Chapter 2: Gender roles and identity
Gender: Personality traits and behaviors that characterize an individual
as masculine or feminine.
Gender Roles: A person’s outward expressions of maleness or
femaleness.
Gender Identity: A person’s personal, internal sense of maleness or
femaleness, which is expressed by personality and behavior.
Masculinity: Personality and behavioral characteristics of a male
according to culturally defined standards of maleness.
Femininity: Personality and behavioral characteristics of a female
according to culturally defined standards of femaleness.
Social Expectations
PRESSURE: Keeping up with the Joneses’
As soon as a child is born, society expects him or her to begin thinking
and acting like a boy or like a girl.
Examples:
1. Baby girl is dressed in pink and given dolls and tea sets
2. Baby boy is dressed in blue and given trucks and blocks
Societal expectations guide future behavior.
In the United States social expectations for masculinity and femininity
vary by class and race.
Who defines social status??
Parental Influences
Social Learning Theory
Parental identification and modeling: The process by which the
child adopts and internalizes parental values.
Children receive different care from each parent
Children observe how parents interact with others in their environment
The influence of traditional gender roles
Who or What influences Parents?
Influences of popular social media, television, and movies
Stereotypical depiction of gender roles in the media
Women underrepresented, more likely to be married, and have
children, and more likely to have attention drawn to their
appearance than men in comics
Gender: Personality traits and behaviors that characterize an individual
as masculine or feminine.
Gender Roles: A person’s outward expressions of maleness or
femaleness.
Gender Identity: A person’s personal, internal sense of maleness or
femaleness, which is expressed by personality and behavior.
Masculinity: Personality and behavioral characteristics of a male
according to culturally defined standards of maleness.
Femininity: Personality and behavioral characteristics of a female
according to culturally defined standards of femaleness.
Social Expectations
PRESSURE: Keeping up with the Joneses’
As soon as a child is born, society expects him or her to begin thinking
and acting like a boy or like a girl.
Examples:
1. Baby girl is dressed in pink and given dolls and tea sets
2. Baby boy is dressed in blue and given trucks and blocks
Societal expectations guide future behavior.
In the United States social expectations for masculinity and femininity
vary by class and race.
Who defines social status??
Parental Influences
Social Learning Theory
Parental identification and modeling: The process by which the
child adopts and internalizes parental values.
Children receive different care from each parent
Children observe how parents interact with others in their environment
The influence of traditional gender roles
Who or What influences Parents?
Influences of popular social media, television, and movies
Stereotypical depiction of gender roles in the media
Women underrepresented, more likely to be married, and have
children, and more likely to have attention drawn to their
appearance than men in comics
