Gender identity is a private idea on how an individual identifies either as a male or female, some may also identify as both or neither. Gender identity is essentially self-identified, this is resulted by the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, i.e. induced by biological and social factors. Gender identity is a powerful aspect of self-concept that is formed in early childhoods and is very resistant to change in most adults, (Lips, 2001: 54).
Gender identity steadily develops in levels with age. It has been shown that from as early as 9-12 months, children have the capability to distinguish people by gender, they react to pictures of faces of males and females differently, (Brooks-Gunn, J., & Lewis, M. 1979). By 2 years of age, children
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The social learning theory of gender development understands that parents, media and culture act as socialising agents – as they explicitly teach children the significance of gender appropriate behaviour. Parents contribute towards gender development as they positively reinforce (reward) children when a gender-appropriate act is carried out therefore increasing the likelihood of that specific behaviour being repeated again (Lewis, 1975). Stereotyped gender behaviour is outwardly expressed in media and this creates a guide for appropriate behaviours, children learn and observe these through vicarious reinforcement (Gunter, 1986). Culture also influence gender mannerisms and also portray gender stereotypes, for example, western societies acquire a stereotypical concept which believes that men are aggressive and competitive whereas women and expressive and cooperative. Therefore, it can be argued that gender identity is not inherent but in fact it is manipulated by social and cultural environments, (Argosy University, …show more content…
One problem with the biological approach in explaining gender identity is that it is very deterministic. All behaviours are assumed to be innate and out of conscious control and the influence of free will is disregarded. Thus, the biological explanation lacks external reliability. The biological explanation has also been heavily critiqued by Durkin (1995), who highlighted that if sex differences are due to biological factors, they would be evident before social understandings begin. Children do not acknowledge sex differences until they have reached the social stage, this is primarily due to style of parent’s rearing practices which impacts how the child chooses to identify in terms of gender. The theory therefore should consider other factors before settling on a fixed concept.
There are also limitations regarding the social explanations for gender identity. One problem with this particular theory is that it is a reductionist approach. The social theory does not think about the influence of biological factors and only focus on the impact if situational factors as it fails to provide a holistic view on gender identity, this results in the social theory lacking in internal validity. Also, psychological critics have debated that the social theory does not explain learning styles and processes can change with
Both Deborah Blum’s The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over? and Aaron Devor’s “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes” challenges the concept of how gender behavior is socially constructed. Blum resides on the idea that gender behavior is developed mainly through adolescence and societal expectations of a gender. Based on reference from personal experiences to back her argument up, Blum explains that each individual develops their expected traits as they grow up, while she also claims that genes and testosterones also play a role into establishing the differentiation of gender behavior. Whereas, Devor focuses mainly on the idea that gender behavior is portrayed mainly among two different categories: masculinity and femininity, the expectation that society has put upon male and female disregarding any biological traits. Furthermore, both could agree with the idea that society has an effect on how an individual should act based on their gender. Yet, additionally Devor would most likely disagree with Blum regarding the assumption that a biological factor is involved in this following case, but I reside on Blum’s case. Although society is indeed one of the major contributions as to how one should act, as Devor states, biology is somewhat like a foundation that leads to how one should behave as they grow and acknowledge their gender difference as well, residing on Blum’s argument.
In the stage of gender stability children are able to indicate that a gender remains the same throughout time and therefore, children start to realise that they will be male or female for the rest of their lives. Nevertheless, their understanding of gender i...
When discussing the meaning of gender identity, each and every person has a different view and perception. Most times, these views are instilled upon them throughout their childhood whether they are fully aware of it or not. As a result, some children feel forced to conform to the stereotypical gender roles and identities defined by society. For me, however, that was never a problem.
Gender identity is considered to be a spectrum of beliefs and emotions rather than the traditional sense of a dichotomy of male and female (Eagly, 2013). Identifying with a specific gender does not happen at birth. Children up to age four often do not identify with a specific gender. Toddlers do not identify themselves as a boy or girl at this stage of their lives; being a male or female does not matter to them at this stage of their lives. This indifference gives way to gender rigidity in early childhood (about ages 4–7), when both boys and girls strictly enforce gender rules (Kerr, & Multon, 2015).
