Week 3 - Lecture 3 Flashcards
define gender
- Gender refers to the** characteristics** of women, men, girls, boys and folk who identify beyond the binary that are socially constructed
- This includes** norms, behaviors and roles**, as well as relationships with each other.
- As a social construct, gender varies from society and can** change over time**
define sex
refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of females, males and intersex persons, such as chromosomes, hormones and reproductive organs
define Gender Expression
the **external expression **of one’s gender identity, including *appearance, behaviour and voice *
define Gender Identity
- A person’s sense of what gender(s), if any, they **identify **
- this is a person’s** internal sense **and should not be confused with external expression
Define Gender Role
**Behaviours and beliefs **that a cultural group deems appropriate for people based on their designated sex
Define Gender Stereotype or Belief
a set of beliefs about somebody or a group of people based on one or more aspects of their gender
define Transgender
descries people who have a **gender identity that is different from the sex assigned at birth **
define cisgender
an indiviudal whose gender identity is the same as the sex they were **designated at birth **
define Gender Diversity
Gender diversity is an umbrella term that describes gender identities that demonstrate a **diversity of expression beyond the binary **
define Gender Binary
The **cultural concept **of two traditional genders paired with sex, male as masculine and female as feminine
define sexuality
sexuality refers to** one’s sexual feelings, thoughts, attractions and behaviours** towards other people
Define Intersectionality
the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as **creating overlapping and interdependent systems **of **discrimination or disadvantage **
Why does gender matter in development?
Influences:
- parenting
- language
- navigation of social world
- construction of self
- schema development
- identity
- expression
What does gender do for ourselves and others?
Influences our expectations about ourselves and other (gender stereotypes, gender roles etc)
Theories of Gender Development
explain the social learning theory
- social learning theory argues that **gender roles are learned through reinforcement, punishment and modelling **
- children are** rewarded and reinforced** for behaving in concordance with gender roles and** punished for breaking gender roles **
- social learning theory argues that children learn many gender roles by modelling and developing ideas (Bandura, 1986)
Theories of Gender Development
explain gender schema theory
- gender schema theory is a** social-cognitive theory** about **how people in society become gendered **and impact of this gendering on their cognitive and categorical processing throughout their lifetime
- children develop gender schemas early on and use these theories to **categorise information, make decisions, and regulate behaviour **throughout their lives (Bem, 1981)
Theories of Gender Development
explain cognitive development theory
- according to cognitive development theory, gender identity is the **primary organiser and regulator of children’s gender learning **
- Children develop stereotypic conceptions of gender from what they see and hear around them once they achieve gender constancy
- Kohlberg defined gender constancy as the realization that one’s gender is a permanent attribute tied to underlying biological properties and **does not depend on superficial characteristics **(Kohlberg, 1966)
Theories of Gender Development
explain social cognitive theory
- the social cognitive theory of gender specifies how **gender conceptions **are constructed from **experiences **
- Here, gender conceptions and roles are the product of social influences operating interdependently in various s**ocietal subsystems **
- Human evolution provides** bodily structures and biological potentialities** that permit a range of possibilities rather than dictate a fixed type of gender differentation (Bussey and Bandura, 1999)
Theories of Gender Development
Explain the Biological Explanations of Gender Development
- Biologically oriented theories have also been proposed to explain gender development and differentiation
- Evolutionary psychology is one such theory that views gender differentiation as ancestrally programmed
Theories of Gender Development
explain the social role theory
Gender role theory posits that boys and girls learn the appropriate behaviour and attitudes from the family and **overall culture in which they grow up **and that **non-physical gender differences **are a product of socialisation (Eagly, 1987)
define Gender Socialisation
- gender socialisation is the **process of teaching people how to do gender socially. **
- **socialisation **transfers **norms, values, beliefs and behaviours to future group members **
what is the socialisation context
- primary = the immediate context, usually the home and a child’s parents
- secondary = contexts outside of the home, think school and peers
examples of socialisation before birth
- choose room colours for a unborn child
- choose clothes for unborn child
- toys boughts for unborn child
Example the role of family in socialisation
- family is the** most important** agent of socialisation
- specifically, parents have attitudes about gender, which **influence **their parenting approach, and accordingly, their behaviours and communications towards children
