Publishing Web for Students' Final Papers
Publishing Web for Students' Final Papers |
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From: Mary Zinsmeyer
Email: maryz@cats.ucsc.edu
Course: Psych 100G: Diversity in Developmental Psychology
College: University of California at Santa Cruz
Instructor: Eugene Matusov
ClassWeb: http://www.ematusov.com/psych100G
ChildrenObservations: Yes
Date: 14 Dec 1996
Time: 03:10:24
Remote Name: scz-ca16-11.ix.netcom.com
The socialization of infants by their parents through labeling, clothing, room decoration, modeling, coupled with the media and toys (among many other aspects) suggests that gender roles and boundaries are what create the feminine or masculine roles we all play. The biological theories argue that hormone exposure, genes, and brain differences establish the gender boundaries. While the genes and biochemical exertions placed on the brain create certain pathways these pathways can be altered through the social pressures of the environment. I would like to acknowledge my group for establishing the socialization information. Barbara Burns' input regarding the clothing and accessories, and her upbeat attitude. Thanks to Edward for his well researched sex differentiated toy contribution. Deborah was gracious in typing up the first draft and her personal contribution on children's commercials intensifying gender boundaries and her video. A big thank you to Dave Fellner for posting our group draft on the web and his input on parental behavior in establishing sex roles through bedroom decor. Another thank you to Elizabeth for her participation charting the gender stereotype graph increasing, decreasing and plateauing at different stages of growth. And Lorraine, thank you for contributing the modeling aspect as a determining factor in the gender specific role establishment.
Do parents inadvertently expose their children to their preconceived notions of gender-stereotypical expectation and roles? Are infants born with innate feminine and masculine traits? Gender roles and boundaries can be comforting and provide guidelines for people. It is our contention, however, that these roles are both limiting and constraining in today's rapidly changing society Infants begin with many similarities, they are born incompetent, needing comfort, food and warmth from a capable adult (Rogoff, lecture, 11/19/96). Some studies and theories have found that gender differences re based in biology and evolution (http://fnord.dur.ac.un/teaching/1ChildDev/h7ac_details.html). Notwithstanding, socialization, both parental and societal, creates gender differences that become thoroughly entrenched in our children.
Parents expectations put pressure on offspring to perform in like ways to gender specific behavior. The formation of gender boundaries were found in the parents responses to their new born infants. Evidence was found to support the theory that parents respond to their children in different ways according to the child's sex, from gender stereotyped birth activities, clothing, to toys and bedroom decor (Rubin, Provenzano, and Zella 1974). This study also found that daughters were described significantly differently than sons, with adjectives depicting labels of "little", "beautiful", "pretty", "cute", and "resembling their mothers". The fathers were more extreme in stereotyping their offspring than mothers. Twenty years later, in another study white middle class parents were asked to describe their newborn children using Rubin's nine point adjective scale and their perceptions and expectations they had for the new infant (Hildebrandt Karraker, Vogel, and Lake 1995). The parents in this study showed no significant difference in gender stereotyping in verbal descriptions of newborns, although some limited stereotyping in ratings was seen. These conflicting studies suggest that there may be decreasing expectations and perceptions of gender specific behaviors by parents. Gender specific labeling is the beginning of the socialization processes.
Another way in which gender roles are influenced is by modeling and imitation. Children learn how to behave through observation. Albert Bandura and Kay Bussy conducted an experiment that demonstrated how sex linked modeling can act as a mechanism of sex role development. The experiment showed that the children who observed same sex model, consequently exhibited similar behaviors as the same sex model. The experiment also showed that the subject's level of gender constancy is irrelevant to gender role development. Children pattern their behavior much earlier than they develop the sense of gender constancy.
