Problem 7 – Kim or Kanye
What is gender?
Gender is a spectrum, with many different, and related, identities and expressions.
- Gender: Refers to the characteristics of people as males and females.
- Gender identity: How you feel inside and identify yourself. Your internal experiences
of your own gender.
- Gender expression: All of the external characteristics and behaviors we use to
present ourselves to the world.
- Gender roles: Sets of expectations that prescribe how females or males should think,
act, and feel.
- Gender typing: Acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role. The beliefs
about what behaviors are gender appropriate can be derived from stereotypes.
Sex vs Gender
- Sex: The sex assigned to a child at birth, which can include internal characteristics
(e.g. XX or XY) as well as external characteristics (e.g. genitalia). Natal male, natal
female and intersex are all medical terms that describe sex assigned at birth.
- Gender: Refers to the socially or culturally constructed roles, physical appearances,
and expressions that people in a society identify with and express to one another.
Masculinity vs Femininity
- Masculinity: A set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with boys
and men. Masculinity is socially constructed, and is not the same as male sex
assigned at birth.
Man: A person who has a male or masculine gender identity.
o Cisgender, transgender, transsexual, Female To Male (FTM)
- Femininity: A set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls
and women. Femininity is socially constructed and is not the same as female sex
assigned at birth.
Woman: A person who has a female or feminine gender identity.
o Cisgender, transgender, transsexual, Male to Female (MTF)
- Neither:
Non-binary: A person who identifies as neither male nor female.
o Neutrois (gender-neutral), genderless, agender
- Both:
Bigender: A person whose gender identity shifts between masculine and
feminine depending on the context or situation.
o Genderfluid, polygender, pangender, trigender, two spirit
Intergender: A person whose gender identity is between genders, or a
combination of genders.
o Androgynous, gender non-conforming, genderqueer
, Influences on gender development
Biological influences:
- Human sex chromosomes: Contain the genetic material that determine our sex at
birth (XX produces a female, XY produces a male).
- Hormones: Estrogens and androgens are present in both females and males, but in
very different concentrations.
Estrogens: Primarily influence the development of female physical sex
characteristics and help regulate the menstrual cycle. They are produced
mainly by the ovaries.
Androgens: Primarily promote the development of male genitals and
secondary sex characteristics. They are produced by the adrenal glands in
males and females, an by the testes in males.
- Sex issues:
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH): Girls with high levels of androgens.
Androgen-insensitivity syndrome (AIS): Boys without androgens cells.
Pelvic field defect: Boys who were castrates just after being born.
- Researchers have found links between sex hormone levels and certain behaviors
(e.g. aggressive and sexual behavior).
- The evolutionary psychology view: Emphasizes that adaptation during the evolution
of humans produced psychological differences between males and females. For
instance, males and females use different strategies to achieve reproductive success.
However, these behavioral tendencies could also be due to cultural expectations.
Cognitive influences:
- Cognitive developmental theorists argue that children take an active role in
constructing their own gender knowledge.
- Kohlberg’s cognitive developmental theory: Kohlberg proposed that children’s
differentiation of gender roles and their perception of themselves as more like
same-gender than opposite-gender models begin very early. They find it rewarding
to behave in a gender-appropriate manner and to imitate same-gender models.
Phase 1 (2-3 years): Children acquire basic gender identity, recognizing that
they are either male or female.
Phase 2 (4-5 years): Children acquire the concept of gender stability,
accepting that males remain male and females remain female. However, at
this age they do not have a sense of gender constancy, they fail to recognize
that superficial changes in appearance or activities do not alter gender.
Phase 3 (6-7 years): Children acquire the concept of gender consistency.
Sociocultural factors influence the ages at which these phases occur.
- Gender Schema Theory (GST): States that gender typing emerges as children
gradually develop gender schemas of what is gender-appropriate and gender-
inappropriate. Children develop schemas through their own perceptions and based
on information provided by parents, peers and cultural stereotypes.
Children use gender schemas to make judgements about occupations.
