Interpersonal And Critical Theoretical Approach For Gender Development

How we learn gender is part of gender socialization. It begins the moment we are born and continues till the end of our life. We are exposed to many factors that may influence our gender identity. Some of the factors are, media, our experience in school and our parents. In Martin & Kazyak’s essay titled “Hetero-Romantic Love and Hetereosexiness”, he explains how the media plays a part in shaping a child’s gender identity. In Thorne’s essay titled “Girls and Boys together…” he explores how sex segregation occurs predominantly in elementary school. In the film “Tough Guise”, Katz explains that men aren’t naturally violent but are taught to be so. And lastly, in Cornell’s essay titled “Masculinities and Globalization” he says that there are

At our inception we are simply biotic matter without any sense of gender. However as we age, our sense of gender beyond the objective view of our biology reminds us that men are different from women. Are we truly different entirely from one another, or are the differences in gender brought about by our social interactions? Drawing on the works of authors of Anna Quindlen, Virginia Woolf, and Cathy Song, it is apparent that these divides are not rooted in our genetics. Although, on the surface, they agree that socialization is a cause of gender difference, they convey different meanings for our expectations concerning gender. Woolf’s claim is without an outlet by which women can escape the gender expectations society expects of them, which reinforces

These gendered actions are taught in an early age as children actively participate in performing masculinity and femininity. There is gender policing that is expressed by others when an individual does not perform accordingly. Males and females must consistently “do gender” by interacting with

In order to compare and contrast the different readings from this semester I want to start from the beginning. Gender is an achieved status in which is constructed through psychological, cultural, and social means (West 1987). Instead of solely depending on your biology, which is considered your sex, gender is performed in interactions. Almost every interaction that someone encounters is relevant to his or her gender. Gender can be the degree in which someone can describe himself or herself as masculine or feminine. In Lorber’s “Beyond the Binaries: Depolarizing the Categories of Sex, Sexuality, and Gender” she explained, “gendered behavior is constantly normalized by processes that minimize or counteract contradiction to the expected” (Lorber

As one of the most highly regarded endeavors a male can set a course for, manhood is probably one of the most sought after aspirations on the male agenda. Though it may not be much on the radar of an adolescent, as the younger child grows and matures he will come to an epiphany of gender identity and make the connections between father, son, mother and daughter. There may be much controversy over the topic; however, one fact remains clear: manhood is achieved. Despite how it might be defined, upon birth males are boys. As Michael Kimmel says in his essay, “Masculinity as Homophobia:

Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender by Aaron Devor The following essay being summarized Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender by Aaron Devor comes from Aaron H. Devor’s (formerly known as Holly Devor) book Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality (1989). In the essay, Devor argues that the lifelong progression of gender roles begin in the juvenile state and gradually evolve as one becomes an adult through the influence of one’s culture. Devor believes that through association with like-genders, a child is able to assess their gender from an early age and build off that knowledge by grasping a concrete definition of gender, thus, accepting a permanent gender role.

Whether we consciously notice or not, doing gender is occurring everyday within our society. Every interaction we have with another individual is doing gender. Doing gender has become a part of our every day lives the same way without realizing it the same way we breathe air without really paying attention that we are breathing. The meaning behind this is that it is occurring unconsciously. Candace West and Don Zimmerman coined the term doing gender in an article they composed. West and Zimmerman argued that gender is something that humans created. As humans, we have the urge to categorize and define everything. If someone was not in favor of their gender role or did something that was not deemed correct for that gender, this person would be committing an act of social deviance. This paper will discuss what doing gender means along with other attributes of doing gender. These attributes includes what pushes us to do gender, why we do gender, the results of doing gender along with discussing what the boys in C.J. Pascoe’s article of Dude you’re a fag accomplished. This essay will discuss what doing gender is along with what causes us to do it and finally what doing it accomplishes.

