...of history, many great feminist philosophers have created theories of why women’s rights are as important to those of men. One particular feminist, Nancy Chodorow and her book The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender have brought the attention of gender identity roles of a man and a woman in the family and how they can be corrected. In Nancy Chodorow’s book The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender, she recognizes that the gender identity roles implied that the women were the primary caretaker of the family while males were the breadwinners. Nancy wanted to prove that this was not something that biological or intentional (Moore and Bruder, 2011, p. 437). Rather this issue was socially constructed by society standards. Daughters are raised by their mothers to nurture while men are raised to repress nurturing in order to prepare for a public working life. The key principles of feminism look into different theories of women’s rights. Socialist feminism combines Marxist principles and radical feminist perspectives. Marxist principles explain that children are prepared for their specific gender roles by how they were raised. Socialist related to radical’s concepts that these gender roles needed to be corrected in order to end women’s oppression. Chodorow’s theory followed the principle of socialist feminism. Chodoraw’s states that girls and boys are raised differently when it comes to the relationship with their...
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...Albanian Women in their Culture Sociology 101 CRN 70759 September 25, 2015 Abstract This paper examines some over views of the cultural diversity of women in Albania. In Northern Albania there are some women who had decided to take on a gender role of a man. I had some really interesting insight after reading authors’ facts and opinions on a woman’s role in Northern Albania. This paper will explain my insights I have learned from my research about women of Northern Albania. Women in Northern Albania had no liberal rights and were not equal to a man. In particular; what I wrote about in my findings of research was the Albanian women who decided to take on a gender role of a man in their society. Albanian Women in their Culture In this case, my researching of some Albanian women choosing to take the gender role of a man is understandable under their circumstances. I do look at this from a walk-in-my-shoes point of view. The best way to understand is with an open mind and considerate respect of Albanian’s culture. The question in our essay prompt; is can we use a standard “quality of life” evaluating people from their culture? Probably so; but in my research it would be hard not to avoid cultural relativism and or ethnocentrism in examining cultures different from our own. If I were to visit Northern Albania and have the opportunity to meet with these women who decided to take on the gender role of a man; I would not judge their actions of their choices. In amazement...
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...Explain how theories of masculinity have transformed the sociology of the family? Finbarr Lawton, University College Cork, Department of Sociology. Student Number: 111310236, Module title/code: Sociology of Family, SC2026, Module Coordinator: Linda Connolly Submission Date: 14/1/13 Throughout my essay I will attempt to look at different theories of masculinity and try to show how these theories have transformed the sociology of family in recent decades. I will start by looking at the sociology of family, giving a brief insight into the main theory’s and how it helps us to understand what the sociology of family is essentially about. Following on from this I will look at masculinity giving the main ideas of it and how it has changed and shifted roles in past decades. Before going into detail about masculinity and how it has changed by looking at theories of fatherhood, work, and unemployment and Hegemonic masculinity. Finally I will finish by looking at the main advantages and disadvantages of this change in masculinity in recent decades looking also at how it has changed the sociology of family. When looking at the sociology of family we see that it is an extremely broad field of study and can really be split into four main theories of which to look at the sociology of family, these being: 1. “Functionalist theory: Looks at the essential tasks provided by the family e.g. Socialisation: Regulation of sexual activity. Social placement: Material and emotional...
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...1950’s Men and Today’s Men The gender role theory “posits that boys and girls learn to perform one's biologically assigned gender through particular behaviors and attitudes” (Boundless, 2015). The environmental causes of gender roles and the impact of socialization are emphasized by the gender role theory. The social role theory postulates that the social structure is the underlying force in determining gender roles. The social role theory also states that the division of labor between two sexes within a society drives sex-differentiated behavior. The division of labor is what created gender roles, which eventually, led to social behavior that could be defined as being gender specific in nature. Over the years, these roles would transform to adapt to the expectations of society’s current males. One popular trend of gender roles that has been commonly studied is workplace roles. For decades, men were viewed as the sole provider; therefore, the wife’s duties did not exceed past her home. She was in charge of caring for her husband, their children, and their home. Men were supposed to go to work every day to provide for their family, adequately meet all of their needs, and be someone that his children can look up to. In the 1950’s, men were coming back from war, and the women had filled the positions left open by men going off to World War II. During the 1960’s, known as the hippie era, gender roles began developing in a more neutral and equal manner, “but media still tried to...
