Gender socialization

Examples of Gender socialization in the following topics:

• Gender Socialization

  • Gender socialization is the process of teaching people how to behave as men or women.
  • In regards to gender socialization, the most common groups people join are the gender categories male and female.
  • Even the categorical options of gender an individual may choose is socialized; social norms act against selecting a gender that is neither male or female.
  • Preparations for gender socialization begin even before the birth of the child.
  • This clearly demonstrates the influence of socialization on the development of gender roles; subtle cues that surround us in our everyday lives strongly influence gender socialization.

• Gender Socialization

  • Sociologists and other social scientists generally attribute many of the behavioral differences between genders to socialization.
  • Preparations for gender socialization begin even before the birth of the child.
  • Gender stereotypes can be a result of gender socialization.
  • Gender fluidity also shows how gender norms are learned and either accepted or rejected by the socialized individual.
  • Explain the influence of socialization on gender roles and their impact

• Gender Messages from Peers

  • Peer groups can serve as a venue for teaching gender roles, especially if conventional gender social norms are strongly held.
  • Social role theory proposes that the social structure is the underlying force for gender differences.
  • Division of labor creates gender roles, which in turn lead to gendered social behavior.
  • Through gender-role socialization, group members learn about sex differences, and social and cultural expectations.
  • Discuss how peer groups can have a major impact on the gender socialization of a person, particularly children and adolescents

• The Social Construction of Gender

  • Social constructivists propose that there is no inherent truth to gender; it is constructed by social expectations and gender performance.
  • The social construction of gender comes out of the general school of thought entitled social constructionism.
  • Is gender an essential category or a social construct?
  • Gender is maintained as a category through socially constructed displays of gender.
  • Doing gender is fundamentally a social relationship.

• Childhood Socialization

  • Gender roles are taught from infancy through primary socialization, or the type of socialization that occurs in childhood and adolescence.
  • Social norms pertaining to gender are developed through socialization, the lifelong process of inheriting, interpreting, and disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies.The process of socialization continues throughout one's life and is constantly renegotiated, but socialization begins as soon as one is born.
  • Gender is instilled through socialization immediately from birth.
  • When a boy gets a football for his birthday and a girl receives a doll, this also socializes children to accept gender norms.
  • Children can resist gender norms by insisting on dressing in clothing more typically associated with the other gender, playing with toys more typically associated with the other gender, or having opposite-sex playmates .

• Gender

  • The World Health Organization defines gender as socially constructed ideas about behaviors, actions, and roles characteristic of each sex.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) defines gender as the result of socially constructed ideas about the behavior, actions, and roles characteristic of each sex.
  • In a given society, sexual beliefs, values, and attitudes reflect the accepted norms of that society, and individual feelings and opinions are largely bypassed in the assignment of gender and gender roles.
  • Gender-related intersections and the crossing of defined gender boundaries are generally unaccounted for in socially constructed notions of gender.
  • Examine the role gender plays in health care and healthy lifestyles, especially for women

• Gender Messages in the Family

  • Gender role theory posits that boys and girls learn the appropriate behavior and attitudes from the family and overall culture in which they grow up, and that non-physical gender differences are a product of socialization.
  • Social role theory proposes that social structure is the underlying force behind gender differences, and that the division of labor between two sexes within a society motivates the differences in their respective behavior.
  • Division of labor creates gender roles, which in turn, lead to gender-specific social behavior.
  • Socialization theory tells us that primary socialization - the process that occurs when a child learns the attitudes, values and actions expected of individuals within a particular culture - is the most important phase of social development, and lays the groundwork for all future socialization.
  • Justify how the family acts as the most important agent of gender socialization for children and adolescents

• Gender Identity in Everyday Life

  • Gender identity is socially constructed, yet it still pertains to one's sense of self.
  • However, gender identity has a larger social component that needs to be considered.
  • The xanith form an accepted third gender in Oman, a society that also holds a gender binary as a social norm.
  • This extreme cultural variation in notions of gender indicate the socially constructed nature of gender identity.
  • Discuss the difference between biological and social construction of gender identity

• Gender Roles in the U.S.

  • Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be appropriate for people of a specific sex.
  • Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex.
  • Social role theory proposes that the social structure is the underlying force in distinguishing genders and that sex-differentiated behavior is driven by the division of labor between two sexes within a society.
  • The division of labor creates gender roles, which in turn, lead to gendered social behavior.
  • With the popularization of social constructionist theories of gender roles, it is paramount that one recognize that all assertions about gender roles are culturally and historically contingent.

• Additional Reading

  • "The End of Gender?
  • " - This is an article that discusses some recent attempts to illustrate how gender is at least partially socially constructed.