GENDER ROLES AND SOCIALIZATION

• GENDER SOCIALIZATION

  any person or group that plays a role in the childhood gender socialization process.
• SOCIALIZATION HAPPENS IN “SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS”

  • Perpetuate the assignment of characteristics associated with women and men
• SOCIALIZATION

  • Process by which an individual learns to conform to the norms of the group where one:
  • Is born with
  • Internalizes these norms
  • Acquire status
  • Plan corresponding roles
• SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

  • Family, school, media, workplace, religion, state
• FAMILY

  • Parents are typically a child’s first source of information about gender. Starting at birth, parents communicate different expectations to their children depending on their sex.
  • Primary force of socialization

  Has the most influence because the formative years of every individual is almost always spent with and developed by the family.
• Socialization in the Family:

  • MANIPULATION refers to ways by which parents deter or encourage behavior on the basis of appropriateness as regards gender. Parents encourage “normal” behavior through praise and rewards, and discourage “abnormal” behavior through punishment or disapproval.
  • CANALIZATION refers to the way by which parents channel the child’s interests in activities in conjunction with gender as deemed appropriate.
• Socialization in the Family:

  • VERBAL APPELLATIONS - use of language to label children in a way that reinforces appropriate gender identification. Telling children what they are and what expectations we have of them.
  • ACTIVITY EXPOSURE - boys and girls are encouraged to do different activities to familiarize with gender-appropriate tasks. Activities’ conformity to norms and practices reinforces appropriate gender identification.
• MASS MEDIA

  • Including movies, tv, and books, teaches children about what it means to be a boy or a girl.
  • Conveys information about the role of gender in people’s lives and can reinforce gender stereotypes.

  Reinforces gender stereotypes and sex-based discrimination through media portrayal of
• SCHOOL

  • Teachers and school administrators model gender roles and sometimes demonstrate gender stereotypes by responding to male and female students in different ways.
• PEER GROUP

  • Children tend to play with same-gender peers. Through these interactions, they learn what their peers expect of them as boys or girls. Important agent of socialization.
• WORKPLACE

  • Drawing on a performativity framework, which assumes that gender is socially constructed through gendered “performances”.
  • Gender discrimination in relation to occupation and pay
  • Balance of family, life, and work
  • Question of power relations as well as access to control over resources.
• RELIGION

  • From ceremonial rites of passage that reinforce the family unit to power dynamics that reinforce gender roles, organized religion fosters a shared set of socialized values that are passed on through society.

  Reinforces gender stereotypes through religious symbols, teachings, doctrines, and their interpretations.
• STATE

  • What governs the people and sets laws that dictate what is and what is not, what should and should not be.
  • Creates laws and policies that ensure the maintenance of the system 
  • Instrumental in passing laws that are discriminatory to women and other sexual orientations.

  Reinforces and regulates behavior through the use of rewards and sanctions.