Clothing is an additional way that parents cause gender boundaries to become more salient. The color and style of the infants clothing and their personal accessories make a public announcement as to their baby sex. In one study done with infants, age 5- 25 months, it was found that colors were commonly coordinated with gender (Pomerleau, Bloduc, Malcuit, Cossette (1990). Boys were found to wear more blue, red, and gray colored clothing while girls wore more pink. Additionally, personal accessories helped to establish gender. Girls are commonly given pink pacifiers to use, while boys received blue (Pomerleau, Et al. 1990). Sandra Bem, described the day her young son, Jeremy, decided to wear barrettes to nursery school. A classmate determined and insisted that Jeremey must be a girl because only girls wore barrettes. Finally, exasperated, Jeremy pulled down his pants to offer proof of his sex. The other boy replied, "Everybody has a penis, only girls wear barrettes" (Cole and Cole, 1993).
Parents also establish gender salience by the use of decorations in the child's room one study done with families in well to do residential areas of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, researchers indexed the contents of each child's room (Rheingold and Cook, 19975). Parental behavior and the formation of gender roles was seen in how the rooms were decorated. Boys rooms were significantly more likely to be decorated in animal motives, while girls were more likely to be decorated with floral motives and lace, fringe and ruffles. In a more up to date study, the researchers found that girls' rooms had more yellow bedding as opposed to girls rooms, which were more likely to have blue bedding and curtains (Pomerleau, et al., 1990). Overall, gender differences in room decorations have not changed much and are still having impact on gender stereotyping. Gender stereotypes are further reinforced and perpetuated by societies expectation and perceptions.
Societies gender stereotypes increase during the preschool and childhood years, reach a plateau, and decrease in adolescence (Vogel, Lake, Evans, and Hilldebrandt Karraken, 1991). Parents influenced interaction with infants which in turn, socialized the infants to conform to their respective gender role. Ratings of the female infants centered on their small size and beauty. Male infants are usually judged according to their ability and intelligence (Rogoff, 1995), while evidence of gender stereotyping in infants ratings is becoming less dominant after adolescence, sex stereotyping in adults' behavior toward infants has not changed.
Obviously, society shapes the gender stereotypes that both children and adults hold. When parents play with their children there are definite patterns that serve to reinforce gender roles. For example, girls' play seems o be more directed and structured by adults than does boys' play (Carpenter, 1983). This would indicate that adults influence girls with their own stereotypical beliefs more than boys. According to their evidence gathered by Huston and O'Brien (1989), both parents and children select the same sex-typed toys when they have the choice to do so. The finding in this study suggest the following:
Within the home, the parents allow their parents watch between 3-4 hours of television per day (Ruble, Balaban and Cooper, 1981). Television has the potential to have an enormous impact on children, particularly toy commercials. Studies have shown that commercials intensify gender boundaries between boys and girls by producing toys made exclusively for each gender, thus making gender categories more salient (Ruble, et al., 1981). It is not only the toys themselves that reinforce these boundaries, it is the way in which they are presented. Toys for girls are usually presented in an indoor setting with soft music playing in the background, usually with an adult present. The types of toys that are featured are usually baby dolls, play houses, princess and bride dolls, cooking sets, and beauty items. Toys for boys are usually presented in an outdoor setting without adult supervision, and with fast paced music in the background. Toys featured include fast cars, weapons, sports equipment, and construction sets. The emphasis in girls' commercial is on "being" --a girlfriend, wife, mother, homemaker, always being a source of comfort, and being a communication expert. The boys' commercials focus on "doing"--building, running, shooting, talking, and exploring. Ruble, et al. state that children want to play only with those toys that are labeled as appropriate for their own gender. They further discussed that by playing with gender appropriate toys, "...the type of toy or activity children spend time with...affect personality characteristics, such as compliance, cognitive development, and spatial and verbal skills" (Serbin and Connor, 1979). It is clear that the type of toy a child plays with and the types of commercials watched regarding gender appropriate toys, reinforce gender boundaries between boys and girls.
