GENDER SOCIALIZATION
How Do We Learn Gender?
Gender Socialization - is the process by which people learn to behave in a certain way, as dictated by societa
beliefs, values, attitudes and examples.
x Early gender socialization starts at birth and itĂƉƌŽĐĞƐƐŽĨůĞĂƌŶŝŶŐĐƵů
is
sex.
x Parental and societal expectations from boys and girls, their selection of gender
-specific toys, and/or
giving gender based assignment seem to define a differentiating socialization process
canthat
be
ƚĞƌŵĞĚĂƐ͞ŐĞŶĚĞƌƐŽĐŝĂůŝnjĂƚŝŽŶ͘͟
x ŚŝůĚƌĞŶƐƚĂƌƚĨĂĐŝŶŐŶŽƌŵƐƚŚĂƚĚĞĨŝŶĞ͞ŵĂƐĐƵ
x The newborn baby, the family members, especially the parents and the
iblings
s are the important
others who impact and teach ever
ything that is learned in childhood.
x Even the nurseries and rooms of boys and girls are decorated differently.
x At a young age, children are taught societal rules and norms for specific genders.
x As children develop the ability to understand and speak, they
are over and over again exposed to
environments that help in developing, as well as reinforcing, the stereotypical gender identities and
roles.
x Different social rules apply like boys do not like wear pink or play with dolls; they state that boys are
tougher than girls and girls are scolded for being loud, demanding, aggressive, dirty, or violent.
x Based on their sex, children are given different kinds of toys.
x Gender socialization thus starts with the birth of a newborn, when he is welcomed into the with
world
a proclamation of his maleness or femaleness and the uses blue or pink blankets and dresses to poi
out the sex of the newborn.
x ǀĞŶŝĨLJŽƵĂƌĞŶŽƚĨĂŵŝůŝĂƌǁŝƚŚƚŚĞĐŽŶĐĞƉƚ
been influenced byit and in turn passed on your own beliefs about what constitutes gender
-
appropriate attitudes and behavior to others.
Socialization- in sociology, it is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society.
Eighteenth-Century Enlightenment
John Locke (1632 -1704)- was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most
ŝŶĨůƵĞŶƚŝĂůŽĨ ŶůŝŐŚƚĞŶŵĞŶƚƚŚŝŶŬĞƌƐĂŶĚĐŽŵŵŽŶů
-Locke was the first to define the self through a continuityconsciousness.
of
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)- ƐŚĞǁƌŽƚĞĂďŽƵƚǁŽŵĞŶ͛ƐĐŽŶĚŝƚŝŽŶƐ
ƉŚŝůŽƐŽƉŚĞƌ͕ĂŶĚĂĚǀŽĐĂƚĞŽĨǁŽŵĞŶ͛ƐƌŝŐŚƚƐ͘
August Comte- played an important role in the development of sociology as a recognizeddiscipline. Comte
originally studied to be an engineer, but later became a pupil of social philosopher Claude Henri de Rouvro
Comte de Saint -Simon (1760-1825).
-Comte named the scientific study of social patterns positivism.
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)- first woman sociologist. She was a writer who addressed a wide range of
social science issues. She was an early observer of social practices, including economics, social class, relig
ƐƵŝĐŝĚĞ͕ŐŽǀĞƌŶŵĞŶƚ͕ĂŶĚǁŽŵĞŶ͛ƐƌŝŐŚƚs.
