Reflection On Gender And Socialization

Gender socialization is learning expected behaviors about one’s own sex based on society norms. Gender socialization has great impact on the health of both men and women. In our society, the assigned gender roles when adhered strictly can be detrimental to the overall mental and physical of health status of people. If males and females has to live within the society construct of what the roles of the genders should be, then there is great danger of not living a fulfil lives if one deviates from the assigned roles that the society demands.

As stated in the textbook, gender socialization is the outcome of countless interactions, starting with those between parents and children. At the youngest ages, of course, parents have the dominant influence over this process. But as children age, their socialization continues under a variety of influences, including their own personalities and their interactions with siblings, peers, schools, and the wider culture. In adult life, socialization more often occurs in the other institutional arenas (page 167-168).

In my culture, rigid gender roles are enforced from the moment a child can communicate. Sex and gender in the Haitian community are used interchangeably. Men are expected to fulfil their duties as the “strong breadwinner” while women were expected to be submissive to their husbands and tend to the home and children (Benokraitis, 2015). Girls are taught to cook, clean, and care for the home, while boys are taught to be independent, vocal and financially stable. A husband does not feel the need to help in the domestic realm, as he is socialized into believing that it is not his responsibility. Religious affiliation plays an extensive role on many of the beliefs held by my family and culture. Many of the views I’ve previously held regarding gender roles have changed over the years.

That socialization is the process by which we learn culture and become functioning social members. Gender socialization explains what is expected cultural behavior related to masculinity and femininity. I have also learned that gender role socialization in children is patterned by important cultural factors such as race and social class.

Gender socialization takes place in our everyday lives whether we subconsciously know it or not. Gender socialization is the socially learned expectations and behaviors associated with members of each gender. For example, If I were to say it takes my friend at least 45 minutes to do their hair before school everyday, you would assume I am speaking about a friend who is a female as opposed to a friend who is male. This is because of the idea of gender socialization.

In the typical Indian family, gender construction manifests itself especially in the roles of men and women in the household. As Judith Lorber so aptly put, “gender is a process of creating distinguishable social statuses for the assignment of rights and responsibilities” which in turn, creates the social differences that define a “man” and “woman” (Lorber). It is these differences that are used to construct and maintain an established gender order within the family. In the conventional Indian family, the order is such that the roles of the women in the household revolve around the roles of the men. This structure was something that I saw from an early age in my parents’ marriage. Though my parents defied the Indian norm of the arranged marriage, they still represented the quintessential model of an Indian couple in many other ways. My mother left her job to become a stay-at-home mom when I was about six years old. However, even before she left her job, she was implicitly expected by my father to shoulder most of the housework including cooking, cleaning, and caring for my older brother

The definition of gender in the sociology textbook, The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, is “the physical, behavioral, and personality traits that a group considers normal for its male and female members” (Ferris and Stein 243). The textbook defines socialization as “the process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of our social group, by which we become functioning members of society” (Ferris and Stein 101). Put two terms together and gender socialization is defined as being the process of learning to act masculine or feminine. The Sociology textbook, Boundless, says “gender socialization is the process of educating and instructing males and females to the norms, behaviors, values, and beliefs of group membership” (“Gender Socialization”). For example, if one is to be considered male at birth he is raised to fit in to the male gender role. From the beginning of one’s life, male or female, each is to be

What does it mean to be socialized in terms of one’s gender? During the process of socialization, one learns to behave accordingly within one’s society. So, gender socialization would be the process in which a person learns to behave a certain way based on their biological sex in their cultural context. Each culture has a different process of gender socialization, and each culture has different attitudes and norms associated with each gender. Some societies, and cultures, have more than two genders, like the Asian Indians and the Native Americas (Lindsey, 2011). Then there are other societies, like most of the modern world, have only two socially recognized genders. The United Sates

"Gender Socialization is the process through which children learn about the social expectations, attitudes and behaviors typically associated with boys and girls (Hanish & Fabes, 2014)". Children learn from their parents about how the world works. Children first teacher are there mother and father. If they had learned children who play with the opposite sex toy grow up into a gay man or a lesbian female, then they would believe the same acts could happen to them if they were to play with the opposite sex toy. Children not only learn about gender roles from their parents but they also learn from their peer groups. According to Doctor Laura and Richard also stated: In regard to gender development children’s gendered behavior becomes more similar to those they spend time with (Hanish & Fabes, 2014). Children learn either bad habits or good habits from their peer circle, they would change their self’s in order to be well liked by the others in their groups. Our society should not care about socialization and what's an appropriate toy for children to play

Growing up, many Americans ' childhood consisted of playing tag outside, having cooties, and experimenting with as many toys as possible. Hundreds of thousands of toys flood kid stores such as Toys R ' Us, Baby Depot, and KB toys. With imagination, kids are able to become doctors, presidents, and princesses during the contents of one day. Television shows such as Barney or Blues Clues encourage having such imagination, thus inspiring kids to want to become one of the many options stores can transform them into. Walking into a regular toy store, people generally do not dissect the sexism that lays within the aisles, however, when walking in specifically to compare and contrast boys and girls toys

Growing up in developing country, girls and women were shunned out to voice out their opinions and ideas. My culture, specifically believed that an ideal woman was someone who agreed to all laws passed by community elders despite their disapproval. For sixteen years that I lived there, my life was directed by the norms of my cultures and their heartless believe that women were worthless compared to men. To them our benefits were acknowledged when we got married and our parents get dowry. Having my own self-concept was out of the question; someone was always there to tell me how I look, what I should do, and whom I should be when I grow up. My life was built on the belief that once I was old enough, I would get sold to the highest bidder and start my own family. My parents on the other hand were not very affluent. My education was bound to stop after eighth grade because the government could not cater free high school education. When I move to the United States, everything shifted, here I have rights of being my own self and make my own decision the way I see fit.

Socialisation is the process by which we learn the norms and values of the culture and society around us. The feminist theory’s views these agents to benefit patriarchy and assign hidden gender roles in favour of men; although there are many different branches of feminism (radical, liberal, Marxist and difference) their explanations as to why differ, but all agree that women are exploited to teach the norms and values that precipitate patriarchy and lead to female oppression. They believe this is done through agents such as, the family this is our primary socialisation, which is the first type we have, and then secondary socialisation which includes things such as the media, schools, work place and religion.

In our society, there are norms of what is considered to be feminine and what is to be considered masculine, but how are these norms constructed? Through the use of toys, books, and clothing, children are socialized into their “appropriate” gender. These objects provide influence over behavior and appearance, showing boys and girls what is appropriate for each gender. After some investigation it was found that the toys, books, and clothing that children use not only foster the norms of gender behavior and appearance, but also construct gender roles in their young minds.

Gender roles and socialization are instilled in us at an early age, whether it’s in our household, work, school or society. The way we view ourselves as male or females and the duties we are believed to portray because of what society expect of us and how we are meant to act due to our sex. Gender socialization it is when you engage with the next person and learn how the dynamics as a community and what are their belief systems as well as being open about their cultures as well as their gender.

Gender socialization and gender roles have always existed in society. When analyzing gender roles, they are not always equal or consistent when comparing cultures, however, the expectations of females and males are often times clearly defined with a little to no common area. The Japanese culture is an example of the defined gender roles that change over time. According to Schafer (2010), because “gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females”, they must be taught (p.357). These roles define how females and males are viewed in society, their household, and workplace. When examining gender socialization in the Japanese culture, it is important to analyze how gender roles are