Chapter 3 Flashcards
Androgyny
the combined presence of the socially valued, stereotypic, feminine as well as masculine characteristics.
cognitive development theory
(Jean Piaget originally) mental development takes place in a set of relatively orderly and discrete stages involving greater complexity at each level.
Kohlberg applied this theory to gender acquisition, arguing that children learn gender cognitively, according to their level of reasoning at different stages.
electra complex
what Freud called the “feminine Oedipous attitude”. Described a girls situation during the Oedipal Crisis when she, like a boy, discovers the anatomical distinction between the sexes and believes that she and her mother have been castrated. Penis Envy is the result, and she transfers her desire to her father, competing with her mother and eventually to the desire for a baby of her own.
ethic of justice
Gilligan’s term for the mode of reasoning she sees as more characteristic of men and institutions in western society. It describes moral reasoning based on principle and abstract concepts of justice.
ethic of care
Gilligan’s term for the mode of moral reasoning she found more prevalent in women than in men. This “different voice” makes moral judgements on the basis of the interdependence of human beings and the effects of actions on them.
gender constancy
Kohlberg’s concept to explain children’s realization, at approximately age six, that gender is permanent and fixed
gender schema
an understanding regarding gender and gender roles, allowing traits, behaviours, personalities, and occupations to be assessed as “for males” or “for females”. This idea is important to both Kohlberg’s cognitive development theory and Bem’s gender schema theory.
gender schema theory
(Sandra Bem) argues that though children do develop ideas of gender through gender schemas, adults vary in the rigidity of their schemas.
(The healthiest ones = less polarized views of gender)
object relations theory
the role of the external world or others, in the development of personality
Oedipal crisis
(Freud) The CRITICAL part of the genital stage during which a boy learns to desire sex with women, repudiate femininity, and identify as a man.
The boy initially desires his mother, whom he sees as being castrated, and seeks to replace his father. His fear of castration by his father leads him to instead identify with his father and defer his desire for his mother until adulthood, when it is transferred to other women.
penis envy
(Freud) A critical part of girl’s psychosexual development. The girls assumed reaction to her discovery of anatomical sex differences, which she, like the boy, views as castration of the female.
psychoanalysis
an umbrella term for a diverse body of theory and practice based upon the theories of mind and personality developed by Freud.
Psychoanalysis extends beyond the study and treatment of individual personality to theories of social organization.
sex role theory
A broad body of theory, drawing from both psychology and sociology, that studies individual’s socialization into gender roles and acquisition of gender identities.
social psychologists
(either sociologists or psychologists) Scholars in the field of social psychology study individual psychology as the result of interactions between individuals and their environments, whether defined as “other people” or as institutions and social structures.
womb envy
(Horney) Males envy women’s potential to give birth and therefore both disparage and seek to dominate women.
