Gender Differences
Gender differences have been a major issue in the society that we live in. People immediately give off stereotypes stating what a person can and cannot do. Gender differences can be seen whether they are stated verbally or non-verbal. Stereotypes lead to assumptions and norms about what activities, sports, and dress codes are considered masculine or feminine. Gender differences play a huge role since childhood and continue to expand as a person gets older. Biological and social factors affect the result of gender differences. A child’s gender influences the outcome of education, social life, and the judgment against them.
Gender differences is a way that we stereotype ourselves and keep ourselves in groups. There are different categories in which we separate for males and females. The activities, dress code, and sports are ways that we stereotype ourselves. For example, when we think of ice hockey, we think of males playing the game instead of females. While thinking about cheerleading, we think of majority females. Gender refers to “social or learned characteristics that are associated with being male or female” (Gruman 393). The way that we act in the social world is the way that we are being characterized. There are social norms that state things to be masculine and other things being feminine.
Even in early childhood, kids separate themselves based on being a male or female. Children separate themselves in activities, classrooms, and playgrounds. If you were to see a boy in a line of girls, then other kids would make fun of him for not being with them. When I was a child, I could relate to gender differences because I would only accept things that are pink and considered girly. I loved to have my hair done, nail polish, and dressing up as a princess. I used to also stay in areas around other girls and play with activities that are not as masculine. When playing a game or activity, do you normally pick others in the same gender or the opposite sex? Not only do our physical actions affect our gender differences, but also our verbal actions. The way that we express our feelings and emotions are different and might be expressed as being emotional for women. According to the textbook, “when a male child cries, people will often explain the behavior by saying that he is angry, whereas when a female child cies, they will often describe her as frightened” (Gruman 394). The way that we express our emotions as perceived differently in males and females. Men are considered to being angry and weak if they cry, while females are considered to be frightened and emotional.
Gender differences are the result of biological and social factors that influence a child’s response. Depending on the biological and social factors that a child grew up in, their responses might differ. If you were to tell a boy, what job do you want to work as you grow older, his answers might be like police officer, fireman, or athletics coach. They would consider jobs that are considered more masculine. On the other hand, if a girl is asked, she would say something like a teacher, model, doctor, or artist. Girls tend to choose careers that are feminine and less masculine. Not only do our choices affect the way that we choose things but also our biological and social factors. Some children might choose to be police officers because the social environment they live in might not be too safe.
In conclusion, the way that we are raised as children is the way that create gender differences and will be the same for future generation. In the society that we live in, gender differences have had a huge impact in our lives. Gender differences cause stereotypes in which we preserve ourselves and consider what and what not to do. Separating ourselves based on gender even developed since childhood and continues to expand as we grow. Gender differences expand to create stereotypes that create social norms since childhood. There are biological and social factors that influence gender differences. Does gender play a role in the way that you interact and communicate with others?
References:
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE.
Tags: #AppliedSocialPsychology, biological factors, communication, education, gender, gender differences, psych424, sexism, social change
Weisberg YJ (2011) thinks we will reflect gender differences between men and women in several aspects. One is the physiological structure, the other is self-gender identity, and the third is the difference in behavior. It is generally recognized that the difference between men and women is enormous. There is such widespread cognitive bias. Such cognitive bias stems from the stereotypes of gender awareness in society and inherent thinking. For example, nurses are generally women, doctors are usually men, language teachers are generally women. The same bias also exists in gender stereotypes, such as women’s emotional ups and downs, women are born to take care of people, etc. Such stereotypes come not only from those around them, including parents, friends, society, or the social media and film we see but also from the social media and film. So growing up in such an environment, people can’t help but implicitly store these stereotypes in our subconscious.
I think it’s not as big as intuitive, both physically and behaviorally, and the main difference is narrowing. Whether social norms and expectations shape this difference or whether differences lead to differences in social expectations. Different studies have different conclusions. An indisputable fact is that with the development of industrialization and information technology, women participate in many previously male jobs. This difference has gradually become less noticeable.
Reference:
Weisberg YJ, DeYoung CG and Hirsh JB (2011) Gender Differences in Personality across the Ten Aspects of the Big Five. Front. Psychology 2:178. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00178
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00178/full
I agree with you that gender differences influence on every-way that we can think about. In the field of psychology, the primitive partitioners were white males until the 1970s. Women were banned in the sciences in general during the late 1800s. (Lefton, p.10, 2005) According to professor Landrum, who worked at Boise State University, there are three reasons women were limited to contribute to psychology. Female students did not have access to the graduate programs; they hardly maintained the right to earn the degree. The general discrimination towards women holds beliefs that women performed academically with inadequate intellectual ability. Women also lack the job opportunity in contract with most faulty in university are males. The general situation has altered now that psychology attracts more females who earn 73% of bachelor’s degrees and 70% of doctorates in psychology. (Kohout and Wicherski, 2003)
Gender has an evident impact on how others perceive us and also the way we interact with others. Especially in an intimate relationship, I remember some individuals told me that girls do not have to be independent or thoughtful but obedient and soft. I disagree with this stereotype towards females that we should be as what others expect. The movie “Little Women” has a line saying that women have minds and souls and just hearts, and they’ve got ambition and talents as well as just beauty. And I’m sick of people saying love is all a woman is fit for. However, as the education courses about the excellent quality among genders go on, the situation will improve. I believe that there will be more equality among the gender in the future.
Lefton, Lester A. and Linda Brannon. What is Psychology? Psychology. Boston. Allyn & Bacon. 2005. 0205418139. Ch. 1. pp. 5-16.
Maton, K. I., Kohout, J. L., Wicherski, M., Leary, G. E., & Vinokurov, A. (2006). Minority students of color and the psychology graduate pipeline: disquieting and encouraging trends, 1989-2003. The American psychologist, 61(2), 117–131. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.61.2.117
Landrum , E. (n.d.). Brief history of psychology . Brief history of psychology. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/a/c/acp103/PSYCH105/brief_history.htm.
Differences in gender roles are indeed a powerful force in our society, even if you are not intentionally conforming to them. Growing up, I was constantly exposed to the societal expectation of being a “manly” man who is strong, independent, and does whatever it takes to get things done. Even though I did not want to actively conform to these kinds of expectations, and sometimes even rejected them, I still found myself evaluating how well I fit into those stereotypes of masculinity. Even today, I still have to work on reducing my own gender biases and seeing beyond the stereotypes society pushes on us.
Today, however, more people are willing to go into nontraditional jobs that conflict with traditional gender roles. Does that mean gender stereotypes have become weaker than in the past? Surprisingly (to me at least), stereotypes seem to be holding about as strong in the present as in the 1980s (Haines, Deaux, & Lofaro, 2016). Forces such as cultural lag and confirmation bias keep these stereotypes alive despite societal changes (Haines et al., 2016). This is not to say that we have made no progress in addressing gender differences. We have become much more aware of gender roles and made impressive moves in breaking beyond those roles. We will likely continue to make progress in reducing the constraints of gender roles, hopefully to the point where harmful stereotypes are finally weakened and erased from our culture.
Reference
Haines, E. L., Deaux, K., & Lofaro, N. (2016). The Times They Are a-Changing … or Are They Not? A Comparison of Gender Stereotypes, 1983–2014. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(3), 353–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684316634081