culture and media influence

• some gender-role behaviours are culturally specific,

  therefore we can assume that the influence of shared norms and socialisation is decisive ( as suggested by SLT)
• Cultural differences - Gender

  the earliest cross-cultural studies of gender roles was carried out by Margret Mead of tribal groups on the island of New Guinea
• How were the Arapesh in Marget Meads Cross-culture studies?

  gentle and responsive (similar to the common UK stereotype of feminitiy)
• How were the Mundugmor in Margret Meads cross-culture studies on gender?

  aggressive and hostile ( similar to the common UK stereotype of masculinity)
• How were the Tchambuli in Margret Meads's cross-culture studies on gender

  the women were dominant and they organised village like; the men were passive and considered to be 'decorative' ( the reverse of UK stereotype )
• What did Margret Mead's cross-cultural studies on gender suggest?

  there may not be a direct biological relationship between sex and gender, gender roles may be culturally determined.

  • the extent to which innate behaviours are expressed is largely through gender norms
• Cultural similarities

  David Buss's cross-cultural similarities in gender roles

  • found consistent patterns in mate preferences in 37 countries
  • in all cultures women sought men who would offer wealth and resources
  • men looked for youth and attractiveness
• the media provide role models with whom children may identify and want to imitate.
• Rigid stereotypes

  evidence that the media do provide very clear gender stereotypes that are quite rigid:

  • men are independent, ambitious 'advice-givers'
  • women are dependant, unambitious 'advice-seekers'
• rigid sterotypes (TV advert study)

  Furnham

  • found that men are morelikely to be shown in autonomous familial roles withing domestic settings.
  • suggesting that media may playa roles in reinforcing widespread social stereotypes
• self-efficacy

  seeing other people perform gener-approraite behaviours increase the child belief that they are capable in carrying out such behaviours in the future.
• What were the 3 tribes Mead looked at?

  • Arapesh
  • Mundugmor
  • Tchambuli
• Criticism of meads research into culture and gender roles:

  Observer bias

  • not separating her own opinions from her description and generalising based on a relatively short period of study.
  • follow-studies argued that Mead's findings were flawed as she had been misled by some of her participants, and her preconceived notions influenced her observations.
• research into culture and gender having imposed etic

  research is undertaken by 'Western' researchers who take indigenous populations to be their main object of study.

  • theories and methods have been developed in the West, imposing their interests and understandings
  • IMPOSED ETIC - western ways of doing research that is assumed to be universal, may be meaningless when transferred.
  • therefor research must include one member of the local population.
• The Nature or Nurture debate in gender in culture research

  does not solve the nature/nurture debate but provides insight

  • cannot ignore environmental factors as soon as you are born you are influenced by these gender-role expectation
  • making it difficult to determine where nature stops and nurture begins
  • likely it a constant interaction between both influences
• there is a correlation not a causation between media and gender:

  it's difficult to establish cause and effect

  • maybe that media output reflects the established social norms around males and females.
  • Control groups of children who haven't been exposed to media are not available for comparison
• The Notel study (Supporting medial influence)

  1960's Canada

  • extensive surveys around the town to assess the behaviour and attitudes of the population before the introduction of television
  • also collected data from the neighbouring towns that had access to TV - Unitel ( one channel )/ Multitel ( several channels)
  • after 2 years all three towns were surveyed again
• The Notel Study Findings ( Media and Gender)

  gender-stereotypical attitudes among children of the three towns changed over two years

  • In the beginning, the children in Notel and Unitel displayed fewer sex-type views and stereotypical behaviour compared to Multitel.
  • In the end, evidence of stereotypes of behaviours increases for the children of Notel.
• Counter stereotypes in the media

  In recent years there have been many examples of counter-stereotypes in the media which challenge traditional notions

  • female gender stereotype was reduced when seeing women in non-stereotypical roles but pre-adolescent boys' stereotypes became stronger