Quiz #3 Chapter 5 Study Guide PDF

Quiz #3 Chapter 5 Study Guide Gender The social categories of male and female, established according to cultural beliefs and practices rather than being the result of biology. ○ Use of the term sex implies that the characteristics of males and females have a biological...

Quiz #3 Chapter 5 Study Guide Gender The social categories of male and female, established according to cultural beliefs and practices rather than being the result of biology. ○ Use of the term sex implies that the characteristics of males and females have a biological basis. Use of the term gender implies that characteristics of males and females may be due to cultural and social beliefs, influences, and perceptions. ○ For example, the fact that males grow more muscular at puberty and females develop breasts is a sex difference. However, the fact that girls tend to have a more negative body image than males in adolescence is a gender difference Protect, Provide, Procreate Protect: In the manhood requirements of traditional cultures, the requirement of being able to assist in protecting one’s family and community from human and animal attackers. ○ He learns this by acquiring the skills of warfare and the capacity to use weapons. Conflict between human groups has been a fact of life for most cultures throughout human history, so this is a pervasive requirement Provide: In the manhood requirements of traditional cultures, the requirement of being able to provide economically for one’s self as well as a wife and children. ○ For example, if adult men mainly fish, the adolescent boy must demonstrate that he has learned the skills involved in fishing adequately enough to provide for a family. Procreate: In the manhood requirements of traditional cultures, the requirement of being able to function sexually well enough to produce children. ○ He gains this experience not to demonstrate his sexual attractiveness but so that he can prove that in marriage he will be able to perform well enough sexually to produce children What must an adolescent boy in traditional cultures do to achieve manhood and escape the stigma of being viewed as a failed man? The anthropologist David Gilmore (1990) analyzed this question across traditional cultures around the world in his book Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity. He concludes that in most cultures an adolescent boy must demonstrate three capacities before he can be considered a man: provide, protect, and procreate Communal manhood Anthony Rotundo’s term for the norm of manhood in 17th and 18th-century colonial America, in which the focus of gender expectations for adolescent boys was on preparing to assume adult male role responsibilities in work and marriage. ○ Rotundo calls this “communal manhood” because preparing for community and family responsibilities was considered more important than striving for individual achievement and economic success. Preparing to become “head of the household” was seen as especially important for adolescent boys because as  adult men they would be expected to act as provider and protector of wife and children. Self-made manhood Anthony Rotundo’s term for the norm of manhood in 19th century America, in which males were increasingly expected to become independent from their families in adolescence and emerging adulthood as part of becoming a man. ○ as American society became more urbanized, young men became more likely to leave home in their late teens for the growing American cities to make it on their own without much in the way of family ties ○ Although becoming a provider and protector remained important, an explicit emphasis also developed on the importance of developing the individualistic character qualities necessary for becoming a man. Decision of character became a popular term to describe a young man’s passage from high-spirited but undisciplined youth to a manhood characterized by self-control and a strong will for carrying out independent decisions Passionate manhood Anthony Rotundo’s term for the norm of manhood in the 20th-century United States, in which self-expression and self-enjoyment replaced self-control and self-denial as the paramount virtues young males should learn in the course of becoming a man. ○ During the 20th century passionate emotions such as anger and sexual desire became regarded more favorably as part of the manhood ideal. Gender socialization The process through which cultures communicate gender expectations to children and adolescents ○ All cultures have beliefs about what entails the proper appearance, roles, and behavior of males and females. The process through which cultures communicate gender expectations to children and adolescents is called gender socialization. Gender socialization may be communicated through a variety of sources, including families, friends and peers, schools, and the media. Self-socialization In gender socialization, the way that children seek to maintain consistency between the norms they have learned about gender and their behavior. ○ according to cognitive-developmental theory, children seek to maintain consistency between their categories and their behavior ○ Boys become quite insistent about doing things they regard as boy things and avoiding things that girls do; girls become equally intent on avoiding boy things and doing things they regard as appropriate for girls Schema A mental structure for organizing and interpreting information. Synonymous with scheme. ○ Scheme and schema are used interchangeably Gender Schema Theory Theory in which gender is viewed as one of the fundamental ways that people organize