The Psychology of Gender

PSYC-362-DL1
Taught by: Jason Feinberg

Welcome!
 About This Course
This course will provide an overview of research
and theory on gender in psychology. Specifically,
we will examine the social and psychological myths
and stereotypes associated with men and women,
covering several topics including discrimination,
achievement, friendships, relationships, and health.
 About Your Instructor
 Name:
 Jason Feinberg
 Birthplace:
 Cleveland, OH
 Undergraduate:
 The Ohio State University
 Major: Psychology
 Graduate:
 3rd year Ph.D. student
 Advisor: Jerome Short, Ph.D.
 Research: Technological interventions for depression and well-being
 Course Format
Information throughout this course will be
presented in PowerPoint slidesas well as through
assigned textbook readings.
I will sometimes include additional info. in the
“Notes” section below.
 Course Syllabus
Before we begin with the lectures, it is imperative
that you read the course syllabus, located on
Blackboard.
 Discussion Prompts
 Will be included on separate slides after the
relevant sections in the powerpoint (in purple
text). So be on the lookout!

 You only need to choose one prompt of the

multiple options THROUGHOUT the powerpoint
to answer (please post the prompt before your
response on blackboard) and then comment on
one of your group member’s responses. Please do
this all in one thread. (e.g. one thread for group 1
with all 5 of your posts and comments)
Sex vs. Gender
 Sex refers to biological categories of male and female
 Features such as genes, chromosomes, hormones,
genitalia, etc.
 Relatively stable, not easily changed
 Gender refers to social categories of male and female
 Psychological features and role attributes
 More fluid category: influenced by society, culture, time
Sex Related Behavior

 Sex-related behavior: This term implies that a given

behavior corresponds to sex but it does not say anything
about the cause or the etiology of the difference.
 E.g. men perform better when playing a video game, this
may or may not be a biological difference.
Gender Roles

 Role: social position accompanied by set of norms

or expectations
 Gender role: expectations that accompany being
male or female
 Expect men to be strong, not show emotions, i.e.,
masculine
 Expect women to caring, emotionally expressive,
i.e., feminine
Gender Role Conflict

 Inter-role conflict:
A female student may have conflict
speaking up in a small seminar because
of her role as a woman which
prescribes passive behavior.
 A male student in a large seminar may
experience role conflict bc of his
desire to speak up and be assertive is
in conflict with the need to sit and
listen
Gender Role Conflict

 Intra-role conflict:
Woman expresses problems in her
marriage to her partner, violates not
hurting others but in line with expressing
her feelings.
Man needs to achieve and not ask for
help, to achieve, you also often need to
get help along the way.
Masculinity and Femininity

 Masculinity: traits, behaviors, interests assigned

by society to male gender role
 Ex: self-confidence, watching sports
 Femininity: traits, behaviors, interests assigned
to the female gender role
 Ex: emotional, helping others, *Nurturing
DISCUSSION PROMPT

 Have you ever been in a situation in which experienced

intra or inter-role conflict? If so, please explain and be
sure to use some of the new concepts in the textbook.
How did you deal with that situation? Would you deal
with it the same way again?
Gender Identity

 Gender role identity: perception of self as

psychologically male or female
 Transgender: biological sex does not match
gender identity (i.e., psychological sex)
 Cis-gender: Someone whose gender identity
matches their biological sex
Gender Identity (cont'd)

 Transsexuals: have undergone hormonal or

surgical treatments to align biological sex to
gender identity
 Male-to-female transsexuals most common
 Intersex: persons born with ambiguous genitalia
 Other terms to know: Gender non-conforming,
gender fluid
 Gender Dysphoria &
Gender Identity Disorder
 People who are
Gender Identity Disorder:
uncomfortable with their assigned
biological sex.