What is gender?
Gender is a spectrum, with many different, and related, identities and expressions.
- Gender: Refers to the characteristics of people as males and females.
- Gender identity: How you feel inside and identify yourself. Your internal experiences
of your own gender.
- Gender expression: All of the external characteristics and behaviors we use to
present ourselves to the world.
- Gender roles: Sets of expectations that prescribe how females or males should think,
act, and feel.
- Gender typing: Acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role. The beliefs
about what behaviors are gender appropriate can be derived from stereotypes.
Sex vs Gender
- Sex: The sex assigned to a child at birth, which can include internal characteristics
(e.g. XX or XY) as well as external characteristics (e.g. genitalia). Natal male, natal
female and intersex are all medical terms that describe sex assigned at birth.
- Gender: Refers to the socially or culturally constructed roles, physical appearances,
and expressions that people in a society identify with and express to one another.
Masculinity vs Femininity
- Masculinity: A set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with boys
and men. Masculinity is socially constructed, and is not the same as male sex
assigned at birth.
Man: A person who has a male or masculine gender identity.
o Cisgender, transgender, transsexual, Female To Male (FTM)
- Femininity: A set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls
and women. Femininity is socially constructed and is not the same as female sex
assigned at birth.
Woman: A person who has a female or feminine gender identity.
o Cisgender, transgender, transsexual, Male to Female (MTF)
- Neither:
Non-binary: A person who identifies as neither male nor female.
o Neutrois (gender-neutral), genderless, agender
- Both:
Bigender: A person whose gender identity shifts between masculine and
feminine depending on the context or situation.
o Genderfluid, polygender, pangender, trigender, two spirit
Intergender: A person whose gender identity is between genders, or a
combination of genders.
o Androgynous, gender non-conforming, genderqueer
, Influences on gender development
Biological influences:
- Human sex chromosomes: Contain the genetic material that determine our sex at
birth (XX produces a female, XY produces a male).
- Hormones: Estrogens and androgens are present in both females and males, but in
very different concentrations.
Estrogens: Primarily influence the development of female physical sex
characteristics and help regulate the menstrual cycle. They are produced
mainly by the ovaries.
Androgens: Primarily promote the development of male genitals and
secondary sex characteristics. They are produced by the adrenal glands in
males and females, an by the testes in males.
- Sex issues:
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH): Girls with high levels of androgens.
Androgen-insensitivity syndrome (AIS): Boys without androgens cells.
Pelvic field defect: Boys who were castrates just after being born.
- Researchers have found links between sex hormone levels and certain behaviors
(e.g. aggressive and sexual behavior).
- The evolutionary psychology view: Emphasizes that adaptation during the evolution
of humans produced psychological differences between males and females. For
instance, males and females use different strategies to achieve reproductive success.
However, these behavioral tendencies could also be due to cultural expectations.
Cognitive influences:
- Cognitive developmental theorists argue that children take an active role in
constructing their own gender knowledge.
- Kohlberg’s cognitive developmental theory: Kohlberg proposed that children’s
differentiation of gender roles and their perception of themselves as more like
same-gender than opposite-gender models begin very early. They find it rewarding
to behave in a gender-appropriate manner and to imitate same-gender models.
Phase 1 (2-3 years): Children acquire basic gender identity, recognizing that
they are either male or female.
Phase 2 (4-5 years): Children acquire the concept of gender stability,
accepting that males remain male and females remain female. However, at
this age they do not have a sense of gender constancy, they fail to recognize
that superficial changes in appearance or activities do not alter gender.
Phase 3 (6-7 years): Children acquire the concept of gender consistency.
Sociocultural factors influence the ages at which these phases occur.
- Gender Schema Theory (GST): States that gender typing emerges as children
gradually develop gender schemas of what is gender-appropriate and gender-
inappropriate. Children develop schemas through their own perceptions and based
on information provided by parents, peers and cultural stereotypes.
Children use gender schemas to make judgements about occupations.
