masculinity and feminity – myths and stereotypes
TRANSCRIPT
Masculinity and feminity – Myths and Stereotypes
Gender is not the same as sex
Gender – non physiological aspects of being male or female – the cultural expectations of being masculine or feminine.
Gender identity – An individuals private experience of the self as female or male
Gender role – set of behaviors socially defined as appropriate for one’s self.
Stereotype
Stereotypes are socially shared beliefs that certain qualities can be assigned to individuals based on their membership in a particular group – gender, race, national origin, social class, age, religion or even height.
Gender Roles
Williams & Bennett, 1975
Women: Affected, affectionate, appreciative, attractive, charming, complaining, dependent, dreamy, emotional, excitable, feminine, fickle flirtatious frivolous, fussy, gentle, high-strung, meek, mild, nagging, prudish, rattlebrained, sensitive, sentimental, softhearted, sophisticated, submissive, talkative, weak, whiney.
Williams & Bennett, 1975
Men: Adventurous, aggressive, ambitious, assertive, autocratic, boastful, course, confident, courageous, cruel, daring, disorderly, dominant, enterprising, forceful, handsome, independent, jolly logical, loud, masculine, rational, realistic, robust, self-confident, severe, stable, steady, stern, strong, tough, unemotional, unexcitable.
DeLisi & Soundaranayagam, 1990
There were agreement on the following:
Female core traits:
Niceness/nurturance dimension
Male core traits:
Potency/power dimension
Differences:
Females saw themselves as capable, competent, dependable, intelligent and responsible.
Males saw females as attractive, good-looking, sexy and sofe.
Do stereotypes imply prejudice?
Prejudice: The negtive valuation of persons or their activities because of thei memebership in a particular group.
Sexism: The brand of prejudice that is based on a person’s sexual category.
Discrimination???
In Africa men wear the fineryTunisiaKukuku
Self-image
Stereotypes of African Americans
Asian stereotypes
Arab women the veil
Gender Schema Schemas are cognitive structures that derive
from the integration and organization of particular types of knowledge. Once developed, they influence the categorization, interpretation, and comprehension of social events and behaviors. Self-schemas, in particular, are those cognitive structures that contain integrated and organized information about the self--the unique aspects of people's personality, abilities, achievements, interests, and appearance
How are stereotypes maintained
1.Childrearing practices
2.Toys and clothing
3.Media – ads, stories, movies, sit-coms
4.Other
Self–fulfilling prophecyThe concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy can be
summarized in these key principles:
- We form certain expectations of people or events - We communicate those expectations with various
cues. - People tend to respond to these cues by adjusting
their behavior to match them. - The result is that the original expectation becomes
true.
This creates a circle of self-fulfilling prophecies.