Gender Dysphoria: The distress associated with
incongruence between psychological
gender and biological sex
 Key difference: Gender dysphoria focuses on
the distress caused by the incongruence
rather than the identity incongruence
itself.
Gender Dysphoria
 Controversy about whether GID
should be classified as a mental
disorder came to a head in 2013,
when the new DSM came out. They
changed GID to Gender Dysphoria.
A large part of wanting to keep it in
the Manual was not necessarily
bigotry or intolerance, but rather
facilitating one’s ability to seek
treatment and be reimbursed by
insurance companies that often
require strict diagnoses.
Gender Dysphoria
Diagnosis Characteristics
1. Incompatibility between psychological gender
and biological sex
2. Distress due to this incompatibility, including
impairment in daily functioning
Sexual Orientation

 Refers to preference for other-sex or same-sex

persons as romantic partners
 Not synonymous with gender identity
 Heterosexuals: prefer other-sex partners
 Homosexuals: prefer same-sex partners
 Bisexuals: other-sex and same-sex partners
Process of Gender Typing

 Refers to process by which sex-appropriate

preferences, behaviors, skills, and self-concept
are acquired
 Sex-typed (or gender-typed): individuals who
adhere to gender role that society has assigned to
their sex
 Cross-sex typed: males who act feminine;
females who act masculine
Process of Gender
Typing (cont'd)
 Androgynous: individuals who incorporate both
masculine and feminine qualities
Gender Role Attitudes

 Refers to our own views about how women and

men should behave
 Traditional: gender role attitudes fit society’s
expectations for how men and women should
behave
 Egalitarian: believe that men and women should
be similar in characteristics and behaviors
Gender Role Attitudes
(cont'd)
 Transitional: strive for egalitarian, but some
traditional attitudes remain
DISCUSSION PROMPT

 Do you identify as having traditional, egalitarian, or

transitional gender role attitudes? Has this changed over
time? If so, how, and can you pinpoint why?
 Alternate: Do you identify as something not
represented?
Components of Gender
Role/ Sex Attitudes
 Affective: feeling component; sexism
 Cognitive: beliefs; sex stereotypes
 Behavioral: treatment of others; sex
discriminations

 Attitudes towards sex have affective

(sexism), cognitive (stereotypes), and
behavioral (discrimination) components.
Feminism

 Definitions vary (See prompt, would love to hear

some of yours!)
 Someone who believes men and women should be
treated equally
 Includes high regard for women
Interesting paradoxes of
feminism
 Majority of college women believe that women in
general need societal help BUT that they, personally, do
not. “Denial of disadvantage”
DISCUSSION PROMPT OPTIONS

1. When you think of feminism, what do you think? What

is your definition of feminism? Do you identify as a
feminist? If so, why or why not?
2. Has reading this chapter changed your understanding
of feminism or of yourself?
3. Why do you think people are reluctant to label
themselves as feminists?
Cultural Differences in
Understanding of Gender
Cultures with Multiple
Genders
 Not all cultures have only two genders
 Native Americans: Berdache are third
and fourth genders; historically, were
respected, seen as sacred. But
apparently western approaches to
gender and their rigidity are effecting
how the Lakota view the Berdache (as
attracted to men, as less valuable).
 Balkans: people who take on other
gender role to fill societal need; remain
virgins, respected
Cultures with Multiple
Genders (cont'd)
 Jichitan, Mexico: Muxe, third gender; males who
take on feminine characteristics and roles;
respected
Cultures with Two Distinct
Genders
 Morocco: private space for women; public space
for men
 Women cover up to go out in public
 Hijab as liberation
 DISCUSSION PROMPT

1. Hijab and feminism. Do you view the Hijab as a

feminist institution? Did your perception of this
change after reading about Moroccan women? If
so, why or why not?
2. Does the wide acceptance of women and men
being proscribed to different spheres (in
Morocco, in this case) seem antithetical to
feminist principles? Or is it feminist? Why or
Why not?
Social Roles Not Rooted in
Biology
 Agta Negrito, Philipines: women hunt successfully
 Tahiti: Similar roles for women and men;
androgynous
DISCUSSION PROMPT

 Does this information about different cultures’

approaches to gender change how you thought about
gender? Explain.
Status and Culture

 In most cultures, men have higher status than

women
 Men have higher rates of literacy, more access to
medical care, higher earnings, leadership
positions
 Boy babies preferred, especially by men
FIGURE 1.4 Gallup Polls conducted from 1941 to 2007 show
that a slight preference for a boy compared to a girl persists
but that a sizeable number of respondents have no preference.
Source: Adapted from Newport (2007).
Status and Culture
(cont'd)
 “Male privilege”: rights that belong to dominant
gender group
 Great strides toward gender equality in Western
word, but parity not yet achieved
 Also white privilege, we will get to that.
Philosophical and Political Issues
Surrounding Gender
The Sex Differences
Debate
 People vary in beliefs about whether sexes are
fundamentally similar or different
 Minimalists: believe sexes are basically the
same; existing differences are small and due to
context and environment, not rooted in biology.
 Minimalists argue that studying gender
differences reifies stereotypes
The Sex Differences
Debate (cont'd)
 Maximalists: believe there are fundamental differences, but one
sex is not “better” than other.

