the same year for Christmas and never thought anything thing of it. I think that these experiences has really shaped who I am today.
This essay will argue that children should definitely be raised with gender, and address some key concepts and perspectives used in sociological analysis.
Human beings have been, and always will be, dichotomized into either male or female. When determining a person’s sex we often look for differences in facial features, body shape or mannerism’s, but another promising way to determine a persons sex and one that is most often used today, is through gender roles. Gender roles are behaviors that portray masculinity or femininity. The theory behind gender roles through multidisciplinary viewpoints is the focus of this paper. Throughout history and in every culture these roles have shifted and transformed into what society says is expectable. In this analysis, gender roles will be examined through a sociological, biological and evolutionary scope.