...Something I have never considered before were the agents of socialization and how they shape our gender identities. According to Ivy (2011, p. 64), “developing gender identity involves acquiring information about cultural norms and roles for men and women”. Everyone will have distinct influences when it comes to their gender identity. I think that all the various agents impacted me in some form, I was always put into dance classes starting at a young age, I never once played a sport to this day. My mom dressed me in pinks and purples and bought me dolls. Playing with dolls, participating in dance class, and wearing shades of pink influenced my traits I portray. As a young girl, these social agents connected me to my gender identity I have today....
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...Introduction In America, socialization is used as a method of instruction. It can not only assist in teaching a person life lessons of etiquette that will ensure an easy insertion or reception into society, but will also discipline a growing individual in customs, education, and culture necessary for survival. Here, however, we will focus on the socialization of gender roles and the expectations which constitute gender roles, including methods and agents of socialization, as well as some of the effects it has on certain individuals. By being conscious of these details, one will be better equipped to understand societal expectations, and be versed to make informed decisions of how to rear your children, especially if your child or children self-identify as being homosexual because the socialization of gender roles in the United States causes confusion amongst or conflict within homosexuals as a result of gender role expectations and the gender roles they assume and find to be natural. Defining Gender To begin with, gender is defined as a social structure that is culturally or socially engineered and was devised in the early hunter-gatherer age (Connell). It emphasizes the distinctions between “females and males found in the meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’” (Kendall 2012). Informally, says the World English Dictionary, “it is the state of being male, female, or neuter” or “any of the categories, such as masculine, feminine...
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...Gender Socialization through Toys and Sports In today’s society, there are many guidelines of how one should act and be. Gender socialization is the process where people take on notions of gender roles, gender ideas and gender behaviours. At an early age, boys and girls are told how to behave and act according to societal norms of gender behaviours and roles. The comparison of Jane Smiley’s article “You Can Never Have too Many” and John McMurty’s , “Kill ‘Em! Crush ‘Em! Eat ‘Em Raw!” provides an insight about how gender socialization is conditioned through toys and sports at an early age. Also teaching and reinforcing stereotypical gender roles through traits, appearances and occupation. (this is an incomplete sentence and it doesn’t flow very well with the previous sentence) Specific toys and sports are associated with certain genders and generalizes the role that boys and girls should uphold. Male characteristics are thought to be strong, tough and are unable to show weakness whereas female roles are to be nurturing, supportive and caring. In Jane Smiley’s article, the author focuses on how Barbie plays a positive role model in her daughter’s childhood. Barbie is portrayed as beautiful woman who posses feminine qualities. Young girls who tend to play with Barbie dolls have a mind set that they should grow up to be like Barbie. “Lucy could apply lipstick with her eyes closed by the time she was five.” (Smiley 238) This quote shows that children are easily influenced by the...
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...Analyzing Gender Socialization by Julee Pettis As mentioned in the prompt, “We live in a very consumer-based culture, and much of our ongoing gender socialization, which comes from our participation in [what parents buy for their children” (Prompt). Sex is defined as the “...biological differences that distinguish males from females” (Conley 279). In addition, we are born with the sex we have unless a person changes it (Conley 279). Gender is defined as a “…social position; the set of social arrangements that are built around normative sex categories” (Conley 279). Furthermore, gender is the “…psychological, social, and cultural aspects of being a male or female” (SOC 150 Lecture). Another important concept are gender roles, which are defined as sets “...of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as a male or female” (Conley 287). For example, boys are expected to have blue toys, and society expects girls to have pink toys....
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...Gender socialization in American educational institutions is what creates the gender norms that so many children grow up believing. As more women take on full-time jobs to support their families or bridge the gaps between their husband’s income and their standard of living, children are placed in daycares and enrolled in after-school activities with educational curriculums. Children grow up spending more time collectively with their teachers and those in positions of educational authority than with their own parents. In the current educational systems, there is no regard for the internal feelings of a male or female on which gender they feel they should be or the personality that they want to develop. Children are grouped by gender in the classroom and segregated in activities based on their sex. Girls learn at an early age that they will be picked last for sports, that boys are stronger than them and better at math and science. Girls and boys are encouraged to behave differently from one another whether consciously or subconsciously by those that educate them. Boys and girls are given different educational goals. Boys are treated as if they are more independent than girls and are given more responsibility in educational settings. Even those that teach children are conforming to gender roles; women teach English and lower grades while men teach physical education and science. Appropriate behaviors and realistic expectations are broken down by gender as well. Boys...
