Gender and Gender Roles

Sex, Gender, and Gender

Roles
• Sex: whether one is biologically female, male, or
intersex
– Genetic sex: chromosomal and hormonal sex
characteristics
– Anatomical sex: our physical sex; gonads,
uterus, vulva, vagina, or penis
• Gender: social and cultural characteristics
associated with being male or female
• Gender identity: one believes oneself to belong to
one gender or another
 Sex and Gender Identity
• Assigned gender
– Based on anatomical appearance
• Gender variations
• Gender identity
– Internalized feeling of femaleness or maleness
• Gender role
– The attitudes, behaviors, rights, and
responsibilities that society associates with each
sex
– Influenced by culture, age, ethnicity, other factors
 Gender-Roles
• Gender-role stereotype:
– A rigidly-held oversimplified belief concerning all
males or all females
• Gender-role attitude:
– The belief one has for self and others concerning
what’s appropriate for male or female traits
• Gender-role behavior:
– Activities or behaviors a person engages in as a
female or male
 Masculinity and Femininity
• Sexes seen as polar opposites in
traditional Western view, e.g. “opposite
sex”
• Different qualities associated with
different genders
• Sexism
• Some qualities are biologically based,
some culturally based
 Gender and Sexual Orientation
• Gender, gender identity, and gender
role are conceptually independent of
sexual orientation
– However, many assume they are closely
related
– Heterosexuality has been assumed to be
part of masculinity and femininity
• Therefore, some believe that gay men can’t be
masculine and lesbian women can’t be
feminine.
 Gender and Sexual Orientation

• Studies show a link between individuals’

– Negative attitudes towards gay and lesbian
people
– And those individuals’ adherence to
traditional gender roles
 Gender Theory
• What is our relationship between our
biological sex as male or female and our
gender role as masculine or feminine?
• Do we act the way we act because our
gender role is bred in us or because of
socialization?
• Gender Theory developed as a field in the
’80s and ’90s to explore the role of gender in
society
 Gender Theory
• Seeks to understand society through
understanding how its organized by
gender
• Views gender as a basic element in
social relationships
– Examines socially-perceived differences
between genders that are used to justify
unequal power relationships
 Gender Theory in Psychology
• In psychology, gender theory focuses on:
– How gender is created and what its purposes are
– How specific traits, behaviors, and roles are
defined as male or female
– How gender creates advantages and
disadvantages
• Gender theory rejects the idea that gender
differences are primarily biologically-driven
• Operates from a social-constructivist
framework
 Theories of Socialization
• Social learning theory

• Cognitive development theory

 Social Learning Theory
• Emphasizes consequences as shaping
gender related behavior
• Cognition: Mental processes such as
evaluation and reflection
– Includes ability to use language
– Anticipate consequences
– Modeling
 Cognitive Development Theory
• Focuses on children’s active
interpretation of gender messages at
various developmental stages.
• Argues that after age 6 or 7, motivation
to act like one’s gender is primarily
internal, and that gender-role behavior
is intrinsic.
 Social Construction Theory
• Gender expression is an outcome of
– Power
– Language
– Meaning
• Relationship to sexual orientation
– Women
– Men
 Gender-Role Learning:
Childhood and Adolescence
• Parents as socializing agents
– Manipulation
– Channeling
– Verbal appellation
– Activity exposure
– Connections between sons and mothers
– Ethnic groups
 Gender-Role Learning:
Childhood and Adolescence
• Teachers as Socializing agents
– Females are more common
– Bias in presentation of topics
• Peers as socializing agents
– Play
– Approval
– Perceptions
• Media
Gender Schemas: Exaggerating
Differences
• Interrelated ideas which help
information processing
• Cognitive organization of world by
gender
• Emphasize dichotomy
• Minimize valuing of the individual
 Contemporary Gender Roles
• Women’s roles have changed
• Men’s roles have changed
• Must include diverse groups
• Egalitarian approach to gender roles
Traditional Male Gender Role
• Aggressiveness • Power orientation
• Emotional • Competitiveness
toughness • Dominance
• Independence • Violence
• Feelings of
superiority
• Decisiveness
 Traditional
Female Gender Role
• There are striking ethnic differences in
female role
– American middle-class Whites: women as
wives and mothers. Recently includes
work outside the home .
– African Americans: more egalitarian roles
for men and women.
– Latinas: women subordinate to men out of
respect; Gender role affected by age
 Changing Gender Roles
– Egalitarian position
– Androgyny: flexibility in gender roles,
combining elements of each traditional role
 Androgyny
• Unique combination
• Combination of instrumental and
expressive traits

