Gender

• What concepts of the social approach explain gender?

  Conformity

  NSI +ISI

  Gender typicality

  Gender segregation
• How does conformity explain gender?

  Gender conformity - conforming to the typical roles of genders -pressure from the environment - peers and family - pressure to behaviour in a gender typical way

  Gender Non-conformity - Not conforming to typical gender norms - stress from not conforming as some people don't accept this - negative effects = bullying
• How does NSI + ISI explain gender?


  NSI - "Boys don't play with dolls" - go along with the behaviour of not playing with dolls if you are a boy as peers are a source of NSI - gender typical behaviours

  ISI - "Boys don't cry" - go along and believe this information because other do too - Peers are a source of gender typical information - source of ISI
• What is gender typicality?

  To what extent do you fit into your gender group - judge your qualities to see if you fir in with the group
• What is gender segregation?

  By age 3 you can state what gender you are. By primary school you don't really play with the opposite gender
• What are the strengths

  Real world applications - industrialised cultures have more women in active work place - breaking stereotypes
• What are the weaknesses

  Doesn't explain gender non-conformity - NSI supports gender conformity - powerful influence - hard to explain with social approach other approaches may be better

  Not full explanation on the influence - gender norms/peers can influence gender attitudes but not identity
• Evidence of culture explaining gender?

  5 million ish people in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh live as trans gender