Nature Nurture Debate in Gender Development Essay

The nurture side of the debate states gender is essentially a product of socialisation. It is dependent on environmental experiences. Family upbringing and society’s expectation would therefore play an important role in gender. This would then mean that most boys learn to behave masculine and girls learn to behave a feminine way. The nurture argument can explain why some people, adopt the gender role not expected of their sex. In theory, a feminine boy would have had some experiences that had led him to acquire a different gender role from most boys. If gender roles are nurtured, it also explains why an individual’s gender may change over time as

There are two questions that gender brings about. The first is: are there any gender differences? The second deals what is the cause of the gender difference? There are those who believe that gender differences emerge from the society one resides in and those who propose that the differences are due to biological factors. This debate is the infamous Nature versus Nurture that has been on-going many years. While culture may seem like a possible reason for the gender differences, the biological differences between the genders have been proven scientifically.

“Trying to separate out nature and nurture as explanations for behavior, as in classic genetic studies of twins and families, is now said to be both impossible and unproductive” (Levitt, 1). Social scientists have declared the nature-nurture debate to be unnecessary. Similarly, scientists feel that such debate is not only unhelpful, but also outdated. From geneticists’ perspective, nurture and nature interact to influence

1. The nurture/nature argument of Dr. John Money is that while genes are important, as for gender is concern: a baby is consider neutral for the first two years of life During these two years, a child’s upbringing (their nurture) will determine if it feels masculine or feminine. In other words, it is possible to raise a boy as a girl, and that nurture is more important than nature. 2. The conclusion of the documentary in terms of this case study and the nature/nurture controversy, Dr. Money’s theory does not seem to hold true for most children.

Doing gender is always justified by religion, science, law and society’s believes in morals and values. This proves the truth that in our society gender is very much prevalent. Both sex and gender are very much embedded in each other. But these two are very closely related that most of the time; both words are taken as synonym of each other. But in reality, sex and gender are two very different words having a different meaning and interpretation. We cannot inherit gender as it is not a natural phenomenon but it is created by our society. Gender is a created by a continuous process of teaching, learning and enforcement by generations over generations (Lorber). Some people believe that gender comes from physiological differences. Most commonly known as the differences in men and female genitalia and reproductive organ. But that is not true because both sex and gender are two different things. Sex is mostly about the physical differences in the

Many people confuse the definition of gender and sex. “Gender, on the other hand, refers to the meanings, values, and characteristics that people ascribe to different sexes. Sex is a biological concept, determined on the basis of individual 's primary sex characteristics.” (Blackstone) Society gives social cues on the appropriate behavior for each sex. For example, women are to exert more feminine traits such as being dependent, emotional, passive, innocent, nurturing, and/or self-critical. On the contrary, men should be more

Within the psychology world, the theory of nature vs. nurture has always been a hot topic. When applied to the matter of gender identification, solid proof as to whether nature is what makes people feel like a boy or girl from early on or if nurturing from parents/caregivers is what is responsible. David Reimer started out as psychologies poster boy for proving theories correct, but this status was short-lived. By the end of this discussion, the reader should have a clear understanding of the topic as well as the case in which it is based on.

As has been noted with the similarities between sexes when considering the chromosomes, we are left to conclude that the environmental influences are more affecting of sexual differentiation, but only on a superficial or general premise. For instance, if it is encouraged for girls to be more nurturing, they will grow up thinking that is how they are supposed to act. That does not mean that nurturing is caused by the hormones, but rather is caused by the environmental influences.

