Contemporary Gender Roles Discussion

Contemporary Gender Roles Discussion

Gender

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Gender = Sex?

Biological sex
Female/Male
Genetics: chromosomes, XX, XY
Hormones: Estrogen, Testosterone
Brain chemistry
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Female Brain & Male Brain

*Contemporary Gender Roles Discussion

Concept of Continuum

Re: Biological Sex – Genotype/Phenotype
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We All Start Out Female

More female sperm in a man’s body
At conception, the fertilized egg is proto-female (sex differentiation occurs after 7-8 weeks, not visible with ultrasound until 18-20 weeks)
More female babies are born
More female babies live beyond 1 year
Females have longer life expectancy
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Population Figures

51% of world’s population is female
49% is male
Why?
*Contemporary Gender Roles Discussion

Gender Identity

The gender with which a person identifies
A psychological feeling
More useful to conceptualize a continuum
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Gender Identity Independent of Sexual Orientation

All people, regardless of their sexual orientation, deal with issues of gender
Gender identity does not create sexual orientation
Masculine and feminine heterosexuals, homosexuals, bisexuals, transgendered people can identify w/ any sexual orientation
Selected Gender Terms

Gender Binary/Non-Binary
Gender Identity Gender Fluid
Gender Identity Dysphoria Cisgender
Gender Role Pangender
Gender Stereotype Transgender
Gender Role Socialization Intersex
Gender Role Conflict
Binary vs. Non-Binary

Contemporary Gender Roles Discussion

Binary – Concept that gender identity can only be conceptualized in terms of Masculinity/Femininity (belief that there are only two genders and that one’s sex or gender assigned at birth will align with traditional social constructs, expression, and sexuality)
Non-Binary – Non-binary gender identity is just one term used to describe individuals who may experience a gender identity that is neither exclusively male or female or is in between or beyond both genders (some use term Gender Queer)
jackie behn (jb)

Cisgender

People whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth. For example, someone who identifies as a woman and was assigned female at birth is a cisgender woman. The term cisgender is the opposite of the word transgender.
Pangender

Pangender is a term for people who feel that they identify with all genders available to them.
Transgender

Term used to describe a broad range of people who experience and/or express their gender somewhat differently from what most people expect.
It is an overarching term that includes those with gender characteristics that don’t correspond with those traditionally ascribed to the person’s sex.
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Transgender

Medical term describing people whose gender and sex do not line up and who can seek medical treatment to bring their bodies and gender identities into alignment
Christine Jorgensen, Had sex reassignment surgery in 1951 (Used term transexual then)
*Contemporary Gender Roles Discussion

Renee Richards

Dr. Renée Richards is an American ophthalmologist and former tennis player who had some success on the professional circuit in the 1970s, and became widely known following male-to-female sex reassignment surgery, when she fought to compete as a woman in the 1976 US Open
Laverne Cox
Emmy-nominated actress, documentary film producer + prominent equal rights advocate

Caitlin Jenner
1976 and 2015

Most trans people are not famous…

Trans Individuals Can Face Horrendous Treatment, Discrimination and Death

https://www.hrc.org/resources/violence-against-the-trans-and-gender-non-conforming-community-in-2020
https://www.hrc.org/resources/a-national-crisis-anti-transgender-violence
https://time.com/5601227/two-black-trans-women-murders-in-dallas-anti-trans-violence/
Intersex

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns) that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies.
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Gender Identity Disorder

Gender dysphoria – being uncomfortable with one’s assigned sex
Most cultures disapprove of cross-gender behavior which creates problems for the individual
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Gender Role

Expected behaviors for each gender
Created by both socially enforced rules and values, and individual disposition
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Gender Role Stereotype

Socially determined behaviors for each gender
Caused by expectations of others and
Pressure to conform by others
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Gender & Color

http://histclo.com/gender/color.html
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Gender Role Socialization

Process by which we learn our gender roles
When does it begin?
Lifelong
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Influence of Groups

Primary groups – small, intimate, we hold membership, significant; Examples?
Secondary groups – larger, we hold membership, can be less significant but still important; Examples?
Reference groups – small or large, we don’t necessarily have to hold membership; Examples?
Agents of Gender Role Socialization

Parents
Peers
School
Media
Any social institution/group
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Toys

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School

Girls lower aspirations as they age
Link between sexuality and achievement
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Media

Especially violence in media
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/
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Types of Gender Roles

Traditional/Bipolar
Males – Instrumental
Females – Expressive
Androgynous
Contemporary
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Traditional/Bipolar Gender Roles

Rigid gender roles assigned to each gender
Opposites
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Grandaddy of all Gender Roles

Boys Don’t Cry!
Basis of relationships is emotion
That we differ in such dichotomous ways regarding expression of emotion is detrimental to healthy relationships
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Stop Crying Or…

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Unless You Win or Lose in Sports…

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And, of course, it is acceptable for men to hug in sports

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Then There’s The Group Hug…

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Androgynous Gender Roles

Possessing both male and female gender roles/characteristics
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Contemporary Gender Roles

Flexible
Not limiting
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Women can even run for President and V.P

And Men Can…

Consequences of Traditional/Bipolar Gender Roles

Limiting
Lowers self-esteem
Us vs. Them Mentality
Hostility Towards the Other
Violence
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Earliest Cultural Variation’s Influence on Gender Studies

Margaret Mead (1901-1978)
Sex & Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (New Guinea,1936)
Is aggressiveness/passivity universal?
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Arapesh

Men and women both passive, no war
Mundugumor, men and women both aggressive, warlike
Tchambuli

Men ‘primped’ and spent their time decorating themselves while the women worked, hunted
Arapesh, Mundugumor, Tchambuli

Arapesh, men and women both passive, no war
Mundugumor, men and women both aggressive, warlike
Tchambuli, men ‘primped’ and spent their time decorating themselves while the women worked, hunted
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Other Cultural Variation Studies Related to Gender

Comparing 25 countries, Williams and Best (2000) ranked Japan 11th on egalitarian attitudes toward gender roles.
Japan values traditional gender role ideologies. Men were considered more important, more in control and more dominant than their female counterparts.
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Ranking of Countries from Contemporary to Traditional

Contemporary: Netherlands, Sweden
Androgynous: France, England, Spain, Portugal
Traditional: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and…
The U.S.
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Regional Differences – U.S.

Southern states have more traditional gender role beliefs
East/West Coast, more androgynous and contemporary gender role beliefs
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CONSEQUENCES OF SCORING HIGH ON EITHER END OF SEX ROLE INVENTORIES

Scoring high on either end of any Sex Roles Inventory Questionnaire (Bem Sex Roles Inventory) doesn’t just mean identifying with masculine or feminine roles…
It usually means a rejection of the other
This often leads to conflict, violence, etc.
Theories of Sexuality

Biological (Hormonal, Genetic, Brain Chemistry)
Psychological (Psychoanalytic, Learning/ Behavioral Theory)
Sociocultural
Biopsychosocial
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Gender vs. Sexual Orientation

Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956)
Kinsey Scale (0 to 7), 1950s
0-1 exclusively heterosexual
6-7 exclusively homosexual
Most fall between 1 and 5 (bisexual)
Continuum of attraction and behavior
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No Matter Who We Are, How We Identify Ourselves is the Foundation of Ourselves

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