EU

• Gender


  • One of the universal dimensions on which status differences are based
  • A social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow
• Sex


  A biological concept
• Theories of Gender Development

  • Social Learning Theory
  • Cognitive-Developmental Theory
  • Gender Schema Theory
• Social Learning Theory


  • Proponents believe that parents, as distributors of reinforcement, reinforce appropriate gender role behavior
• Cognitive-Developmental Theory


  • Derived from Kohlberg's speculations about gender development
  • Children begin the process of acquiring gender-appropriate behavior
• Stages of Cognitive-Developmental Theory

  1. Sensori-motor (Birth-2 yrs): Differentiates self from objects, Recognizes self as agent of action and begins to act intentionally

  2. Pre-operational (2-7 years): Learns to use language and to represent objects by images and words

  3. Concrete operational (7-11 years): Can think logically about objects and events, Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size

  4. Formal operational (11 years and up): Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological problems
• Gender Schema Theory


  • Helps a child to develop gender identity and formulate an appropriate gender role
  • Schema is a mental blueprint for organizing information, and children develop and formulate an appropriate gender
• Gender Stereotyping


  The beliefs humans hold about the characteristics associated with males and females
• Problems in Gender Stereotyping

  • When characteristics associated with a particular gender have a negative image
  • When a unique individual is assumed to have all the characteristics associated with his/her gender
• Gender Ideologies


  • Traditional Gender Ideology
  • Egalitarian Gender Ideology
  • Transitional
• Traditional Gender Ideology


  • Maintains that men's sphere is work and women's sphere is the home
  • The implicit assumption is that men have greater power than women
• Egalitarian Gender Ideology


  Maintains that power is distributed equally between men and women and that each group identifies equally with the same spheres
• Transitional


  It is acceptable for women to devote energy to both work and family domains but women should proportionally more responsibility for the home and men should focus proportionally more their energy on work
• Gender Equality


  Between women and men is a worthy goal that is central to progress in human development
• "The Creation of Patriarchy" by Gerda Lerner: 'Gender is the "costume, a mask, a straitjacket in which men & women dance their unequal dance."'
• "The Gender Question" by Alan Wolfe: '"of all the ways that one rooted than the way men have subordinated women."'
• Themes characterizing feminist theorizing of gender inequality

  • Men & Women are situated in society unequally
  • Organization of society
  • No significant pattern of natural variation distinguishes the sexes
  • All inequality theories assume fairly easily & naturally to more egalitarian social structures
• Gender


  Refers to the different ways men & women play in society, & to the relative power they wield
• Power


  • A basic fabric of society & is possessed in varying degrees by social actors in diverse social categories
  • The likelihood a person may achieve personal ends despite possible resistance from others
• Determinants of power


  • Status resources
  • Experience
  • Self-confidence
• Gender and Education


  Investing in Education is seen as one of the fundamental ways in which nation states and their citizens can move toward long-term development goals and improve both social and economic standards of living