Gender And An Overview

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GENDER ROLES AND STEREOTYPES • GENDER – one of the most basic status characteristics • GENDER ROLE – norms or expectations that define how one SHOULD BEHAVE • STEREOTYPE – GENERALIZATION that distinguishes people (men from women) • Heterosexuality is an important part of gender roles

Gender roles and ethnicity • Gender stereotypes vary among ethnic groups • Gender roles are a product of culture

Gender roles and ethnicity 1. AFRICAN AMERICANS • women – economic function and a strong bond between mother and child • Men – pain • Men hold more positive attitudes about women working and more conservative regarding gender role issues

2. LATINOS • • • •

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ACCULTURATION – incorporating the beliefs and customs of a new culture Mexican heritage and anglo components Family is the central focus Boys – greater freedom; encouraged in sexual exploits, not expected in household works Girls – passive, obedient, virginal, stays at home

• Machismo and marianismo

Gender roles and ethnicity 3. ASIAN AMERICANS • Emphasis on achievement and importance of educations • More value on family and group interdependence • Women have a higher level or education • Family – emotional nurturance • Men lack in sexuality • Women as exotic sex toy

4. AMERICAN INDIANS • Egalitarian gender roles • two-spirit  homosexuals, transsexuals, transvestites; inaccurate terming • “manly hearted woman” – independent and aggressive • “warrior woman”

Gender Schema Theory • Set of ideas regarding behavior, personality, appearance, etc that we associate with males and females • dichotomize information • Distort information

Socialization • Ways in which society conveys the expectations for the behavior of an individual • Occurs especially in childhood • Parents, teachers, mentors, peer group, media contribute to their socialization

MALE-FEMALE PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

• Aggressiveness • Style of Communicating • Studies of SELF-DISCLOSURE • Females – emotional expressiveness; males – emotional repressiveness and avoidance of self-disclosure

MALE-FEMALE DIFERENCE IN SEXUALITY 1. Masturbation • Virtually all men said that they masturbate before age 20 (most between 13 and 15) • Women – 25, 30, 35, etc

2. Attitudes about Casual sex • “one night stand” – no emotions involved • men – more approving; women – disapproving • conflict in relationships between men and women

MALE-FEMALE DIFERENCE IN SEXUALITY 3. Arousal to Erotica • most erotic material are for men; assumption that women are not interested • Stereotype that men are turned on by “raw sex”, women by romance • penile strain gauge (penis meter) and Photoplethysmograph (photo meter) – 1. explicit heterosexual sex is the most arousing for both men and women

– 2. both men and women found the female-initiated, female-centered tape to be most arousing – 3. women were sometimes not aware of their own physiological arousal • Therefore, men and women are similar in responses to erotic materials but women can sometimes be unaware of their physical arousal

MALE-FEMALE DIFERENCE IN SEXUALITY 4. Orgasm Consistency • Men are more consistent at having orgasms during sex

5. Sex Drive • Men (on average) have a stronger sex drive than women • Men think about sex more often and have more fantasies than women do • Men desire more sexual partners and greater number of intercourse

WHY THE DIFFERENCES? • Bogus; could be that people report what is expected of them, shaped by gender norms • Bogus pipeline method • exaggerated

Biological Factors ANATOMY • Male – external and visible; has a very obvious response, which is erection • Female – hidden; does not have an obvious arousal response like the male’s erection – less aware of arousal • Therefore, women will less likely masturbate and less likely to develop her full sexual potential

HORMONES • Testosterone – related to sex behavior • Females generally have lower levels of testosterone than males • Therefore, lower level of sexual behavior such as masturbation, or a lower sex drive

Cultural Factors • Tighter restrictions on women’s sexuality than it has on men’s • Double standard • Gender Roles • Marital and family roles

Other Factors • Women get pregnant and men do not • Ineffective techniques of stimulating the woman • “erotic dependency” on men

BEYOND THE YOUNG ADULTS • Person centered sex and body centered sex • By the time men reach 30, they still look for sex, but not as much as before; satisfied with fewer orgasms • 50, more on emotional component • Women, sexual awakening much later; masturbating at around ages 30 – 35; quicker response and more intense

TRANSSEXUALISM • Person who believes that he/she was born with the body of the other gender • Gender dysphoria – unhappiness with one’s gender • TRANSGENDER – broader term, including transsexuals as well as those whose gender identity does not match their physical gender but does not want surgery; hormones, or even want to leave their body unaltered • Male-to-female transsexual (MTF) and Female-tomale transsexual (FTM) • Gynephilic – sexually attracted to women • Androphilic – sexually attracted to men • In an extreme conflict situation

The Gender-Reassignment Process • Sex change/gender transition/crossing • 1st: very careful counseling and psychological evaluation • 2nd: hormone therapy; MTF estrogen for life; FTM androgens • 3rd: real life experience: live as a member of the new gender for 1 – 2 yrs • 4th: surgery • Important experience for transsexuals is passing

What Causes Transsexualism? BIOLOGICAL • Critical issue during prenatal development • Atypical development of some brain structure • If male, the fetus must both be defeminized and masculinized

ENVIRONMENTAL • Parents treat them as if they were of the opposite sex • Male – dress them up as girls, tell them how cute they look • Female – giving a genderambiguous name, rough play, mother is distant, father is pleasant and warm • Gender identity disorder (GID) – found in children as young as 2 – 3 years old; persistent cross-gender indentification

Other Issues • What should be the criteria for determining a person’s gender? • Women are not allowed to be part of clergy • Amended birth certificate; change of everything, name, sex, etc. very complicated

Criticisms of genderreassignment surgery • No difference in adjustment between those that have undergone surgery and those who have not. So no need for transsexual surgery • Reduction in depression after sexreassignment