Normative Gender Norms

The Assignment of Struggle

He’s mean to you because he likes you; such is the universal response of mothers to their child’s first boy troubles. From an early age does society begin to implant into the minds of young girls the association of bruised knees and pulled pigtails with affection and attraction. The early socialization of children based around normative gender ideologies much like the former become a major influence on their future behaviors and attitudes. The encouragement of gender norms and standards have a negative effect on behavior and relationships in early childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

The encouragement of gender norms and standards and its negative effects on behavior can be witnessed around early childhood within

educational institutions like preschool and elementary school. It is in these years that young children are taught the concept of a gender binary and begin to alter their behaviors in accordance to their assigned gender. The earliest norms established are that of the appropriate behaviors of “boys” and “girls”. That is, how they should be expected to act towards others and towards themselves. Teachers and parents expose their young boys to what one can call “boy culture”, which “demands emotional rigidity of males.” (Rivers) This encouragement of stoicism in young boys counteracts their natural development, as “rigidity is not in their nature.” and consequently results in young boys who lack the emotionality necessary to sympathize with their peers and are left unable to deal with negative emotions in a healthy manner. This can cause violent tendencies and emotional constipation, which can lead to outbursts. In stark contrast to this, young girls are expected to be “nurturing and kind” and to take on a role of submission to their male counterparts. Even when faced with unnecessary aggressions from male classmates, girls are often told to disregard the situation or to perceive their actions as excusable because they are brought up on “a ‘boys will be boys’ attitude.” (Rivers). The implementation of “boy and girl culture”, or the establishment of gender normative standards at an early age, is the catalyst for more serious negative behaviors that begin to arise in adolescent and high school years.

Normative gender socialization continues to be practiced in adolescent focused institutions, particularly those established for educational purposes. It is in this duration of time that the negative effects of establishing behavioral standards for each gender are most evident in both interpersonal and intrapersonal interaction. At this age, the interactions between boys and girls largely affected by gender normative behaviors. The idea of male dominance and female submission established earlier on in childhood is often retained and heavily inlfluences adolescent behavior, thus being responsible for the frequent occurrence of unhealthy heterosexual relationships and instances of sexual harassment in the high school setting. Studies directed by the Gender Equity Movement in Schools (GEMS) solidify this observation seeing as positive changes in gender related ideology among students were only observed as a result of implementing informative intervention classes into the schools involved. The results

revealed a “positive shift in attitudes towards gender norms, sexuality, and violence” and noted that “boys and girls in the intervention schools, particularly with classroom sessions, were less supportive of inequitable gender norms, whereas no change, less change or negative change was observed in the control group” (Bhatla, Achyut, Verma, Maitra, Khandekar). These observations support the notion that the default education system is currently insufficient in discouraging the gender norms negatively affecting their student body, in turn allowing potentially dangerous situations like sexual harassment and assault that occur on campus to go unacknowledged by officials. Various statistics further affirm this statement; “nine of 10 teen girls report experiencing sexual harassment, and majorities also say they have received discouraging comments about their abilities in school and athletics” and “"most girls have experienced all three types of sexism--sexual harassment, sexist comments about their academic abilities, and sexist comments about their athletic abilities” (McNulty). Much of this sexism is derived from the norm that females are inherently inferior in academics and in physical activity. However, one stereotype more prominent in adolescent years as opposed to childhood years, for very obvious reasons, is the sexual inferiority surrounding females. The early establishment of male dominance in the minds of young kids spurs teen boys to act in inappropriate ways as well as cause teen girls to fail to realize that they are being mistreated or attempt to rationalize the inexcusable actions of their male peers. Furthermore, many teen girls begin to seek validation of their physical appearance from their male peers, which can often lead to low self-esteem, loss of a sense of self worth, and the practice of unhealthy habits such as starvation; it is not uncommon for teen girls to adopt the idea that their worth is based upon their physical and sexual attractiveness. Teen boys are also victims of the rigidity of gender norms in society; homosexual males, boys who partake in “feminine” hobbies and practices or have been victims of sexual harassment are often ridiculed by their fellow male peers for not adhering to traditional masculinity. Although one would expect these harmful practices to subside with age, the effects of gender norms do have permanence into adulthood.

The negative effects of early exposure to gender norms carry on into an adolescent’s adult life, particularly in the area of intimate relationships and in the professional setting.

The issue of superiority and inferiority being associated with gender is also prominent in post-adolescence. The most common issue that arises from the exposure to gender norms over the course of one’s life is sexual and domestic abuse. The early encouragement of emotional suppression and aggression, both part of the earlier mentioned “boy culture” (Rivers) contribute greatly to the development of abusers, as they translate their unevaluated emotions into physical violence onto others. Likewise, girls are taught in their youth to be submissive and to endure what would otherwise be seen as unacceptable behaviors which contributes to their susceptibility to physical and emotional abuse from their partners in adulthood. But contrary to popular belief, straight women are not the only ones who are victims of abuse; both heterosexual and homosexual men as well as homosexual women often suffer from abusive relationships as well. Because of the gender stereotypes concerning abuse however, these non-conventional victims are often disregarded by the law and by society in general. In terms of finding consolation and assistance post-abuse, “neither gay men nor lesbians have good options, and gay groups around the nation don't seem eager to touch the issue” (Friess). To aggravate the issue, “no shelters exist

for men” and “none of the nation's 1,500 battered women's shelters are devoted to lesbians.” Oftentimes victims not fitting into the stereotypes of the abused cannot open up to others about their situations out of fear of being invalidated, shunned, or even having their circumstances turned against them. One male domestic abuse victim claims that “even [his] most severe injuries went untreated because he couldn't face the embarrassment of telling a doctor how he'd got them” (Kelman). The heteronormative vision of abusive relationships is so deeply ingrained into society that institutions that are created to be beneficial are also being established in accordance to gender norms and victims are failed to be given the justice they deserve. The workplace is also not immune to the negative influence of gender roles, as most clearly witnessed in the wage gap. “A number of figures are commonly used to describe the gender wage gap. One often-cited statistic comes from the Census Bureau, which looks at annual pay of full-time workers. By that measure, women are paid 80 cents for every dollar men are paid. Another measure looks at hourly pay and does not exclude part-time workers. It finds that, relative to men, typical women are paid 83 cents on the dollar” (Gould, Schieder, Geier). Regardless of the type of measure used to determine the size of the wage gap, it is clear that women are being paid less than men. And while twenty or so cents may not seem like a significant loss, “the average woman worker loses more than $530,000 over the course of her lifetime because of the gender wage gap, and the average college-educated woman loses even more—nearly $800,000”. There is no logical reasoning behind employers paying female employees less than male employees, but it is rather an action influenced by the idea of male superiority.

Through analyzing the behavioral patterns and relationship dynamics between individuals in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, it can be deduced that the early establishment and encouragement of gender norms have had an overall negative impact on society; differences in gender are clearly a basis for the inequitable treatment of others and of oneself. Removing the current practice of institutionalizing gender norms in society are guaranteed to yield a positive trend of healthy relationships and behaviors over time.