information about the world. ○ Another cognitive theory of gender that uses piaget’s ideas ○ Gender is one of our most important schemas from early childhood onward. ○ By the time we reach adolescence, on the basis of our socialization we have learned to categorize an enormous range of activities, objects, and personality characteristics as “female” or “male.” This includes not just the obvious— vaginas are female, penises are male—but many things that have no inherent “femaleness” or “maleness” and are nevertheless taught as possessing gender—the moon as “female” and the sun as “male” in traditional Chinese culture, or long hair as “female” and short hair as “male” in many cultures, for example. ○ Gender schemas influence how we interpret the behavior of others and what we expect from them. Gender identity Children’s understanding of themselves as being either male or female, reached at about age 3. ○ Once children possess gender identity, they use gender as a way of organizing information obtained from the world around them. Certain toys become “toys that girls play with,” whereas others are “toys that boys play with.” Androgyny A combination of “masculine” and “feminine” personality traits. ○ The women’s movement of the 1960s had led many people in the West to reconsider ideas about male and female roles, and one outcome of this thinking was that it might be best to transcend the traditional opposition of masculine and feminine traits and instead promote the development of the best of each. In this view, there is no reason why a man could not be both independent (“masculine”) and nurturing (“feminine”), or why a woman could not be both compassionate (“feminine”) and ambitious (“masculine”). ○ In a given situation, it might be better on some occasions to be gentle (“feminine”) and on other occasions to be assertive (“masculine”). More generally, it might be best to be ambitious (“masculine”) at work and affectionate (“feminine”) at home.  ○ In general, research evidence indicates that in adolescence, androgyny is more likely to be related to a positive self-image for girls than for boys. Androgynous girls generally have a more favorable self-image than girls who are either highly feminine or highly masculine, but highly masculine boys have more favorable self-images than boys who are feminine or androgynous ○ It is regarded more favorably now than it was 50 years ago for females to be ambitious, independent, and athletic, and to possess other “masculine” traits (Lindsey, 2015). However, males are still expected to avoid being soft spoken and tender, or to exhibit other “feminine” traits. Adolescents view themselves, and others, in terms of how they fit these cultural gender expectations. Expressive traits Personality characteristics such as gentle and yielding, more often ascribed to females, emphasizing emotions and relationships. ○ In general terms, femininity is associated with being nurturing (sympathetic, compassionate, gentle, etc.) and compliant (yielding, soft-spoken, childlike, etc.). Stereotype A belief that others possess certain characteristics simply as a result of being a member of a particular group ○ Gender stereotypes, then, attribute certain characteristics to others simply on the basis of whether they are male or female ○ gender stereotypes are beliefs specifically about people Bell curve/normal distribution The bell-shaped curve that represents many human characteristics, with most people around the average and a gradually decreasing proportion toward the extremes ○ a small proportion of people rate much higher than most other people, a small proportion rate much lower than most people, but most people fall somewhere in the middle, somewhere around average. ○ Think of height as an example. you may have a friend who is 4 foot 10 inches and another friend who is 6 feet 10 inches, but most of the people you know are probably between 5 and 6 feet tall Meta-analysis A statistical technique that integrates the data from many studies into one comprehensive statistical analysis. ○ This technique has been used frequently in research on gender differences, partly because so many studies have been published on gender differences ○ A meta-analysis indicates whether a difference exists between groups (e.g., males and females) and also indicates the size of the difference. Social Roles Theory Theory that social roles for males and females enhance or suppress different capabilities, so that males and females tend to develop different skills and attitudes, which leads to gender-specific behaviors ○ as a consequence of differential gender socialization, and because girls grow up seeing child care as a possible future role but boys generally do not, girls are more likely to develop skills and attitudes that involve caring for children. Woman’s Movement Organized effort in the 20th century to obtain greater rights and opportunities for women. ○ had led many people in the West to reconsider ideas about male and female roles, and one outcome of this thinking was that it might be best to transcend the traditional opposition of masculine and feminine traits and instead promote the development of the best of each. Sex The biological status of being male or female. ○ Use of the term sex implies that the characteristics of males and females have a biological basis. Use of the term gender implies that characteristics of males and females may be due to cultural and social beliefs, influences, and perceptions. ○ For example, the fact that males grow more muscular at puberty and females develop breasts is a sex difference. However, the fact that girls tend to have a more