How Do We View Men and Women?

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How Do We View Men and Women?
Chapter 12 Gender Development and Stereotypes
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Module Objectives

• What is the difference between sex and gender?
• What are Gender differences?
• What are Gender stereotypes?

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• Pat is active, independent, competitive, and
  aggressive.Is Pat male or female?

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Most people assume Pat is male.Why? Although
Pat is a common name for both males and females,
the adjectives used to describe Pat are commonly
associated with men rather than with women.
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Test yourself

• On the following slide, identify which traits are
  masculine and which are feminine.

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The same chart has been used to assess gender
stereotypes among college students..

• Did you choose the same traits as the consensus?
• Even numbered - female traits Odd numbered -
  male traits

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• Instrumental Traits (Roles) are traits associated
  with males
• They describe individuals who act on the world
  and influence it
• Expressive Traits (Roles) are traits associated
  with females
• They describe emotional functioning and
  individuals who value interpersonal relationships

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Gender Stereotypes

• Broad categories that reflect our impressions and
  beliefs about females and males
• All gender stereotypes refer to an image of what
  the typical member of a particular social
  category is like

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Why do we assume this is a girl?
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Gender Stereotypes

• Children understand gender stereotypes by the
  time they enter kindergarten
• Their understanding grows throughout
  elementary-school years
• They begin to understand that gender stereotypes
  do not always apply

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Children learn very young that we do not live in
a gender-neutral society

• By the age of 4, a childs knowledge of
  gender-stereo-typed activities is extensive

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Consider the reaction of one 6-year-old to a boy
named George who likes to play with dolls

• Why do you think people tell George not to play
  with dolls?
• Well, he should only play with things that boys
  play with. The things that he is playing with
  now is girls stuff
• Can George play with Barbie dolls if he wants to?
• No!
• What should George do?
• He should stop playing with girls dolls and
  start playing with G.I. Joe
• Why can a boy play with G.I. Joe and not a Barbie
  doll?
• Because if a boy is playing with a Barbie doll,
  then hes just going to get people teasing him
  and if he tries to play more, to get girls to
  like him, the girls wont like him either

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Between the ages of 3 and 7, gender-related
issues are very important to children. This is
the time when they are starting to firmly
classify themselves as boys and girls. They are
starting to know that they will always be boys
and/or girls.
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As children develop they learn that gender
stereotypes dont always apply

• Older children are more willing than younger
  children to ignore stereotypes when judging
  children

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Is There Any Truth to Gender Stereotypes?
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Physical Development

• As infants, boys are more active than girls
• This difference increases during childhood
• Girls tend to be healthier than boys
• Female embryos are more likely than males to
  survive prenatal development
• Infant boys are more prone to diseases and
  dysfunctions
• Adolescent boys and young men are more likely to
  engage in unhealthy, risk-taking behaviors

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In a classroom, boys are more likely than girls
to have a hard time sitting still.On a
playground, boys more often play vigorously and
girls more often play quietly.
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Intellectual Ability

• Females tend to have greater verbal ability than
  males
• Girls read, write, and spell better than boys
• More boys have reading and other language-related
  problems such as stuttering

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Males tend to have greater spatial ability than
females

• From childhood on, boys tend to have better
  mental rotation skill than girls
• From adolescence on, boys are more accurate than
  girls on spatial tasks that involve relations
  between objects in space

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Lets Test Your Spatial Ability!

• Try the following activities on your own.

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Spatial Ability

• The items above test mental rotation.
• The task is to determine which of the figures
  labeled A through E are rotated versions of the
  figure in the box on the left.

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Did you get it?
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• The first row of cubes shows you how many cubes
  are contained in each pile. Figure out the
  number of cubes contained in each of the piles
  above.

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• 27 cubes
• 15 cubes
• 15 cubes
• 18 cubes
• 19 cubes
• 40 cubes
• 10 cubes
• 22 cubes
• 13 cubes
• 20 cubes
• 50 cubes

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Intellectual Ability Continued

• On standardized math tests
• Initially, girls excel in math computation, but
  later boys excel in math problem solving
• For grades in math courses
• Usually there is no difference between boys and
  girls, BUT, if there is a difference it usually
  favors girls

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Think on Your Own

• Why are girls doing worse on achievement tests
  but getting better grades in the classroom?
• .

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One idea is that girls are more confident on
classroom tests than on achievement tests. The
achievement test questions are more novel than
classroom test questions. Because they are not
as confident they dont do as well.
Boys are more confident in their math skills and
like the challenge of novel problems. Math is
also a stereotypic male pursuit so girls tend to
lack confidence in their math skills
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Personality and Social Behavior

• Starting at age 2, boys are more physically and
  verbally aggressive than girls.
• They are more likely to be physically aggressive
  toward other boys rather than toward girls

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Boys and men are more aggressive in virtually all
cultures and in nonhuman species
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Why are boys more aggressive?

• There is a Biological link to aggression in the
  hormone Androgens, which are secreted by the
  testes.
• Androgen does not lead to aggression directly.
  Androgens make it more likely that boys will be
  aggressive by making boys more excited or angry
  and by making boys stronger.

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Is there a Societal link?

• Media presents us with aggressive male role
  models - Jedi Knights to John Wayne
• These role models are rewarded for their
  aggressive behavior.
• Parents are more likely to use physical
  punishment with sons than with daughters.

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Parents are more likely to be more tolerant of
aggressive behavior in sons than in daughters.
So experience encourages boys rather than girls
to express their aggression physically.
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Girls display covert forms of aggressionsnubbing
others or undermining social status or
relationships.
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What is actually the case?