• Difficulties with expression and

expectation
 When Sex is Ambiguous

• Intersexuality

• Tran sexuality

• Transgenderism
 Intersexuality
• Describes people who possess mixtures
of male and female genitalia or
reproductive physiology
• Prevalence ranges from .0128% to
1.7% of population. Known until recently
as “hermaphrodites”
• Shrouded in secrecy by families and
medical establishments in the past
 Intersexuality
• Hermaphrodites: Old terminology
• Ambiguous genitals: 1/2000 births
• Blended gonads or both gonads
• One ovary and one testis, or testes
containing ovarian tissue
– Known until recently as “hermaphrodites”
 Chromosomal Anomalies: Turner
Syndrome
• Females who lack a chromosome: XO
rather than XX
• Occurs in 1/1666 live births
• Female external appearance
• No ovaries
• Hormonal therapy
• Assisted fertility
 Chromosomal Anomalies:
Klinefelter Syndrome
• Males who have extra X chromosomes:
XXY, XXXY, or XXXXY rather than XY
• Occurs in 1/1000 live births
• Variable effects; many men never
diagnosed.
• Small firm testes; some female physical
traits
• Lower testosterone levels
 Hormonal Disorders: Androgen-
Insensitivity Syndrome
• Inherited condition occurring in 1/13,000
individuals
• Genetic males whose tissues to not respond
to testosterone
• Female genitals, no female internal organs
• At puberty, develops hips and breasts, no
pubic hair and no menstruation
• Many experience female gender identity
 Hormonal Disorders: Congenital
Adrenal Hyperplasia
• A genetic female with ovaries and a
vagina develops externally as a male
• Due to malfunctioning of adrenal gland
• Occurs in 1/13,000 live births
– At birth, child has ambiguous genitalia
– In the past, doctors and families choose to
assign female gender at birth
 Hormonal Disorders: DHT
Deficiency
• Internal male organs
• Clitoris-like penis at birth
• Undescended testes at birth
• Testes descend at puberty and penis
grows
• Socialization
 A Related Condition:
Hypospadias

• Urethral opening located at non

traditional location
• Urethra exists on underside of glans
midway through the underside of the
shaft or at the base of the scrotum
• Occurs in 1/770 male births
• Repair is possible
 Gender Dysphoria
• Defined by the APA as a strong and
persistent cross-gender identification
and persistent discomfort about one’s
assigned sex (2000)
• Diagnosis not associated as hormonal
or physiological
• Requires experience of distress or
impairment in social, occupational, or
other areas of functioning
 Gender Dysphoria
– The goal of treatment for people with GD is
“lasting personal comfort with the gendered
self”
– Treatment is individual and multifaceted;
can affirm cross-gender identification
through:
• Psychotherapy
• Real-life experience living externally as desired
gender
• Hormonal therapy
• Sex-reassignment surgery
 Transsexuality
• Gender identity and sexual anatomy are
not congruent
• Prevalence of transsexuality unknown:
estimated 1/50,000 people over 15 yrs
• May occur with heterosexual,
homosexual, and bisexual orientations
• Gender reassignment
 Transsexual Phenomenon
• Transgender community embraces
possibility of numerous genders and
multiple social identities
• Other cultures recognize more than 2
genders
• Paradigm shift of gender dichotomy
• Employment protection
 Summary
• Gender
• Gender role learning
• Contemporary gender roles
• Ambiguity and gender