Theoretical Perspectives on Gender Flashcards
Sociological Theories
- Structural Functionalism
- Critical/Feminism
- Symbolic Interactionism
Men filled INSTRUMENTAL roles in society while women filled EXPRESSIVE roles, which worked to the benefit of society
Structural Functionalism
Wage inequalities as the result of choices women make, assuming they choose family roles that compete with their work roles, which renders them less valuable employees from the managerial standpoint
Structural Functionalism
Society is structured by relations of power and
domination among social groups (e.g., women versus men) that determine access to scarce resources
Critical Sociology
Social problems and contradictions are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress subordinate groups
Critical Sociology
when women become wage earners, they can gain power in the family structure and create more democratic arrangements in the home, although they may still carry the majority of the domestic burden
Critical Sociology
A type of critical sociology that examines the maintenance of gender roles and inequalities in gender-related issues
Feminist Theory
considers the role of the family in perpetuating male dominance
Radical feminism
Coined by Dorothy Smith
Bifurcation of Consciousness
Bifurcation of Consciousness is coined by ______
Dorothy Smith
A disconnect between their personal experiences and the way the world is represented by society as a whole (masculine point of view)
Bifurcation of Consciousness
Subordinate groups are conditioned to view the world from the perspective of the dominant group
Bifurcation of Consciousness
Aims to understand human behavior by
analyzing the critical role of symbols in human
interaction
Symbolic Interactionism
TRUE or FALSE
The meanings attached to symbols are socially created and not natural, and fluid, not static, we act and react to symbols based on the current assigned meaning
TRUE
who developed the concept of the looking-glass self?
C. H. Cooley
This concept suggests that one’s determination of self is based mainly on the view of society
looking-glass self
If society perceives a man as masculine, then
that man will perceive himself as masculine
looking-glass self
According to _______ and _______, when people perform tasks or possess characteristics based on the gender role assigned to them, they are said to be doing gender
Zimmerman and West
Psychological Theories
- Psychoanalytic Theory
- Social Learning theory
- Cognitive-Developmental Theory
- Gender Schema theory
- Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology
A psychological theory originated by Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalytic Theory
a stage theory of __________, each stage being characterized by focus on one of erogenous zones
psychosexual development
area of the body that are sensitive to sexual stimulation (e.g. lips, mouth, genitalia, etc.)
Erogenous zones
Psychosexual Stages of Development
- Oral Stage
- Anal Stage
- Phallic Stage
- Latency Stage
- Genital Stage
Primary Narcissism or Self-Love
Oral Stage (Birth to One Year Old)
Frustration or overindulgence leads to alcoholism
Oral Stage (Birth to One Year Old)
center of child’s sexual interest
Anal zone
People who are fixated at this age are grasping
and stingy
Anal Stage (1-3 Years Old)
The stage where the development of boys and
girls diverge
Phallic Stage (3-6 Years Old)
Greatest source of pleasure is coming from sex
organ
Phallic Stage (3-6 Years Old)
Child desires the parent of the opposite sex
Phallic Stage (3-6 Years Old)
boys desiring mothers
Oedipus Complex
girls desiring their fathers
Electra Complex
Girls experience penis envy
Phallic Stage (3-6 Years Old)
the boy represses his sexual desire with the
mother and starts identifying with the father
Phallic Stage (3-6 Years Old)
Children turn their attention to people
outside their families
Latency Stage (6-11 Years Old)
Children possess composure and self-control
Latency Stage (6-11 Years Old)
Focus on the opposite sex
Genital Stage
Look around for potential love partner
Genital Stage
Criticisms of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
▪ Concepts cannot be evaluated scientifically.
▪ His ideas are almost exclusively from work with patients who sought therapy.
▪ Over-emphasized biological determinants of behavior.
▪ His theory is phallocentric.
Emphasizes the role of reinforcement, punishment, imitation, and observational learning as key mechanisms in development
Social Learning Theory
emphasizes the importance of imitation
and observational learning
Social Learning Theory
People doing what they see others doing
Imitation
Observe someone doing something and then doing it at a later time
Observational Learning
The acquisition of gender-typed behaviors and learning of gender roles
Gender-typing
Also known as social cognitive theory
Cognitive Social Learning Theory
Emphasis on reinforcement, punishment and
imitation remains but cognitive processes
Cognitive Social Learning Theory
Cognitive process that weeds out most of the behaviors that are irrelevant to the child and focuses on the few that are most relevant
Attention
A person’s belief in their ability to accomplish a particular task
Self-efficacy
Who pioneered the realm of gender development?
Jean Piaget & Barbel Inhelder
Who theorized that gender constancy is
critical to children’s gender development?
Lawrence Kohlberg
A process that begins with acquiring gender
identity or knowing their own gender
Gender Constancy
despite possible changes in appearance, they know that its essence remains the same
Gender Constancy
A feminist social cognitive perspective developed by __________
Sandra Bem
The development process of gender typing or gender role acquisition in children
Gender Schema Theory
The application of Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory to understand the social behavior of animals including people
Sociobiology
behaviors or other investments in the offspring by the parent that increase the offspring’s chance of survival
Parental Investment
the processes by which the members of one gender (usually males) compete with each other for mating with members of another gender (usually females), who, in turn, choose to mate with only the preferred members of the first gender (males)
Sexual Selection
emphasizes the evolved psychological mechanisms related to sexuality and explains certain psychological differences
Sexual strategies theory
