The influence of culture and media on gender roles 1

Question 1

gender roles

Answer 1

a set of behaviours and attitudes that are considered appropriate for one gender and inappropriate for the other

Question 2

culture

Answer 2

the ideas, customs and social behaviour of a particular group of people or society

Question 3

Culture and gender roles

Answer 3

└cross cultural research has a valuable contribution to the nature-nurture debate in gender
└if consistent across different cultures= may be innate (nature)
└if not consistent across different cultures (culturally specific) = may be due to influence of social norms (nurture)

Question 4

Cultural differences
case study
person

Answer 4

Margret Mead (1935)

Question 5

Cultural differences

case study

Answer 5

└Margret Mead (1935)
└cross cultural study of gender roles on the tribal groups in New Guinea
└The Arapesh: gentle and responsive (similar to western stereotype of femininity)
└The Mundugumor: aggressive and hostile (similar to western stereotype of masculinity)
└The Tchambuli: women dominant and organised village life, men passive and considered ‘decorative’ (reverse of the western stereotype)
└findings: suggests there may not be a direct biological relationship between sex and gender- gender roles may be culturally determined
└in her later work, Mead said that she had underestimated the universal nature of gender typical behaviours
└she argued however that the extent to which innate behaviours are expressed depend upon cultural norms

Question 6

Cultural similarities
case study
people

Answer 6

David Buss (1995)
Robert Munroe and Ruth Munroe (1975)

Question 7

Cultural similarities

case studies

Answer 7

└David Buss (1995)
└found consistent patterns in mate preference in 37 countries across all continents
└women wanted men with wealth and resources
└men wanted women with youth and physical attractiveness

└Robert Munroe and Ruth Munroe (1975)
└in most societies labour division is organised along gender lines
└males= breadwinners, females= nurturers

Question 8

The influence of culture on gender roles
limitations
summary

Answer 8

Criticisms of Mead’s research - Derek Freeman (1983), Shankman (1996)

Imposed etic - John Berry et al (2002)

Nature or nurture

Question 9

The influence of culture on gender roles
limitations
Criticisms of Mead’s research

Answer 9

└criticised for observer bias (not separating her own opinions from the description of Samoan life)
└criticised for making generalisations from a short study
└Derek Freeman (1983)
└follow up study of Mead’s study decades after (he criticised her)
└said her findings were flawed as she had been misled by participants, and her preconceptions influenced her findings

└Shankman (1996)
└criticised Freemans account
└said it was supporting his own theoretical viewpoint

Question 10

The influence of culture on gender roles
limitations
Imposed etic

Answer 10

└cross cultural research is usually Western researchers studying indigenous populations
└there is a risk that the researchers impose their own cultural interests and understanding on the people they are studying
└John Berry et al (2002)
└imposed etic: the idea that western ways of doing research that are assumed to be universal, may be meaningless when transferred to other cultures
└Berry advised to include at least one member of the local population in the research team (Buss did this)

Question 11

The influence of culture on gender roles
limitations
Nature or nurture

Answer 11

└although cross cultural research useful
└can’t separate the two influences on the development of gender roles
└children are socialised as soon as they are born
└difficult to determine where nature (biology) stops and nurture (social influence) starts
└likely to be interactionism