 WHY DOES IT MATTER?

 Well, one group thinks that we should
study differences and one doesn’t. The
Political and Philosophical position affects
how we interpret research findings. And
perhaps more importantly whether we
conduct research at all…
Standpoint feminists

 Standpoint feminists: Women and men are

different but ALSO women have competencies that
are more important than those of men and that the
female perspective has advantages that male
perspective does not.
DISCUSSION PROMPT

 What is your stance on “standpoint feminism” is it

anti-men? Is it simply helping women to achieve
parity (e.g. men are physically stronger, usually,
but women bring xyz to the table and that isn’t
recognized)? Or is it dangerous? Is it alienating or
is it crucial to the movement?
Social Construction of
Gender
 Constructionists: Gender seen as dynamic,
dependent on context, created by perceiver
 Gender not a static attribute of individuals
 Challenges validity of studying gender as an
“objective” science
 Emphasizes variability within each gender
Social Construction
of Gender (cont'd)
 Focuses on how social institutions,
culture, and language contribute to
gendered behavior. We are not able
to view gender in a vacuum
 Intersectionality: Focusing on a
single category is limiting in part
because there is overlap. E.g. just
focusing on gender leaves open too
many gaps between experiences of
white vs. black vs. Asian women.
Need to attend to all of the relevant
categories.
Intersectionality

 Poses the question that perhaps the feminism presented

by (predominantly) white women throughout the 70s,
80s, 90s, 2000s, through today, is not adequate in
addressing the experiences of minority women and
transgendered persons.
Women’s Movement

 Began in the 1800s

 Different issues historically than today
 Common thread of women’s movements around
the world:
 Focus on improving position of women in society and
ensuring equal opportunities for women and men
Women’s Movements

 Key figures
 Betty Friedan vs. Phyllis Schlafly
 Betty Friedan = problem that has no name (see Betty
Draper of Mad Men)
 Phyllis Schlafly = Opposed ERA, embraced a form of
benevolent sexism
Men’s Movement

 Not as cohesive as women’s movement

 Some endorse feminist positions and are
concerned about harmful aspects of men’s
traditional gender role (ex: National Organization
for Men Against Sexism [NOMAS])
Men’s Movement (cont'd)

 Some react against women’s movement and seek

a return to traditional gender roles (ex: Promise
Keepers, ManKind Project) Pickup artists.
Sexist Language

 American Psychological Association (APA):

Scientists must refrain from using sexist language
in their writing
 “He” does not = “They”. Not universal
TABLE 1.3 Tips for Nonsexist Writing
Sexist Language (cont’d)

 Use of generic “he” activates male images and not

seen as gender neutral
 Effects of masculine and feminine articles in other
languages
 Use of term “Ms” associated with more
masculine/less feminine traits
SIDEBAR 1.3: A Note
on Language in Other
Cultures
FIGURE 1.8 College students perceived employees
addressed as “Ms.” to be more agentic and less
communal than those addressed as “Mrs.,” or “Mr.”
Source: Adapted from Malcolmson & Sinclair (2007).
The Book’s Approach to
the Study of Gender
 Three approaches to the study of gender
(Deaux, 1984)
 1st Biological category of sex as an attribute of a
person. Sex comparisons.
 2nd Psychological differences between men and
women, femininity and masculinity. Similar to
first approach but focus is on the social category
of gender roles not the biological category of sex.
 3rd Sex as stimulus or target variable. How do
people respond to the categories of female and
male? Attractiveness and strength study
 Individual differences and context;
similarities and differences; explanations for
source of any observed gender differences
 The End!
Post and respond on the Discussion Board.

End of Chapter 1. Remember to create a post from one

of the discussion prompts and INCLUDE the prompt you
are answering in your post. Please also include a brief
introduction of yourself, including: year in school, 1
hobby, and reason for taking this course!