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...Socialization Humans are social creatures by nature; they have a need or requirement to socialize with others. According to the Cambridge University Press, the definition of socialize, for the purposes of people or animals, “is to train them to behave in a way that others in the group think is suitable”. This definition of the word socialize, leads into another, which is that of socialization. Socialization is a definitive part of every human’s life. Socialization is defined as “The life long process of social interaction through which: we become a consistent and recognizable person, and acquire the physical mental and social skills needed for survival in society.” In our crazy society, social ties are pretty far down on our “to do” lists, but connection to others is turning out to be more important than we thought. Studies indicate that “social capital” is one of the biggest predictors for health, happiness, and longevity. The problem: we often do not recognize the importance of social connection. Our culture values hard work, success, and wealth, so it’s no surprise some of us do not set aside enough time for social ties when we think security lies in material things rather than other people. The human infant comes into the world as a biological organism with animal needs. He is gradually molded into a social being and he learns social ways of acting and feeling, without this process of molding, the society could not continue itself, nor could culture exist, nor could the...
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...Assignment #1: Male/ Female Socialization Name: Patrius Kerr, Keneel Marshall, Zilpah Joyette, Chrisla Phillips, Varina James, Jozel Morgan Lecturer: Frances Williams Date: 19th October, 2014 MALE AND FEMALE SOCIALIZATION | | | | INTRODUCTION In society, they expect different attitudes and behaviors from males and females. Socialization is the process whereby individuals learn about the culture of their society (Mustapha, Nasser, 2009); this process occurs from the moment individuals are born and continues throughout adult life. Sex refers to the biological characteristics with which we are born. Gender identity, usually learned in early childhood, refers to one’s perception of him or her as either masculine or feminine. Gender socialization is the tendency for boys and girls to be socialized differently. Boys are raised to conform to the male gender role, and girls are raised to conform to the female gender role. A gender role is a set of behaviors, attitudes, and personality characteristics expected and encouraged of a person based on his or her sex. There are many factors in which male and female socialization are influenced by in...
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...HISTORY OF SOCIALIZATION Socialization (or socialisation) is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society. Socialization is thus ‘the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained’.[1][2] Socialization describes a process which may lead to desirable, or 'moral', outcomes. Individual views on certain issues, such as race or economics, may be socialized (and to that extent normalized) within a society. Many socio-political theories postulate that socialization provides only a partial explanation for human beliefs and behaviors, maintaining that agents are not 'blank slates' predetermined by their environment.[3] Scientific research provides some evidence that people might be shaped by both social influences and genes.[4][5][6][7] Genetic studies have shown that a person's environment interacts with his or her genotype to influence behavioral outcomes[8]. | | edit] Theories Socialization is the means by which human infants begin to acquire the skills necessary to perform as a functioning member of their society, and is the most influential learning process one can experience.[9] Unlike other living species, whose behavior is biologically set, humans need social experiences to learn their culture...
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...Socialization From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the sociological concept. For the political and economic concept, see Socialization (economics). Sociology Portal Theory · History Positivism · Antipositivism Functionalism · Conflict theory Middle-range · Mathematical Critical theory · Socialization Structure and agency Research methods Quantitative · Qualitative Historical · Computational Ethnographic · Network analytic Topics · Subfields Cities · Class · Crime · Culture Deviance · Demography · Education Economy · Environment · Family Gender · Health · Industry · Internet Knowledge · Law · Medicine Politics · Mobility · Race and ethnicity Rationalization · Religion · Science Secularization · Social networks Social psychology · Stratification Categories · Lists Journals · Sociologists Article index · Outline Major category: Sociology v t e Socialization (or socialisation) is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies. It may provide the individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within their own society; a society develops a culture through a plurality of shared norms, customs, values, traditions, social roles, symbols and languages. Socialization is thus ‘the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained’.[1]. [2] Socialization...
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...Running Head: SEX ROLES AND GENDER INEQUALITY Sex roles and Gender Inequality SEX ROLES AND GENDER INEQUALITY Introduction Sex is defined as the biological differences between a male and female. Gender, however, can be identified as the way society organizes understandings of sexual difference (Shaw & Lee, 2001). In this essay, I will try to discuss whether gender differences, and in turn inequality, is a creation of people and society or it is indeed the natural state with virtue of their sexual character. This essay, which is written under the guidance of Daniel Bosley, part-time lecturer at Maldives National University, will focus upon the formation of gender, sex roles, feminine and masculine character, gender stereotypes and how it leads to gender inequality. SEX ROLES AND GENDER INEQUALITY Formation of Gender: Feminine and Masculine As people live together in a society, different roles are taught based on their sex known as sex roles, not much different from social role and socialization. The way individuals of different sexes acquire these roles, also known as role learning or socialization, is important in understanding how sexual characters are formed. “Feminine character is produced by socialization into the female role, masculine character by socialization into the male role – and deviants by some kind of failure in socialization” (Connell, 1987). The sex roles are therefore a set of prescriptions, attributes and expectations...