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...cute animals, dresses, wands, small sized cleaning equipment and drawing boards. All of these toys are light blue, bright pinks all of these very feminine. The children in America learn stereotypes in gender roles through gender socialization. This is a sequence of adapting to the culture roles according to your sex, this starts at birth and will continue throughout life. Toys are very gender specific, because they teach and reinforce stereotypical gender roles for children. When we are first born children make an image of themselves as a boy or girl. We do this so we can fit in with society so we can interact with parents and teachers. Children pay close attention to the gender appropriateness of toys only after they get a firm grasp on the concept of gender constancy. Gender constancy alludes to a child's understanding that gender remains the same for the rest of his or her life. Children become aware of the fact that they will always be male or female even if they change their appearance such as haircuts or clothing. The culture norms and values that are being encouraged by toys are masculinity and femininity. These terms are often used to identify a set of characteristics, meanings, and values associated with the gender. One of the most power tools to teach a child gender-stereotyped behavior is a toy. Toys R Us has different sections...
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...their male counterparts. This statement continue to plague women in all societies today, as theorist like Murdock believe, given the biological differences between men and women a sexual division of labour is the most efficient way of organising society (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). This is one way in which the mainstream theorist sought to justify the invisibility of women and assigned roles based on the sex of the individuals. Women has always been viewed or defined by the role she is assigned by society, for which I consider to be socially constructed. However, the role women played in the home is domesticated in the role of homemaker and caregiver, thus, when we examine women’s work, we primarily think of the work that women do at home, their unpaid domestic labour. The old adage ‘women’s work is never done’ speaks to the various household tasks for which women are assumed to take overall responsibility. Many theorist used the biological theory as to heighten why women is best suited for some jobs rather than others. In reality we know that not all women are capable of assuming the role of the caring, nurturing and domesticated type, just as not all male are able to display a rough, tough and superior exterior. According Stoller, it was stated that it does not necessarily follow that being a woman means being ‘feminine’, nor that being a man means behaving in a ‘masculine’ way, girls are not necessarily caring and compassionate boys do not have to be aggressive and competitive...
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...Concept Map Essay - Gender Inequality Gender inequality has been present in the United States throughout the history of its existence. There are many forms of gender inequality such as occupational segregation or the gender pay gap. Over many years the persistence of these issue has been slightly alleviated. However, even with this alleviation gender inequality is constantly a pressing issue that can be found under the microscope of many sociologists and social science professionals. As well as being a formal and academic issue, many individuals from all walks of life argue over civil rights daily to mitigate these social problems. Equality is something that should be freely allowed to people of all social and cultural groups, gender included. However gender inequality manages to impose on even this most simple ideal. The idea to be unfair or unjust to the opposite sex is not one that we are born with, but the gender roles we are raised within might have influence on our later actions toward one gender or another. From a young age we are given, taught, shown, or influenced to act with a feminine or masculine behavior. Little girls are present with dolls and china sets, while little boys are given trucks and toy soldiers. When entered into the world of athletics young girls are often entered into ballet or gymnastics, on the other hand boys start playing baseball or basketball. It is now becoming more common to see just as many girls racing down soccer fields as boys...
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...Johnson and Wales University Sex and Gender. Enrique Lesende Professor K. Barker PSYC 2001 02/06/2012 The words sex and gender are often used interchangeably. However, sex refers to male or female, while gender refers to masculine or feminine (Bland). Therefore, sex includes the biological characteristics that distinguish the two sexes and do not change around the world. Gender on the other hand, comprise the behaviors and expectations a particular society considers appropriate for the two sexes to display. In the societies of the past, the environment further adapted whatever biological tendencies males and females were thought to have had (Kruger). Boys and girls were nurtured to fulfill the specific gender roles anticipated of them. Men were expected to be strong and to support their families by taking on activities outside of the house in both the agricultural and industrial eras. In order for culture and the expectations of that culture to continue, young boys were taught the tasks their fathers performed. When schooling and higher education became available boys were also expected to attend. As society continued to transition, men began taking up higher positions in governmental, medical and business fields (Dunleavy). On the contrary, the feminine role was to care for the children and run the household. Even as communities developed from agricultural to more industrial and continued to evolve subsequently, young girls rarely received a basic education...
