The influence of culture and media on gender roles

Question 1

What is culture?

Answer 1

• The ideas, customs and social behaviour of a group or society

Question 2

How does cross-cultural help us?

Answer 2

• it contributes to the nature - nurture debate
• if a gender role remains consistent across cultures, it is innate
• If a gender role is culturally specific it may be due to social norms

Question 3

Describe the cross - cultural study of gender

Answer 3

• This was carried out by Margaret Mead of cultural groups in Papua New Guinea
• The Arapesh were gentle and response
• The Mundugumor were aggressive and hostile
• The Tchambuli women were dominant and lived an organised village life. The men were passive and considered decorative
• This shows there may not be a biological link between sex and gender and that gender roles may be culturally determined

Question 4

What was the research on cultural similarities?

Answer 4

• David Buss found consistent patterns in mate preference in 37 countries across all continents. In all cultures, women sought men who had wealth and resources and men looked for youth and physical attractiveness
• Munroe and Munroe also revealed that labour was organised along gender lines, men were breadwinners and women were nurtures

Question 5

What is the role of media on rigid stereotypes?

Answer 5

• Media often depicts men as independent and ambitious whereas women are dependent and advice seekers
• A study of Tv adverts by Furnham and Farragher found men were shown in important and independent roles in professional contexts whereas women often occupied familial roles
• This shows media reinforces rigid sterotypes

Question 6

What role does media have on self - efficacy

Answer 6

• Seeing other people perform gender appropriate behaviours in media increases a childs belief that they can carry these behaviours in the future
• A study analysed the attitudes of people in india who watched a programme designed to challenge deep - rooted gender stereotypes. The programme was a detective drama. Girls who watched it were more likely to see themsleves as capable as working outside the home than non - viewers
• This showed their self - efficacy changed as a result of media influence

Question 7

Evaluate the role of culture on gender

Answer 7

Strength = There is research support. Hofstede argued that in industrialised cultures, the changing status and expectations of women are due to their increasingly active roles in the work place. This had led to the breakdown of traditional roles in industrial cultures. In traditional cultures, women still occupy rigid roles due to social, cultural and religous pressures. This shows gender roles are very much determined by cultural context

Limitation = Meads cross cultural research has been criticised as it was based on generalisations on a short period study. Freeman carried out a follow up study and found that Meads findings were flawed and tainted by her preconceptions based on her prior readings. This is an example of observer bias

Question 8

Evaluate the role of media

Answer 8

Strength = A strength is that research into medias influence has a theory.The cultivation theory argues that the more time spent living in the media world, the more likely to believe that this reflects society. Bond and Drogos found a positive correlation between time spent watching jersey shore and permissive attitudes to causual sex. This shows that media cultivates perceptions of reality and affects gender behaviour

Limitation = A limitation of gender roles and media is that the relationship may not be casual. Durkin argues that young children are not passive and critic media messages. This means that norms of a child come from their family and if media representations do not conform to these norms, they are likely to be rejected. This shows that media influences are secondary to other influences like family