Sex and Gender Flashcards
Define Sex identity
A biological term, a child’s sex can be identified by their Hormones and Chromosomes.
Boys Hormone: Testosterone
Boys Chromosome: XY
Girls Hormone: Oestrogen
Girls Chromosome: XX
This determines whether the child’s sex identity is male or female.
Define Gender Identity
A psychological term. A child’s gender can be identified by their attitudes and behaviour. This determines whether the child’s gender identity is masculine or feminine.
Describe he Psychodynamic Theory of gender development
Freud believed that we have unconscious thoughts and feelings. He believed that the development happened in five stages. The third stage is the Phallic stage, in this stage the child unconsciously sexually desires the opposite-sex parent and is jealous of the same-see parent. In order to deal with these feelings and the anxiety that they produce, the child begins to behave like the same sex parent. This is known as identification. Freud believed this process occurred differently in boys and girls.
Describe the psychodynamic theory of gender development in boys
In the Phallic stage, a boy unconsciously attracted to his mother l. He is jealous of his father and wants to take his place. He becomes anxious that his father will discover his feelings for his mother and castrate him. This is known as the Oedipus complex. He is therefore torn between the desire he has for mother and the fear he has for father. In order to resolve the conflict, he therefore gives up his feelings for his mother and identifies with his father. This means he begins to behave like his father and becomes more masculine by doing things his father does. He has resolved the Oedipus Complex.
Define Identification
To adopt the attitudes and behaviour of the same-sex parent.
Describe the psychodynamic theory of gender development in girls
In he phallic stage, a girl is unconsciously attracted to her father and is jealous and resentful
Describe Freud’s study into gender development
Aim: to investigate Little Hans’ phobia
Method: Hans’ father wrote to Freud to tell him about Hans’ development. At the age of four Hans developed a phobia of horses. He was frightened that a horse might bite him or fall down. He was particularly afraid of of large white horses with black around the mouth. Freud analysed this information.
Results: Freud claimed that Hans was experiencing the Oedipus complex. He unconsciously sexually desired his mother and saw his father as a rival and feared castration. He displaced the fear of his father onto horses. The white horse with black around the mouth represented his father who had a dark beard. His fear of being bitten by a horse represented his fear of castration and his fear of horses falling down was his unconscious desire to his father dead.
Conclusion: This supports Freud’s ideas about the Oedipus Complex
Define gender disturbance
not developing the gender identity usually associated with ones sex
Give 3 evaluation points for the psychodynamic theory of gender development
Freud’s ideas are very difficult to test because because they are based on unconscious thoughts and feelings.
Although there has been a rise in single parent households, there has not been a rise in the homosexual population as Freud suggested would happen
Little evidence to support the idea of the Oedipus and Electra complexes. The little Hans case study was carried out on one child and therefore the findings cannot be generalised
