Influence of culture and media on gender roles Flashcards
What does it relate to
Nature/ nurture debate, if it was all biological we would expect to see little variation of gender roles around the world.
Margret mead- culture
Ethnographic research (new Guinea)
-The mundungumour- masculine
-The Arapesh- femanine
-The Tchambuli- reversed gender roles.
What does margret mead show
No biological reason for the relationship between sex and gender.
Malinowski study- gender
Trobriand islanders- women were highly sexually aggressive and would capture and rape men from other tribes.
David Buss study- gender
survey on 37 countries
rated the importance of certain characteristics in a mate
Cross-cultural similarities
women wanted- financial security, dependability
men wanted- good looks, youth, chastity.
Munroe and Munroe- gender
In most cultures, men were breadwinners and women were nurturers.
The issue of reactivity- gender
What participants alter their behaviour as they know they are being observed
Can be reduced by ethnographic research, threat to internal validity
Risk of misinterpretation- gender
Some concepts cannot be defined in ones own language
risk of misinterpreting a subtle distinction in language
Buss used a local member of the population.
Imposed etic- gender
Researchers may assume that the western way is universal e.g aggression may be different in different cultures.
May impose their own biases and preconceptions
Nature/ nurture debate- gender
As soon as people are born they are identified as either male or female and immediately their socialisation into society starts along with gender- role expectations. Its hard to know when nature stops and nurture starts.
Examples of media
communication channels (TV, film, books) through which news, entertainment and education are made available.
Media and self-efficacy
Not only does the media confirm gender-typical behaviours but it gives info of their success at adopting that behaviour. Seeking other people carry out gender-appropriate behaviour increases belief they are able to carry it out.
What does the media provide
Role-models with whom the children identify with and imitate.
Bussey and Bandura- media
Evidence that the media do provide very clear gender stereotypes that are rigid. men are shown as independent, ambitious, advice givers
Furnham and Farragher- media
TV ads showed men in power roles in professional contexts and women in familial roles in domestic contexts. suggests that the media does reinforce social stereotypes regarding gender.