• BOTH boys and girls are aggressive. BUT the
  method of aggression is different between the
  sexes.
• In American children (African American and Euro
  American ) in grades 3 to 6, when they want to
  harm their peers, boys try to hurt them
  physically whereas girls try to damage
  relationships with peers.
• Relational aggression (typical of girls) is less
  visually obvious.

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Personality and Social Behavior Continued

• Girls are better able at expressing their
  emotions and interpreting others emotions
• Girls are more willing to admit to feelings, but
  boys and girls are equally able to feel what
  others are feeling

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Personality and Social Behavior

• Females are more easily influenced by others -
  more persuadable
• Girls are more compliant than boys with the
  requests and demands of teachers, parents, and
  other authority figures.
• Young girls are more likely to seek an adults
  help

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Rapport versus Report Talk

• Rapport Talk
• The language of conversation and a way of
  establishing connections and negotiating
  relationships
• More characteristic of females than of males
• Report Talk
• Talk that conveys information such as public
  speaking
• More characteristic of males than of females

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The Peer Influence

• Enabling interactions
• Actions and remarks that tend to support others
  and sustain the interaction
• Girls interactions with other girls
• Constricting interactions
• One partner tries to emerge as the victor by
  threatening or contradicting the other, by
  exaggerating, etc
• Boys interactions with other boys

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Think about how boys and girls socialize

• Males hold center stage through report talk with
  verbal performances that include story telling,
  joking, and lecturing with information. Think of
  play boys tend to play in large groups that are
  hierarchically structured. They usually have a
  leader who tells the others what to do and how to
  do it. Boys games usually have winners and
  losers. Boys tend to do a lot of boasting about
  their skills and arguing about who is best at
  what.

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Females enjoy private rapport talk more and
conversation that is relationship-oriented.
Think about play Girls tend to play in small
groups or pairs and at the center of a girls
world is often a best friend. Intimacy is
pervasive in girls relationships with peers and
close friends. Turn taking is more
characteristic of girls than of boys.
Girls are more likely just to sit and talk with
each other, and are more concerned about being
liked by others rather than trying to achieve the
leadership position of power.
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Why is there a gender difference?

• Think on Your Own

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Parents are more feeling-oriented with
daughters than with sons. They are more likely
to talk about their emotions with daughters than
with sons. They are more likely to emphasize the
importance of considering others feelings with
their daughter than with their sons.
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What Influences How Children Learn Gender Roles?
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Parents

• From birth, fathers tend to interact more with
  sons than daughters while mothers interact more
  with daughters than sons
• Mothers play traditional games like peek-a-boo
  whereas fathers play more physical,
  rough-and-tumble activities
• Example a dad might urge his frightened son to
  jump off a diving board (Be a man!) but not be so
  insistent with his daughter (Thats okay,
  honey!).

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Parents treat sons and daughters similarly,
except for gender-related behavior
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Peers

• By 3 years of age, most childrens play shows the
  impact of gender stereotypes
• Boys prefer blocks and trucks
• Girls prefer tea sets and dolls
• Young children are even critical of peers who
  engage in cross-gender play
• Once children learn rules about gender-typical
  play, they often harshly punish peers who violate
  those rules

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Peers Continued

• Between 2 and 3 years of age, children begin to
  prefer playing with same-sex peers
• Children spontaneously select same-sex playmates.
  Adult pressure is not necessary.
• Children resist parents efforts to get them to
  play with members of the opposite sex.
• Girls are often unhappy when parents encourage
  them to play with boys, and boys are unhappy when
  parents urge them to play with girls.

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Boys and girls prefer same-sex playmates even in
gender-neutral activities such as playing tag or
doing puzzles.

• This preference increases during childhood,
  reaching a peak in preadolescence

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What are your five favorite television programs?

• Count the number of major characters in them.
• How many of them are male? How many of them are
  female?
• Which characters are highly active and/or have
  positions of power?
• How would you characterize the general nature of
  the programs action-packed, romantic comedies,
  sports shows, soap operas?

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What were your results?

• Most of the list of characters will probably be
  male (except for soap operas).
• More males will likely chose action and sports
  shows as their favorites.
• More females will likely choose romantic shows
  or soap operas.

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Television

• Women on television tend to be cast in romantic,
  marital, or family roles
• They are depicted as emotional, passive and weak
• Men on television tend to be cast in leadership
  or professional roles
• They are depicted as rational, active, and strong

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Children who watch a lot of television end up
with more stereotyped views of males and females

• Children who watch a lot of television prefer
  gender-typed activities to a greater extent than
  do children who are less avid viewers

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Gender Identity
How do we develop a sense of being male or female?
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What do you think?

• Imagine you meet a 1-year-old named Leslie who is
  dressed in gender-neutral clothing and is
  sporting a bowl-cut hairstyle, so that you cannot
  tell whether Leslie is a boy or girl.
• How long would it be before you become curious
  about Leslies sex? How would you determine
  whether a 1-year-old like Leslie is a boy or a
  girl?

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Development of Gender Identity

• The first step is to discriminate males from
  females and to place oneself in to one of these
  categories
• By 1 year, infants can discriminate male
  photographs from female photographs
• By 2-3 years, children tell us they know about
  gender
• They use mommy and daddy labels correctly
• They use boy and girl labels correctly
• They accurately label themselves as either a boy
  or girl

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Gender Identity Continued

• Between 3-5 years, children still believe they
  can change gender identities if they want to
• Between 5-7 years, children have a firm, stable,
  future-oriented identity as a boy or a girl

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