Influence of culture and media on gender roles Flashcards
What are cultural differences in gender roles?
Margaret Meed (1935) did cross-cultural studies in Papua New Guinea:
-Arapesh tribe were gentle and responsive (similar to femininity in the West.
-The Mundugumor were aggressive and hostile (similar to masculinity in the West)
-The Tchambuli women were dominant and organised village life, men were passive and were considered to be decorative
-This suggests that a lot of gender roles are culturally different and not biologically determined
What are cultural similarities in gender roles?
-David Buss (1995) found a consistent mate preference in 37 countries across all continents.
-women wanted men with wealth and resources whilst men wanted youth and physical attractiveness
-Robert and Ruth Monroe (1975 ) discovered that most labour is split through gender - men breadwinners and women were nurturers.
AO3 of culture influencing gender
S-Research support: Geert Hofstede (2001) argues that in industrialised societies women are getting a more active role in the workplace and away from domestic life. In traditional societies women still occupy the house-maker role due to social, cultural and religious pressures. This suggests gender roles are controlled by cultural context.
L- Mead’s research has been criticised. She has been accused of making generalisations in small periods of study. Derek Freeman (1983) conducted a follow-up study of people from Papua New Guinea and argued that Mead’s findings were wrong as she had been misled by some of her participants and also had preconceptions before her study which influenced her reading of events. This is observer bias and ethnocentrism. This suggests that are findings may have not been objective and decreases the reliability of her results.
How does media give gender stereotypes?
-media provides rigid gender stereotypes:
-TV adverts by Adrian Furnham and Elena Farragher (2000) found that men were more likely to be shown in autnomous roles with professional context whereas women would be in a domestic setting. This suggests media spreads stereotypes about gender-appropriate behaviour.
How does the media promote self-efficacy of gender-appropriate behaviour?
-self-efficacy: seeing other people do gender-appropriate behaviour increases a child’s belief that are capable of performing the behaviour.
-Mitra et al. 2019 analysed the attitudes of people in India who watched a program(Adha-full) to challenge their gender attitudes. Girls who watched the programmed thought they’d be more successful working outside home than girls who did not watch
AO3 of media influencing gender roles
S-Cultivation theory: has a theoretical basis.cultivation theory argues that the longer people spend in the “living” world the more they think this reflects social reality. Bradley Bond & Kristin Drogos (2014) found a positive correlation between people watching Jersey Shore and permissive attitudes towards sex. This was still found even when variables such as sexual and parental attitudes and religious beliefs are controlled. This suggests media cultivates perceptions of gender behaviour.
L- Passive recipients: May not be a causal rs between media and gender behaviour. Kevin Durkin (1985) that even very young children aren’t passive or uncritical recipients of media messages. Instead their families are a bigger determinant on gender attitudes. If the media is in congruence with their family’s ideas, they are likely to be reinforced by the child, if nit they will be rejected. This suggests media is a secondary influence.