negative body image than males in adolescence is a gender difference Gender intensification hypothesis Hypothesis that psychological and behavioral differences between males and females become more pronounced at adolescence because of intensified socialization pressures to conform to culturally prescribed gender roles. ○ Hill and Lynch (1983) believe that it is this intensified socialization pressure, rather than the biological changes of puberty, that results in increased differences between males and females as adolescence progresses. Cognitive development theory of gender Kohlberg’s theory, based on Piaget’s ideas about cognitive development, asserting that gender is a fundamental way of organizing ideas about the world and that children develop through a predictable series of stages in their understanding of gender. ○ Socialization interacts with cognitive development to produce adolescents’ ideas about gender Instrumental traits Personality characteristics such as self-reliant and forceful, more often ascribed to males, emphasizing action and accomplishment.  ○ masculinity is associated with being independent (self-reliant, self-sufficient, individualistic, etc.) and aggressive (assertive, forceful, dominant, etc.). Transgender People whose self-identification does not match their biological sex. ○ There is limited research on how, why, and when a transgender identity develops. Most research has focused instead on the problems and risks that often accompany the experience of being transgender ○ Transgender youth are also at risk for dating violence (Dank et al., 2014). They are more likely than other adolescents to be homeless, as some parents reject them and do not want them in their household (Keuroghlian et al., 2014). Their risk for suicide is also higher than it is for other adolescents (Mustanski & Liu, 2013). Transsexual People who experience a fundamental mismatch between their gender and their sex, and who may address this misalignment through physical transformations ranging from adopting clothes characteristic of the other sex to sex reassignment surgery. ○ The term transgender, however, has been created to encompass people whose experiences are more ambiguous. For example, some transgender youth do not wish to self-identity with either gender. Distinguish between gender and sex Social scientists use the term sex to refer to the biological status of being male or female. Gender, in contrast, refers to the social categories of male and female. The process through which cultures communicate gender expectations to children and adolescents is called gender socialization. Summarize the gender roles of adolescent girls in traditional cultures, including how gender expectations change from middle childhood to adolescence In traditional cultures gender roles tend to be sharply divided, and during adolescence boys’ and girls’ daily lives are often separate. Girls spend their time with adult women learning skills important for child care and running a household. From middle childhood to adolescence, the freedom of girls often becomes restricted, in order to protect them from boys and avoid the possibility of sexual activity. List the three requirements of manhood for adolescent boys in traditional cultures, and explain the key factor that makes reaching manhood for adolescent boys different than reaching womanhood is for adolescent girls. Boys in traditional cultures have to achieve manhood by developing the required skills for providing, protecting, and procreating. The price of failing to meet these requirements is humiliation and rejection. One striking difference between gender expectations for girls and gender expectations for boys in traditional cultures is that for boys, manhood is  something that has to be achieved, whereas girls reach womanhood inevitably, mainly through their biological changes. Explain how economic changes in developing countries are changing their gender roles Life in developing countries has changed in terms of gender roles because of globalization, but it remains true that adolescent girls have less in the way of educational and occupational opportunities, not only compared with boys in their own countries but compared with girls in the West. However, as globalization proceeds and traditional cultures become increasingly industrialized, traditional gender roles may change, because the greater physical strength of males is less economically valuable. Explain how gender expectations for adolescent girls through American history both supported and restricted them more than adolescent girls today. Adolescent girls growing up in the American middle class in the 18th and 19th centuries were narrowly constricted in terms of their occupational roles, cultural perceptions of females as fragile and innocent and incapable of important physical work, and in terms of their sexuality and physical appearance. However, girls of those times also benefited from the existence of a wide range of voluntary organizations in which adult women provided a “protective umbrella” for the nurturing of adolescent girls. ○ In these organizations, the focus was not on girls’ physical appearance but on service projects in the community, building relationships between adolescent girls and adult women, and developing character qualities, including self-control, service to others, and belief in God. ○ Most women in this era shared the ethic that older women had a special responsibility to the young of their sex. This kind of mentoring was based on the need to protect all girls, not just one’s own daughters, from premature sexuality and manipulation at the