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...Vasconcellos Fabiana Vasconcellos ENG 201 – 526 Apr. 20, 2010 Prof. J. Wynter Societies can be stratified in various ways, such as religion, social class, language, race, ethnicity, gender and sex. These distinctions are either socially constructed or born within the individual. Sex; for example, is based on the ascribed status since it is “imposed by nature” (Renzetti and Curran 137) and biologically determined. In contrast, gender is socially constructed since it “refers to the constellation of traits and behaviors that compose the categories masculine and feminine” (Renzetti and Curran 252). These gender distinctions are reinforced by stereotypes that contribute to social inequality and discrimination in the western societies. Throughout history, our society has always complied with gender roles, however today we are walking through a path to reverse them. Having been conformed to mother’s role for 40 years, Sarah Pen the main character in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’ “The Revolt of the Mother” gains self-confidence to challenge traditional gender roles and reverses them in order to live in a better home. Our society has always characterized men and women in different ways and expected different behaviors from them. “[M]en have generally been the dominant sex and women have been subordinate to them” (Robertson 217). Men are also “strong”, “rational” and “aggressive” while women are “weak”, “emotional”, and “submissive” (Basow 1). These masculine and feminine traits show...
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...Family Roles and Relationships Essay Jak There are many different types of feminist theories but they all share a few common interests. They all believe there is a fundamental division in society between men and women, that women are to some extent exploited by men and that society is male-dominated or patriarchal. Oakley argues that the role of the housewife is a social construction and isn’t linked to the female role. The housewife role makes sure that women stay inferior to men making it difficult for them have careers. Women carry out the triple burden in the household; the domestic labour, emotional labour, and paid labour. As shown in the item most of this work is ‘unpaid and hardly recognised work at all’. Oakley argues the only way women will gain independence and freedom in society is for the role of the housewife to be removed as well as the present structure of the family. Wilmott and Young believed the family is symmetrical and that both husband and wife have joint conjugal roles making the family a functional institution and their research showed that men do help women with housework. Radical feminists such as Dobash and Dobash disagree with Willmott and Young’s theory that the family is symmetrical. They believe there are inequalities in the power relations between men and women so they see family as an institution that allows abuse and considering the risk of male violence women would be better... Some feminists also criticise existing sociology by saying...
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...Gender 1100 I look back on my upbringing, as a whole, completely stable but as I view the events and periods of my life that have helped to shape who I am today, including my gender role, I realize it was far from simple. I have spent most of my life jumping around; my clear memories begin at about four years of age when my family moved to England for my father’s work. At home I was spending a majority of my time trying to keep up with my two brothers, only a year older than me. Being one of the boys was my goal when I was within the confines of my home. Outside of the house I attended an all girls school in which my feminism was emphasized. Manners lessons and ballet were the focal point of my education at the time, overall we young girls were expected to be as dainty and feminine as possible, I began to scoff at the idea of wearing anything but dresses and being utterly disgusted at what the boys my age were concerning themselves with. So even at such a young age my view on what a woman should be was very rigid and old fashioned while my desires when I left the public eye and were at home was to be just the opposite, I knew even then that my role at home would not do me any good while I was at school. As Janet Hyde writes about in her article, “The Gender Similarities Hypothesis”, gender differences have become overly emphasized and expected. From the age of four until eight when I moved back to the United States my expectations as a little girl were extremely firm, the...
