Gender

Gender and sex

• Sex– Biological differences

• Chromosomal• Genetic• Gonadal• Gametic• Endocrine• Phenotypic

• Gender– Psychosocial condition

• Masculine or feminine– Behavior– Traits– Interests

– May not correspond sex

Gender stereotypes

• Set of belief about what it means to be a man and woman– Expected behavior

• Vary among different society• Change constantly• Some beliefs are constant regardless of the

society

– Cause of gender bias• Different treatment of individual of one sex

• Societal view of each sex– Interpretation of world

• Expected behaviors– Social shorthand sketch

• Gender polarization

• Ambiguity– Androgyny

• Both masculine and feminine characteristics

Gender identity

• Personal view of masculinity and femininity– Based on one’s sex– May not be consistent with one’s sex

• Transsexuals/transgendered– Difficult conforming to polarized gender code

• Could trigger gender identity disorder– High level of distress (“woman trapped in a man’s

body”)

• Differences between genders– May not be as clear

• Large overlap between men and women– Display of emotions in men– Competitiveness in women

– Paradox• Societal view• Individual view

Origin of gender

• Nature– Biological makeup

• Nurture– Physical environment– Society– Gender-specific behavior patterns

Role of hormones

• Development of sexually dimorphic behavior– Exposure of animals during critical stage of

development• Neonatal• Late fetal

– Predominant behavior• Not exclusive

• Structural arrangement within the brain– Hypothalamus– May not be as reliable predictor of specific

behaviors

• Effects of steroid hormones– Stage-specific

• Critical period

Differences in humans

• Brains– Hypothalamus– Cortical region

• Cognitive differences– Gender identity

– Not large enough to be conclusive• Stage of development• Cause of differences

• Effects of hormones– Tomboyism in adrenogenital syndrome

girls• Does not persist

– Behave as normal adult females

• Greater flexibility and overlapped behavior in humans

Effects of social learning

• Assignment of baby– View of individual– View of society

• Behavior of adult– Based on perceived sex of baby

• Expectation of certain behviors

– Interpretation of baby’s behavior based on its perceived sex

• Gender constancy– Fixed gender that cannot be changed

• Effects of society– Mass media– Peers– Household

Social learning theory

• Learning gender role– Shaped by events in the surrounding

environment– Response of others– Reinforcement– Punishment– Role modeling