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GENDER1. Sex and gender.
Sex Sex – biological, determined by chromosomes (XX=men, XY=women).
Gender Gender – an individual’s psychosocial status as either masculine or feminine.
Includes attitudes, behaviours and roles. Nurture plays a role.
Sex vs - Sex is innate and cannot change but gender is fluid and open to change.
gender - Gender can lead to sex-role stereotypes.
Gender - When someone’s biologically prescribed sex does not reflect the way, they
identity feel inside and the gender they identify themselves as being.
disorder - Can have gender reassignments surgery to bring their sex and gender inline.
Study for Julianne imperator-McGinley et al (1974)
GID - Family in the Dominican Republic, four children who identified as girls.
- These girls were raised as girls until puberty when they ‘changed’ into males.
- Their female sex organs closed over and they formed normal-sexed male sex
organs.
- Had a rare genetic disorder meaning male genitalia were not external at birth
but they were still XY males.
- During prenatal development, a chemical step was missed which would
normally externalise male genitals.
- The boys abandoned their female identity with very few adjustment problems
– suggesting that gender identity may be more flexible then fixed.
Sex-role Sex-role stereotypes are the shared expectation within a society or social
stereotyp group regarding what is appropriate behaviour for men and women.
es Stereotypes are fixed beliefs about a particular group of people showing an
expectation about what men and women should do in society.
Roles are the behaviours individuals show in a particular situation, which are
affected by expectations. (Males must be heroic and females must be caring
for children or relatives.)
Smith - Researchers individually videotaped a sample of 32 mothers playing with a
and baby for 10 minutes.
Lloyd - Four babies of 6 months old were used in the study, 2 male and 2 female.
(1978) They dressed the baby as either a boy or girl and gave it a traditionally boy’s
or girl’s name. (Sometimes the baby was dressed in clothes consistent with
their sex but sometimes not)
- The mother was able to choose which toy they should play with from a
selection including a hammer (typically masculine), a doll (typically feminine)
and a ball (typically neutral)
- When the mother thought she was playing with a boy, she verbally
encouraged more motor activity than when she thought she was playing with
a girl. In both cases, gender appropriate toys were selected – e.g. when she
thought she was playing with a girl she selected the doll.
This research shows that gender roles are reinforced by caregivers and the
environment around them, toys/clothes. This stereotyping also occurs at a
young age.
Evaluatio - Can nature truly be overruled by nurture?
n The fact that sex-role stereotypes can be substantially different across cultures
suggests that the characters associated with sex-roles are culturally
transmitted, which implies that environmental learning experiences are stronger
than biological factors undermining sex-role stereotypes.
- Education for negative sex-role stereotyping.
If sex-role stereotypes are mainly learned through environmental experience, it
implies that negative sex-role stereotyping could be addresses by providing
learning experiences for children that reinforce the idea of positive sex-roles
being equally applicable to males and females.
- Exaggeration of stereotyping causing reinforcement of stereotypes.
One difficulty addressing negative sex-role stereotypes is that examples of
stereotypes tend to be over emphasised as ‘typical behaviour’. However similar
behaviour is males is under-stressed as non-typical. These ‘typical’ differences
, are perceived as ‘natural’ differences thus reinforcing the stereotype, making it
harder to break down.
- Globalisation and the effect of media in influencing sex-role stereotypes.
The media are subjected to criticism of their stereotypical presentation of sex
roles and so their portrayals have become less stereotyped. The way sexes have
been represented in children’s books has changed dramatically since the 1960s
when females were under-represented and were often shown in passive and
needy roles.
2. Androgyny and the BSRI
Androgyny - Ancient terms which means male and female.
- A personality type that is characterised by a balance of masculine
and feminine traits, attitudes or behaviours.
- Could be a man or a woman, who is competitive and aggressive at
work, but a caring and sensitive parent.
- Created by Sandra Bem.
The BSRI The first systematic attempt to measure androgyny using a rating scale
of 60 traits (20 masculine, 20 feminine and 20 neutral) to produce
scores across two dimensions: masculine-femininity and androgynous-
undifferentiated.
- The Bem Sex Role Inventory 1974
- Designed to measure the levels of androgyny in the respondent.
- Bem believed that those who are highly androgenous are more
psychologically healthy/ greater mental well-being.
- This is because those who are androgynous are better equipped to
adapt to a range of situations and contexts.
The BSRI test - The scores translate to two dimensions,
- Masculinity – femininity
- Androgynous – unclassified.
- There are 60 traits listed, 20 that identity with female, 20 with male
and 20 androgynous.
- Ps are asked to rate themselves on a scale of 1-7 and then add up
their scores to receive their result.
Evaluation:
The scale would appear to be valid and reliable.
The BSRI was developed by asking 50 male and 50 female judges to rate 200 traits in
terms of how desirable they were for men and women. The traits with the highest scores
for each category became the 20 masculine and 20 feminine traits on the scale. The
BSRI was then piloted with over 1000 students and the results broadly correspond
with participants own description of their gender identity. This suggests that the BSRI has a
degree of validity.