A major theme from the movie that our text book covers are Gender Issues. “Our sense of femaleness or maleness is not based exclusively on biological conditions, however. Social-learning theory suggests that our

Now we come to our third approach of gender development which is Culture. “The cultural theorists do not dismiss biological and interpersonal factors, but they do assume that these are qualified by the influence of culture” (Wood, 47). What these culture theorists are suggesting is culture shapes, affects, and determines your gender. For example, the environment in which a child grows up in has a strong deciding factor of what their gender will be. Nonetheless, as the culture theorist point out the biological and interpersonal weigh in on a child’s gender and what they identify as or

What does it mean to be a woman or man? Whether we a man or a woman, in today’s society it is not determined just by our sex organs. Our gender includes a complex mix of beliefs, behaviors, and characteristics. How do you act, talk, and behave like a woman or man? Are you feminine or masculine, both, or neither? These are questions that help us get to the core of our gender and gender identity. Gender identity is how we feel about and express our gender and gender roles: clothing, behavior, and personal appearance. It is a feeling that we have as early as age two or three. In the article, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,” the author, Aaron Devor, is trying to persuade his readers that gender shapes how we behave because of the expectation from us and relate to one another. He does this by using an educational approach, describing gender stereotypes, and making cultural references. He gets readers to reflect on how “Children’s developing concepts of themselves as individuals are necessarily bound up …to understand the expectations of the society which they are a part of” (389). Growing up, from being a child to an adult is where most of us try to find ourselves. We tend to struggle during this transition period, people around us tell us what to be and not to be, Jamaica Kincaidt in her short story, “Girl” tells just that, the setting is presented as a set of life instructions to a girl by her mother to live properly. The mother soberly

“Gender” is a social construct that is developed solely by our society and the early developmental stages of an adolescent’s life. By introducing youths to the roles, behaviors, expectations and activities that correspond with males or females we give a clear guideline of what is accepted from a young male or female. An individual however can identify his or her gender based on their own system of beliefs without corresponding to their natural biological sex. Our lives are shaped by our true biological identities but the influence of the world and society is enough to define what a male and what a female truly is to an individual.

For years women have been treated way differently from men, both genders have been thought out to be different, that a certain gender has to do certain things or have to act a certain way.This has brought out a few people to be a feminist to think that all genders can do whatever pleases them without being judged.These acts catch feminist eyes and this is why there is so much protest towards things like this

The lesbian desires her mother and to become a male herself, she disowns her vagina and wishes for a penis (Podder & De, 2011). The child hides the incestuous desire by manifesting it in another same sex individual. Without proper resolution of this stage, the child would begin to identify with the parent of the opposite sex and not of the same sex. “The unconscious dynamics of the gender role in male homosexuals was found to be feminine with an aspiration to be masculine at times, while female homosexuals were found to be more masculine” (Podder & De, 2011). Some believe that a child can be distinguished as a homosexual early on in development by the behaviors exhibited by the child. Children, who exhibit deviant behavior of gender roles, for example girly boys or tomboys, are at a higher risk of becoming a homosexual later in life (Podder & De, 2011). Personality development is critical in childhood.

Gender coding is not a natural or biological characteristic. People are born with different physical and biological characteristics, but make sense of their gender roles through cultural influences. “Stereotypes are amazingly powerful, and we may not realize the degree to which our thoughts, beliefs, and actions are shaped by them” (Silverman, Rader, 2010). Boys and girls are labeled as masculine or feminine, which is considered the “norm” for society. Children are not born masculine or feminine, they learn these roles from parents, peers, media, and even religion. Concepts of gender identity are sometimes placed on children even before their birth, such as with the selection of paint colors for the nursery.” Children begin to form concepts of gender beginning around the age of 2, and most children know if they are a boy or girl by age of 3” (Martin & Ruble, 2004). From an early age, children are encouraged to identify with gender coding. Gender is formed at birth, but self-identification as being male or female is imbedded into their minds by parents and society. A child learns to understand their gender role and their identity by what is taught and expressed to them by others. Yet as a child grows, gender coding can cause cultural confusion, and insecurity issues throughout the course of their life.

An eclectic use of both of these theories would enhance our understanding of gender development because it is important to understand that biology and socialization play a part in gender development. Hormones, sexual organs, culture, and society intertwine and make a child aware of his or her gender. A cognitive understanding does not suffice. For example, for parents who believe that culture, school, peers, and media influence their son or daughter to be transgender are incorrect. Both of these theories demonstrate that biologically their child was born with the awareness that they belong to a different sex; it is embedded in their chromosomes. Meanwhile, society simply enabled them to observe the gender roles and determine which gender they felt most comfortable in.