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...My research question is what effects does online gaming have on the components of socialization and gender. I am investigating topics such as online socialization, impact on social life, gender roles, macrostructures, microstructures... From my experience, online gaming tends to destroy or severely damage an individual’s regular social life. Some online gamers prefer to socialize only through the game where the rules are less strict and they are free to act in a way they would not normally be in real society. Online gaming gives gamers a sense of confidence, calm and reassurance because it allows an individual to meet new people without worrying too much about the repercussions of their actions. There is a sense of ambiguity because in the game a person cannot determine who is controlling the other characters whether male or female. Gender roles are not as defined in the online world since you are allowed to choose your character’s gender or sex. This allows people to act out lives that they do not have or be a different person completely separate from the real world. The three journal articles I am using for this literature review are as follows: Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People’s Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions Dill, Karen E., and Kathryn P. Thill. "Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People's Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions." Sex Roles 57.11-12 (2007): 851-64. ProQuest. Web. 9 Oct...
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...various other forms of media for being considered unsuitable for the general public, however over time the voice of protests have been overshadowed by the popularity of the content, thereby over time creating a social tolerance of media content. The material that floods through the media today is significantly more provocative compared to previous decades; if Kim Kardashian’s naked body was the face of the media anytime during the 20th century, the public response would be chaotic, however in 2014 this was not only tolerated but to some extent, it was glorified. Significantly influencing the morals and values obtained by society, the content that flows through the media appears to have a link with social issues such as gender stereotypes, which has shown to produce gender inequality. Throughout recent globalization, it is clear that the values within western culture has rapidly evolved along with technological advancements as well as the development of mass media and particularly, social media; throughout this process, pornography and sexual content in the media has become normalized as well as a social and cultural trend. It is important for sociologists to study and identify whether the values we adopt are moral, harmless and will not corrupt the large population of people exposed to the...
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...Kylie Schmidt SOC 101-016 22 February 2014 Gender Roles The Impact of Gender Roles In My Family The textbook definition of gender roles refers to the expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. Basically, we are born either XX or XY but we are not predetermined to occupy roles as male or female. Rather, we assume these roles through a process called socialization. Socialization is a process by which people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for members of their culture, in this case, male and female roles. There are a lot of factors that impact a child’s socialization into feminine and masculine forms. These include the adults, older siblings, mass media, and religious and educational institutions that surround us. This paper will focus on the primary agents of childhood socialization: parents. Specifically my parents, and how they played a critical role in my socialization and gender role process. Firstly, my mother played a important role in guiding me into the feminine norm for our society. When I was born, immediately I was dressed in girly, pink, or frilly outfits. I grew up playing with dolls, pretending to be their mom, caring for them, etc. I helped my mom in the kitchen and helped her clean. My room was painted pink with flowers along the borders. My mom put into dance as a young girl, rather than football if I had been born with a Y chromosome. These are the first experiences I had as a child...
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...duction Socialization is the process by which society integrates the individual and the individual learns to behave in socially acceptable ways this involves learning interpersonal and interactional skills that are in conformity with the values of one's society. the society expects an individual learns to live in accordance with the its expectations and standards, acquiring its beliefs, habits, values, and accepted modes of behavior primarily through imitation, family interaction, and educational systems; it is primarily the procedure by which society integrates the individual. An agent of socialization is an individual or institution tasked with the replication of the Social Order. An agent of socialization is responsible for transferring the rules, expectations, norms, values, and folkways of a given social order. In advanced capitalist society, the principle agents of socialization include the family, the media, the school system, religious and spiritual institutions, and peer groups. It is important to note that our current social order is a tiered social order. It is based on authority, hierarchy, and the differential assignment of value to human individuals (i.e., some individuals like CEOs and presidents are worth more than others). Within this context, individuals receive differential socialization. Those born into the lower tiers receive a socialization process geared to fitting them into the low level, wage based sectors of The System. Those born into the higher...
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...Gender roles are the expectations of society based on biological circumstance. Males and females are treated differently and expected to behave according to their sex or gender marker. When females are born they become little girls and when males are born they become little boys, girls dressed in pink and the boys in blue. In society simple things such as colors are gendered and further the notion of gender differences in society that programs individuals on what they can and cannot do. Gender inequality in the United States is an obvious social problem as women represent 51 percent of the population, which means that slightly more than half of the population is affected by gender inequality. Media is a powerful entity and has the ability to...
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