A follow up study involving a smaller sample of the same students revealed similar
scores when the students were tested a month later, indicating the scale has high test-
retest validity.
Association between androgyny and psychological well-being.
Within her research Bem placed great emphasis on the idea of androgynous individuals
being more psychologically healthy as they are best placed to deal with situations that
require a masculine, feminine or androgynous response. This assumption has been
challenged as researchers argue that those masculine traits are more highly valued in
a western society. This suggests that Bem’s research may not have taken adequate
account of the social and cultural context in which it was developed.
Oversimplifies a complex concept.
It has been suggested that gender identity is too complex to be reduced to a single
score. Alternatives to the BSRI have been developed, the personal attitude
questionnaire, which replaces Bem’s masculinity-femininity dimension with one that
measures instrumentality and expressivity. However like the BSRI, PAQ is still based
on the idea that gender identity can be quantified.
,Susan Golombok and Robyn Fivush (1994) have claimed that gender identity is much
more a global concept than is suggested by these scales. In order to understand
gender identity more fully, the broader issues should be considered, such as the
person’s interests and perception of their own abilities.
Cultural and historical bias.
The BSRI was developed over 40 years ago and behaviours that are regarded as
typical and acceptable – particularly in relation to gender – have changed
significantly since. Bem’s scale is made up of stereotypical ideas around masculinity and
femininity that may be outdates and lacking in temporal validity.
In addition the scale was devised using a panel of judges who were all from the USA.
Western notions of ‘male’ and ‘femaleness’ may not be shared across all cultures and
societies.
Measuring gender identity using questionnaires.
Asking people to rate themselves on a questionnaire relives on an understanding of their
personality and behaviour that they may not have. Gender is a hypothetical
construct, much more open to interpretation that sex, which is a biological fact.
Furthermore the questionnaire’s scoring system is subjective and people’s
interpretation and the meaning of each end of the 7-point scale may differ.
, The role or chromosomes and hormones in sex and gender.
Chromosom Found in the nucleus of living cells carrying information in the form of genes;
es the 23rd pair of chromosomes determines biological sex.
Hormone A chemical substance circulated in the blood that controls and regulates the
activity of certain cells or organs.
Testosteron A hormone from the androgen group that is produced mainly in the male
e testes (and in smaller amounts in the female ovaries). Associated with
aggressiveness.
Oestrogen The primary female hormone playing an important role in the menstrual cycle
and reproductive system.
Oxytocin A hormone which causes contraction of the uterus during labour and
stimulates lactation.
The role of Chromosomes initially determine a person’s sex
chromosomes - Most gender development comes from the influence of hormones.
- Prenatally – hormones act upon brain development.
- At puberty – another burst of hormones.
The three major hormones we are interested in; testosterone, Oestrogen,
Oxytocin.
Supporting study for gender, role of chromosomes and hormones on page
1 (study for GID)
Testosterone Bandura – Testosterone = aggression, the boys were more violent towards
the Bobo doll, regardless of the condition.
- The male hormone which controls the development of male sex organs.
- Associated with masculinities of the brain – development of specific
areas like spatial skills, competitiveness and aggression.
- Human and animal studies have shown that increases testosterone can
increase aggressive behaviour.
Study for - Nanne Van de Poll at al. (1988) showed that female rats who had been
testosterone injected with testosterone became more physically and sexually
aggressive.
- James Dabbs et al. (1995) found that in prison population, following a
saliva test, those male inmates who had higher levels of testosterone
were more likely to have been imprisoned for a violent crime and also
have poor behaviour in prison.
Oestrogen - A female hormone that determines female sexual characteristics and
menstruation.
- Can cause women to experience heightened emotionally and irritability
during their menstrual cycle.
- This is referred to as premenstrual tension or premenstrual syndrome
when these effects become a diagnosable disorder.
Study for - Albrecht and Pepe (1977) found that increasing oestrogen in pregnant
oestrogen baboons led to heightened cortisol (stress hormone) production, the
hormone which assists tissue and organs in foetuses, oestrogen plays a
key role in pregnancy.
Oxytocin – the - The hormone which causes the contraction of the uterus during labour
love hormone and stimulates lactation.
- Women produce more than men – particularly when giving birth.
- This could be why fathers are not as often the primary caregiver and
are deemed more of a secondary caregiver responsible for play and
stimulation.
- Reduces the stress hormone and facilitates bonding, its released in
large quantitates during labour and after childbirth making the mother
fall in love with the new-born baby.
- It has fuelled the popular stereotype that men are less interested in
intimacy – however evidence suggests that both sexes produce oxytocin
in roughly equal quantities during amorous activities.
Study for - Van Leengoed et al. (1987) inhibited oxytocin in female rats shortly
oxytocin after birth, mothers showed a delay in maternal behaviour; when the
effects of the antagonist wore off; normal behaviour such as grooming
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