Socialization of Boys and Girls Gender socialization is the process of learning cultural roles according to one’s sex. This process begins the moment a newborn is declared male or female. Boys and girls are generally socialized through four means: family, peers, school, and the media. The first way boys and girls are socialized different is by their family. Parents are often the first ones responsible.
Gender roles are the behaviours that society teach us as appropriate for boys and girls. These are based on gender stereotypes, which are “assumptions made about the characteristics of each gender, such as physical appearance, physical abilities, attitudes, interests or occupations.” (Gooden and Gooden, 2001). This essay will define and discuss gender and its significance throughout early childhood. Gender socialisation will be related to throughout this discussion as the effects of the family, the school, the media and the peer group on gender socialisation will also be looked at. To conclude the essay, statistics and studies will be discussed with relation to gender role socialisation.
Discuss Kohlberg’s theory of gender development... (9 marks+16 marks) Kohlberg proposed that children go through stages in the development of full gender identity. Gender identity is thought to be a person's inner sense of being male or female, usually developed during early childhood as a result of parental upbringing and societal influences and strengthened during puberty by hormonal changes. The first stage is known as “gender labelling” or “basic gender identity”. This occurs between 1.5 and 3 years, and refers to a child’s recognition of being male or female. Kohlberg understood that this recognition allows us to understand and categorise the world.
Sex refers to one’s biological identity of being male or female while gender refers to the socially learned expectations and behaviours associated with being male or female. Sex is biologically assigned while gender is culturally learned. From the time that we are born we are influenced by various things, the surrounding environment, our parents, the culture of the area and country. Children are most influenced by their parents and are at their most impressionable from a very young age [Lauer & Lauer, 1994; Santrock, 1994; Kaplan, 1991] . Generally it is widely accepted across the board that early gender socialisation is one of the most important issues in early childhood, as it is affecting both boys and girls.
Girls Vs. Boys Are boys socialized differently than girls? I think yes. I believe that gender socialization begins the second a child is born. The way children are spoken to, played with, touched, etc.
Masculinity is a subjective term, and in most cases it is influenced by one's perception and culture (Cullins, V.2012). According to Connell (1995), Masculinity can be interpreted as a choice in which one is made in respect of dressing, behavior, and physical appearance. This essay will critically examine masculinities as it relates to men's labor perception and his work environment based on the findings of Simon Cross and Barbara Bagilhole. This paper will explore the statutes of men in non-traditional male occupations e.g. (childcare providers, nurses, hair dressers) and will also examine the impact of these “feminine” occupations in men's manhood and how these men view their masculinity as they are doing what is generally regarded as “women's work”.
Just the Way We Are Everyone thought that there are similar differences between males and females. Both genders are different through their social, emotional and intellectual qualities. Gender roles influence women and men in virtually every area of life including family and occupation, but are women and men subject to different roles or behavior expectations? Gender role by definition is,” the public image of being male or female that a person presents to others.” (Dictionary.com). In early American culture it was common for a women’s job to be an obedient housewife in clear contrast to the male’s duty to be a job holder.
(Media Awareness Network) Stereotypes can be problematic, reducing a wide range of differences in people to simplistic categorizations. This transforms assumptions about particular groups of people into realities. Mass media, such as movies, television, magazines, newspapers, books, music, and computer games, both reflect and shape gender roles. (Knox) Women and men are usually depicted as having extremely different roles in society, evident in the way media portray them. (Al-Ghafari) Some gender roles confine both sexes to traditional duties and responsibilities.
Women are under a constant pressure to adhere to roles that are specific to their gender and so are men. The woman by norm is relegated to the private domain and is allocated the affective role, while the man has full access to the public domain for he plays the role of the bread-winner. Devdutt Pattanaik, in his book, ‘The Pregnant King’, strives to show how gender plays an important part in defining roles and relationships, while at the same time also accounting for the interesting change in gender roles of men and women, which appears extremely contemporary and unthinkable at the time and context in which the story is set. Based at the time of the Mahabharata, Pattanaik’s ‘The Pregnant King’ brings forth a wide new range of ideas that are exceedingly modern in nature. These ideas question the societal norms that privilege the men and not the women, the norms that prevent both men and women from adopting occupations and indulging in activities that majorly interests them.
In very few instances, say projects covering solely the supply of materials and equip¬ment, can projects adopt a non-gender-differen¬tiated procedure. Gender Imbalance in Project Management Recruitment Though more women are now getting involved, project management it is still dominated by men. Is this because of sexist attitudes of recruiters, or is it because of some other reasons? Female Project Managers, who had established themselves in project management in spite of their gender sometimes express real feelings of intimidation as part of their early experiences when they stepped into this predominantly male discipline.