This topic of gender is quite intriguing. Through my experience in life, I’ve encountered many situations, that has led me to believe that our gender is influenced by both our biology and nurture. I recall once upon a time; when I was in the third grade my neighbor would always want to play with me and brother either that would be the new Spiderman game on the PlayStation or a simple game of hide-and-seek. And throughout our childhood time, I notice his mother pushing him to hang out with me and my younger brother. At the time I thought nothing of it. I was happy that he came to our house and play with us. However, the boy did exemplify some behaviors to me, I thought he was a touchy kid but fun to be around with. Furthermore, two years ago

Many people do not recognize gender roles and the history of them. Some claim that gender roles occurred naturally through genetic makeup and structural differences while others claim that gender roles are chosen by humans to attract mates and produce offspring but, gender roles are given to people and are reinforced by genetic makeup and structural differences. Gender roles are learned from a young age from parents stereotyping by giving their children certain object such as toys or clothing with a masculine or feminine feeling to them. Parents raise their children in specific ways because they were raised that way, meaning that “many of our actions are still influenced by gender stereotyping and misconceptions about men and women that have

Gender refers to the concepts o masculine and feminine whereas sex is the biological fact of being a male or female. According to the evolutionary approach, gender differences are neither deliberate nor conscious; they exist because they enhanced or helped men and women perform particular types of roles in the past. Therefore, the role differences we observe are more a product of our biological inheritance than acquired through socialisation.

Society today places many ideals when it comes to proper behaviours regarding gender roles. These are considered societal norms that are widely debated and controversial. Society has created a norm, which encompasses specific expectations and rules that change the daily lives of men and women, giving them specific tasks and behaviours to abide by. These standards are known as gender roles, which are defined as distinguishing actions, thoughts, and feelings of males and females. Gender roles are said to be a result of nature, which is a natural process, every male or female is to follow. On the other hand it can be a result of nurture, which changes ones way of thinking and adapting their lifestyle to fit their environment. Either way gender roles are a part of someone’s life from the moment of their birth, as they develop, and long after that, this proves that gender roles are influential to a person’s life and development. This essay examines how media such as music, family life, and different parenting styles encompass gender roles and teaches behaviours regarding them. Therefore, gender roles define males and females are a result of nurture and not nature.

For example, females usually inherit an X chromosome form both parents. Social skills which are a typical female characteristics can be found in he x chromosome. From these findings it can be said that women are more comfortable in social settings. I can think of my husband in social settings where he does not know anyone he is less likely than me to introduce himself. I have no problem introducing myself and striking up a conversation with a stranger. Hormones also have an effect on gender determination. Men and women go through maturity as a result of hormones. Estrogen in women and Testosterone influence skills and tendencies associated with gender. Sex effects how the brain develops. According to our textbook, the force of biology is evident in cases where doctors try to change a child’s biological sex” (47). Doctors mistakenly amputated David’s penis to correct phimosis, a condition in which the foreskin of the penis interferes with urination. The child’s name was changed to Brenda and she did not take to being a girl. Later in life Brenda changed her name back into David and began living a life as a male eventually getting married and raising stepchildren. I believe that biological theory is accurate match for one’s gender.

On the other side of the spectrum, others may agree that gender roles and stereotypes are purely biological. One might say that a child grows up without a father or mother figure still ends up learning specific gender roles. It is nearly impossible to have a child unscathed

As evident from the generalized patterns found in differences in behaviour and outlook observed between the sexes, it may be tempting, as has been done in the past, to conclude that gender is an unavoidable aspect of human existence as determined purely from one 's genes. Indeed, human physiology is subject to sexual dimorphism; statistically significant differences in brain size and rate of maturation of specific substructures in the brain exist between males and females (Giedd, Castellanos, Rajapakese, Vaituzis, & Rapoport, 1997), yet these physical differences fail to explain how individuals form their concept of their own gender, and why they tend to conform to their perceived gender roles as defined by the society in which they live, when these roles are ever-changing. Thus, it is important to differentiate between the physical and nonphysical traits, and how the labels of femininity and masculinity should not confuse the two aspects. As defined by Unger (1979), “sex” would be used to refer to the biological differences in males and females, while “gender” describes socioculturally determined, nonphysiological traits which are arbitrarily designated as being appropriate for either females or males. With more recent awareness and interest in matters of gender nonconformity and individual gender identity, new research now explains how these concepts of gender are shaped by social influences (Perry