The results of recent research proposes that the male/female development is decide by the multidimensional interaction of genetic, hormonal, behavioral and environmental factors. J. Money's (1994) study presents evidence that feminine and masculine development is a "combined biosocial process". Here social constructionisim takes effects in creating the individual from a biological, genetic beginning but it gets molded and stretched and pressed through a screen of a culture's specifications. Biological differences in development of the brain may be seen with the growing evidence of hormonal influences on the brain when in vitro and throughout the development of a human being. These influences play role indetermining male-type female-type behaviors (Olson, 1992). Cole and Cole (1993) state that "changes were seen due to the absence of testosterone not the presence of estrogen". This presence of testosterone appears to form different neural pathways in the brain. The embryo is responding to the hormones in the neural pathways of their brain. Once this pathway has been established it appears that even if a large dose of estrogen is induced in the brain will not alter behavior at later date. Therefore, the universality is the biological, generic framework of the individual which is then either respected and honored in a culture and expressed as is or twisted and shaped in context by outside influences (i.e.: parental, cultural, peers, media). It is the social influences that reward and punish therefore creates within the individual the act of seeking approval for the ultimate self discipline. When Carol Nagy Jacklin edited The Psychology of Gender I , she compiles many studies to address the biological versus social-environmental explanations of masculine-feminine characteristics, brain organization and hormonal influences. There are differences in the brains of men and women. Hemispheric specialization's in females differing in males. It appears that reaction to hormones in the brain has a multiplier effect to actions and reactions of behavior. This also believed to effect the biological and social environmental behaviors as a human grows through the many stages of life (in vitro, puberty, and again in later in life) with the decreasing of hormonal influences. If all behaviors are neither male or female then these hormonal spurts could alter behavior toward a more masculine or feminine role. (Fausto-Sterling, 1992).
In an Omni article, Hines at UCLA conducted an experiment with DES prenatal hormone exposure to female fetus'. This study found that the estrodiol masculinized certain brain cells and subsequently the behavior of these girls who later prefered playing with male-type toys and less with dolls. Gary Kelly's Sexuality Today, the Human Perspective states that information regarding abnormalities of sexual differentiation can show us what happens when the fetus' are exposed to varying amounts of hormones. The fetal females have been exposed to hormones to create genitals that appear more female. Androgen insensitively syndrome is a conditions which cells do not respond to the androgen so that the chromosome XY-male fetuses develop external female genitals. There is also a feminization of later behavioral patterns. The biochemical and genetic differences in human beings are ever so balanced and in combination act with the socio-environmental pressures to establish and create the feminine and masculine roles. Although there are differences across cultures they vary according to cultural norms. When one can fully understand and respect how each and every human being was developed and shaped then we can fully honor our diversities and universalities.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rubin, J. Z., Provenzano, F. J., and Zella, L. (1974). The eye of the beholder: parents' views on sex of newborns. American Journal of Orthopsychicatry 44, 512-519.
Hildebrandt Karraker, K., Vogel, D. A., and Lake, M. A. (1995). Parents' gender-stereotyped perceptions of newborns: the eye of the beholder revisited, Sex Roles, 33, 687-701.
Cole M., S. R. Cole, and Boires, J. (1993). Development of sexual differentiation. The Development of Children, p85. Oxford: Scientific American Books.
Nagy Jacklin, C. (1980). The psychology of Gender (volume I). New York: New York University Press.
Fausto-Sterling, A. (1993). The five sexes : Why male and female are not enough. The Sciences, 33 (3) 20-24. Money, J. (1994). Sex errors of the body and related syndromes. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Phillips, K. (1990). Why can't a man be more like a woman...and vise versa. Omni, October pp42-44 46, 48, 68. Omni Publications International, Ltd. Sex or Gender? http://fnord.dur.ac.uk/teaching/1ChildDev/h7ac_details.html
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Prarthanan Prasak and Jonalthan Baro of University of Pennsylvania http://www.sas.upenn/edu/~jbaron/pp.html
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Carpenter C.J. (1983). Activity structure and play: implication for socialization, social and cognitive skills: sex roles and children's play. New York: Academic Press.
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