Without a doubt, many truly believe that one 's biological sex is invariably tied to specific gender characteristics, as if these qualities are encoded in X and Y chromosomes. The inability to consider gender characteristics as distinct from biological sex is rooted in the fact that from birth, a child is socialized into the gender role that is paired with their biological sex. Of course, these gender roles may differ from culture to culture, but what remains constant is the early process of socializing a child into a restrictive gender role based on whether they are male or female. Crespi (2014) elaborates on this phenomenon by explaining that gender polarization has segmented men and wome...
When relating whether gender identity is acquired or ascribed one can say that acquired as we are not born to know whether we are male or female, rather, through social interactions we are able to form an identity of the ‘Self’. Some individuals whether being male or female may say that their gender identity is different to what society views them as. A female that has grown up being the only female amongst six children may view themselves as male as their social interactions have mainly been with
While our current society has become more accepting of other genders that do not conform to the typical male and female genders it holds, it is still quite persistent in that act of gendering certain items, behaviours and attributes as feminine or masculine. This gendering occurs even before birth with events such as the baby shower where the baby 's sex is revealed, but it is mostly recognizable in the toys advertised and sold to children. Burack states that, “ gender socialization is the process of interaction through which we learn the gender norms of our culture and acquire a sense of ourselves and feminine, masculine or even androgynous”, children therefore experience the effects of gender socialization from their toys and the society they grow up in and often keep the mindset that they have learned throughout their lives (Gender Socialization).
Society today suggest that revealing the “gender” or “sex” of a child from the moment of conception forward is a necessity. But, in all actuality to some this is an invasion of their privacy and beliefs. Many believe that raising a child gender specific is not important to their upbringing or to their growth and development. Gender is defined with several different meanings such as the behavioral, cultural or psychological traits typically associated with the one sex. The sex of an individual, male or female, based on reproductive anatomy (the category to which an individual is assigned on the basis of sex) and the personal traits or personality that we attach to being male or female. Sex is defined as the biological distinctions determined by our genitalia.
All the theories discussed above have shown to be useful in explaining gender role identification and therefore one cannot be regarded as superior to another, however, the social learning theory and the cognitive developmental theory seem to be the most compatible.
Gender identity has been a delicate issue when it comes to determining if a person's gender is set at birth or develops and changes as a person ages. A person’s gender is not as simple as being classified as either male or female. There’s a considerable amount of external factors that can influence someone’s identity. Although society has a major role in gender identity, sex assignment at birth is not final; furthermore, a person's gender can be influenced by psychological, physiological differences and undergoing changes to the human body. A common misconception many people believe is that gender and gender are the same or go hand in hand with one another.
Even though it is not often that someone tries to segregate themselves from a gender physically, people distinguish genders and almost segregate themselves from the features of the opposite gender. Society always chooses to apply gender aspects into individuals. As mentioned by Barbara Risman and Georgiann Davis (2013: pp737), “Babies assigned to male category are encouraged to engage in masculine behaviours, offered boy-appropriate toys, rewarded for playing with them, and punished for acting in girlish ways” this shows that society forces gender features on individuals. This similarly also applies to girls who are raised in a feminine way. It is up to the society how both genders get characterised and how they are differentiated by
“We have been very conditioned by the cultures that we come from and are usually very identified with the particular gender that we happen to be a member of.” This quote by Andrew Cohen explains partially how gender identity develops, through the conditioning of our environments. The most influential factor of gender development, however, is still a very controversial issue. An analysis of the gender identification process reveals two main arguments in what factor most greatly contributes to gender development: biology differences (nature) or the environment (nurture).
It would seem that gender is simple to understand. When most people think of gender they think of the basic characteristics of being male or female but Gender Theory calls for more than just thinking about gender in a way that has only two categories. When talking about theories of gender it requires a separation of sex and gender. One must reject the stereotypical attributes that are associated with belonging to a certain sex. This essay will identify and define four approaches to gender development under the biological, interpersonal, critical and cultural theoretical approaches to gender. I will then specify the one that I believe is most valid.
Over the years, psychologists and psychiatrists have discovered a great gender disparity between young girls and young boys. While most agree that gender identification is revealed at birth, this issue is constantly exploited through the use of various tests and practices such as the “Machover Figure-Drawing Test”. In this test, the child is asked to draw a person a sheet of paper. Later, the child is evaluated based on the gender he or she had drawn. Furthermore, this particular exercise is supposed to reflect their gender identity.
At a tender age both girls and boys grow up with perceptions in their minds about what it means to be a girl or a boy. This has also engraved limitation...