Influence of culture and media on gender

• Culture

  The ideas, customs and social behaviour of a particular group of people or society.
• Media

  Communication channels, such as TV, films and books, through which news, entertainment, education and data are made available.
• Gender roles

  A set of behaviours and attitudes that are considered to be typical of one gender and atypical of the other.
• Culture and gender roles

  • If a gender role behaviour is consistent across cultures, we could conclude that it is innate- nature
  • However, if there are inconsistencies in gender role behaviours across cultures we could conclude that gender behaviours are due to socialisation- nurture.
• Research for culture

  • Margaret Mead
  • Carried out a cross-cultural study of gender roles of tribal groups on the island of New Guinea.
  • Arapesh tribe: gentle and responsive (western ideas of feminine behaviours)
  • Mundugamor tribe: aggressive and hostile (western ideas of masculine behaviour(
  • Tchambuli: women were dominant and organised village life, men were passive and ‘decorative.
• What does Margaret Mead’s study suggest about cultural differences?

  • The results of the study suggests there may not be a direct biological relationship between sex and gender.
  • Gender roles are culturally determined.
  • The extent to which behaviours are expressed is largely due to cultural norms.
• Research into culture similarities- role of nature

  • Buss, found consistent patterns in mate preferences (a type of gender role behaviour) in 38 countries across all continents.
  • In all cultures women sought men who could offer wealth and resources, whilst men looked for youth and physical attractiveness in a partner.
  • Munroe and Munro, found that in most societies division of labour is organised along gender lines- males the breadwinners and females the nurturers.
• What does Buss, Munroe and Munroe studies suggest about the influence of culture on gender roles?

  • Both studies suggests there are many cultural similarities in gender roles which implies that gender roles are biologically determined.
• Research support for the role of culture in gender development

  • Hofstede argued that in industrialised cultures the changing status and expectation of women are a function of their increasingly active role in the workplace and away from home.
  • This has led to a breakdown of traditional stereotypes in advanced industrialised societies. However in traditional societies women still have the role of house-maker as a result of social, cultural and religious pressures.
  • Therefore this suggests that gender roles are determined by cultural context.
• Limitation of Mead’s research

  • Mead has been accused of making generalisations based on a short period of study.
  • Freeman conducted a follow-up study of people from Papua New Guinea after Mead’s investigation. He argued that Mead’s findings were flawed as she has been misled by some of her participants and that her preconceptions influenced her reading of events (observer bias).
  • This suggests that Mead’s interpretations may have not been objective, which decreases the internal validity of her study.
• Contributions to the nature/nurture debate

  • There is evidence of similarities in gender roles across cultures. e.g Buss, Munroe and Munroe, suggesting that gender roles may be biologically determined and the result of nature.
  • However, other research e.g Mead supports the idea that gender roles are the result of cultural norms and vary from gender to gender. This transmission of gender roles may be through imitation and observations.
  • Some elements of gender-roles behaviours appear to the universal, whilst others are culturally specific, gender is seen as interaction of nature and nurture.
• How does the media influence gender roles?

  • The media provide role models for children.
  • These may then identify with these roles and want to imitate them.
  • As studied previously, children are more likely to select role models who are the same gender as they are and who engage in stereotypical gender-appropriate behaviour.
• Rigid stereotypes- media

  • For example, men are independent and ambitious and women are dependent and unambitious.
• Research for rigid stereotypes in the media

  • Furnham and Farragher found that men were more likely to be shown in autonomous roles with professional contexts whereas women were often seen occupying familial roles within domestic settings.
  • Results suggest that the media may play a role in reinforcing widespread social stereotypes concerning male and female behaviour.
• Self-efficacy: Media

  • The media gives males and females information in terms of their likely success of adopting behaviours.
  • Seeing other people perform gender appropriate behaviours increases the child’s belief that they are capable of carrying out such behaviours in the future.
• Self-efficacy: media, research

  • Mitra et al, analysed the attitudes of people in India who had watched a programme designed to challenge deep-rooted stereotypes.
  • It was a detective drama programme with 78 episodes.
  • Girls who watched it were more likely to see themselves as capable of working outside of the home than non-viewers.
  • Results suggests the girl’s efficacy had changed because of media influence.
• Theoretical basis of the influence of media on gender roles

  • Bond and Drogos, found a positive correlation between time spent watching the reality TV programme Jersey Shore and permissive attitudes towards casual sex. This effect was still found to be true when researchers controlled for the influence of factors like existing sexual attitudes, parental attitudes and religious beliefs.
  • Cultivation theory argued that the more individuals spend ‘living’ in the media world, the more likely they are to believe that this reflects social reality.
  • Suggests the media cultivate perception of reality.
• Not a causal relationship between gender roles and the media

  • Durkin, argued that even very young children are not passive and uncritical recipients of media messages.
  • In fact, norms within the child’s family may be the bigger determinant on the child’s attitudes and behaviour. If media representations confirm existing gender norms held by the family, then these are likely to be reinforced in the child’s mind. If not the such representations are likely to be rejected.
  • Suggests media influences are secondary to other influences, such as family.
• Counter-stereotypes

  • Media can play a positive role in challenging gender-roles stereotypes through counter-stereotypes.
  • Pingree found that gender stereotyping was reduced amongst most school-age children when they were shown TV adverts featuring women in a non-stereotypical role.
  • In the same study, the only exception were boys in eighth grade whose stereotypes became stronger following exposure to the counter-stereotypical sequences.
  • Suggests that the success of counter-stereotypes depends on who is the recipient of the message.