hands of men Describe how views of the values of self-control and self-expression in men changed in the course of American history. According to historian Anthony rotundo, American values associated with the male role shifted from “communal manhood” in the 17th and 18th centuries, which emphasized self-control, to self-made manhood in the 19th century, with self-control and self-expression both valued, to passionate manhood in the 20th century, with a strong emphasis on self-expression. Summarize the changes in beliefs about gender in American society since the 1970s An annual national survey of American adults shows a clear trend toward more equal gender attitudes in recent decades. However, the results of the survey also show that a considerable proportion of Americans continue to harbor beliefs about gender roles not unlike those in traditional cultures Describe how gender socialization changes from middle childhood to adolescence. According to the gender intensification hypothesis, psychological and behavioral differences between males and females become more pronounced in the transition from childhood to adolescence because of intensified socialization pressures to conform to culturally prescribed gender roles. Describe the evidence for differential gender socialization in the family, with peers, and in school. Differential gender socialization is the term for socializing males and females according to different expectations about the attitudes and behavior appropriate to each gender. In the course of growing up, children get encouragement from parents, peers, and teachers to conform to gender roles. In the family, parents dress their boys and girls differently, give them different toys, and decorate their bedrooms differently. Children (especially boys) who deviate from gender norms in play suffer peer ridicule and are less popular than children who conform to gender roles. With regard to school, research has found that teachers generally reinforce the traditional cultural messages regarding gender. Summarize how adolescent girls respond to gender socialization in social media. Use of social media has been found to be associated with heightened insecurity about physical appearance and an enhanced “drive for thinness” in adolescent girls. viewing their friends’ photos on Facebook, adolescent girls tend to make unflattering comparisons to their own appearance Contrast adolescent boys and girls in the major problem that results from their gender socialization. For girls, the focus on physical appearance that is the heart of the female gender role can produce many kinds of distress. For boys, the problem at the core of their gender role in adolescence is aggressiveness. Explain how gender schemas guide expectations for how males and females should behave. According to gender schema theory, gender is one of our most important schemas from early childhood onward. By the time we reach adolescence, on the basis of our socialization we have learned to categorize an enormous range of activities, objects, and personality characteristics as “female” or “male.” Gender schemas influence how we interpret the behavior of others and what we expect from them. Connect the concept of expressive and instrumental traits to research on adolescents’ views of the ideal man or woman. In general, femininity is associated with being nurturing (sympathetic, compassionate, gentle, etc.) and compliant (yielding, soft-spoken, childlike, etc.). In contrast, masculinity is associated with being independent (self-reliant, self-sufficient, individualistic, etc.) and aggressive (assertive, forceful, dominant, etc.). The difference in traits associated with  each gender role has been described by scholars as a contrast between the expressive traits ascribed to females and the instrumental traits ascribed to males Describe the challenges facing transgender youth and how they respond. Transgender people are those whose self-identification does not match their biological sex. Transgender adolescents and emerging adults are at notable risk for verbal and physical aggression. Although most research on transgender youth focuses on the problems they face, recent studies have found them to be resilient when facing hostility or discrimination. Explain how the gender roles of African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans are rooted in their distinctive cultural histories. African American women have a long tradition of showing exceptional strength and resilience, whereas African American men saw their masculinity undermined during slavery and long afterward. Latino tradition emphasizes machismo and marianismo, which entails dominance for men and submissiveness for women. Asian American women have been stereotyped as “exotic” and Asian American men as unmasculine. Explain why gender stereotypes persist despite limited evidence for their validity. Gender stereotypes attribute certain characteristics to others simply on the basis of whether they are male or female. Gender stereotypes can be viewed as one aspect of gender schemas. Gender schemas tend to shape the way we notice, interpret, and remember information according to our expectations about the genders. Once we have formed ideas about how males and females are different, we tend to notice events and information that confirm our expectations and disregard or dismiss anything that does not. A second reason for the persistence of our beliefs about gender differences in capabilities is that the social roles of men and women seem to confirm those beliefs, because of the way boys and girls have been socialized to conform to gender roles.