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...Rome A gender role is something that decides what role the man will play in society, and what role the woman will play in society. These roles can include the position, status, activities, and behavior that is appropriate for one’s sex. The roles of men and women have always been different, and they have generally been expected to have different attitudes and thoughts. Social aspects are reflected by behavior, and the idea that specific behavior is naturally tied to the biological sex of a person is challenged by these social aspects. The word “role” can be reducing because it indicates that something is strongly characterized, but gender roles are specific to culture and history, and the roles do change over time. Gender roles have stayed fairly regular over the course of time, such as women being the sole custodian of the children, many of the roles have changed. It is necessary to know that gender roles can be explained in different ways depending on the culture and background of a specific people. Some cultures feel as if the woman should stay home and take care of the children and the home, while other cultures may feel that the woman should be out making money to help support the family. Even today some cultures believe that women should not be independent or build a family for themselves. Some expectations of gender roles even still prohibit women the right to vote or try to be equal to men. The specifics of gender roles are not determined by biological gender, but rather...
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...The gender gap in education has been widening for many years. There are a number of reasons for gender differences in achievement and they include internal factors such as GCSE and coursework and the challenging of stereotypes in the curriculum, and external factors such as the impact of feminism and the changes in women’s employment. Some sociologists argue that changes in the way pupils are assessed have favoured girls and deprived boys. For example the sociologist Gorard found that the gender gap in achievement was fairly constant from 1975 to 1988-9, when it was increased sharply. He concludes that the gender gap in achievement is a “product of the changed system of assessment rather than any more general failing of boys”. Moreover, Mitsos and Browne support this view. They conclude that girls are more successful than boys in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised. They found that girls spend more time on their work, take more care with the way it is presented, bring the equipment and resources to lessons and are better at meeting deadlines. They also argue that these factors have helped girls to benefit from the introduction of coursework in GCSE, AS and A level and that girls gain from maturing earlier than boys. Alternatively, some sociologists believe that these traits and skills are the result of early gender role socialisation in the family. For example, girls are more likely than boys to be encouraged to be neat, patient and tidy. These...
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...Constructing Gender And Sexuality Chapter Study Objectives What Is Sex? What Is Gender? • Compare and contrast the concepts of sex and gender. ==> Sex is a distinct category that someone belongs to male or female. Gender is not only the physical but also the behavioral personality traits that a group considers normal for its members. Essentialist and Constructionist Approaches to Gender Identity • Compare and contrast the essentialist and constructionist approaches to gender identity. ==> The essentialists believes that there can only be two categories, male or female, there is no exception. However constructionists believe that gender isn’t a dichotomy and that there can be more than two categories, and different ways for explaining them. Essentialists typically reside outside of sociology, usually in medicine, theology, and biology. Constructionists are typically mainstream sociologists. Gender Inequality • Explain the possible origins of gender inequality according to the text. ==> Back in the day when men had to go out and procure food, they needed to be bigger and stronger. They were needed for this vital role. Women were built to be nurturing so they could stay back with their offspring and keep them safe while the men hunted. The two rules were crucial for survival. • Compare and contrast functionalist theory and conflict theory in their approaches to explaining gender inequality. ==> Functionalists theory says that sex determines which roles men and women...
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...Gender inequality in theoretical perspective GENDER: There is increasing consensus among gender scholars that gender is not primarily an identity or role that is taught in childhood and enacted in family relations. Instead, gender is an institutionalized system of social practices for constituting people as two significantly different categories, men and women, and organizing social relations of inequality on the basis of that difference Cultural Beliefs about Gender: . In general, contemporary stereotypes describe women as more communal and men as more agented and instrumental. In addition to this horizontal dimension of difference, gender beliefs have a hierarchical dimension of status inequality. Men are viewed as more status worthy and competent overall and more competent at the things that “count most” (e.g., instrumental rationality). Women are seen as less competent in general but “nicer” and better at communal tasks even though these tasks themselves are less valued. As these descriptions make clear, gender beliefs represent themselves as universal depictions of women and men defined by a narrow set of features. This is, in itself, odd since no one ever has the experience of interacting with a concrete person who is just a man or just a woman in a way that is not affected by a host of other attributes such as the person’s race or level of education. The deeply held cultural belief in the inherent difference between men and women appears to somehow disaggregate the...
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