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Human development is a constant is everyone's life, we are continuously changing and developing from conception until death. Everyone's lives while different still develop through psychology, sociology, and philosophy. Gender, in particular, I found very interesting throughout my lectures in human development. I am going to discuss the different gender development theories, the role society plays in gender development.
Gender development is a key concept of human development. The website Gender Spectrum states ‘Biological sex is is the physical structure of one’s reproductive organs that is used to assign sex at birth. Biological sex is determined by chromosomes (XX for females; XY for males); hormones (estrogen/progesterone for females,
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Firstly at the ages of two and three children gain a basic gender identity in which they begin to recognise that he/she is a boy or a girl. Secondly, at the ages of 4 or 5, the child has an understanding of gender stability. They learn that males usually stay male and females usually stay female. Thirdly by the age of 6 or 7 gains an understanding of gender constancy realising that a change in appearance or habits does not make the gender change. People being connected to only one gender is usually okay for most people although because it can be frowned upon to have a different gender identity to what your biological gender is and it can be hard for many people because of the belief of many that it is necessary for your gender to correlate to your biological sex. Biological sex is, of course, a component of gender but it does not define it. The idea of gender that we are taught as young children is nowhere near as complex as it should …show more content…
Gender development is linked to all the key concepts of human development psychology, sociology, and philosophy. Gender development is linked to psychology because the way in which you are treated for being who you are can have an impact on many people. Psychology relates to the way parents taught you about many different things while growing up they may have been very close minded or open minded which may lead to a belief that the child cannot be him/herself. Psychology is the mental or behavioral characteristics of an individual. People are shaped and influenced by the views of people close to them mostly family members because they look up to them from a very young age. Sociology influences gender development because gender development changes with all different cultures. Children's actions and beliefs are shaped by the culture in which the were raised. If a culture has very open views people may be more likely to be who they want to be although if a culture is very closed minded in its views than people may feel like they can't be who they feel they are. Philosophy is linked to gender development because it asks the big questions surrounding humans and their
The actual timeframe in which kids discover their genders is open for debate, as not all scientists agree on the ages. Blum states, “some scientists argue for some evidence of gender awareness in infancy, perhaps by the age of 12 months. The consensus seems to be that full-blown “I’m a girl” or “I’m a boy” instincts arrive between the ages of 2 and 3” (Blum 208). Furthermore, the family environment plays a massive role in helping children discover their sex. Children living in a long-established family setting that has a father and a mother might develop their gender identities more closely. In contrast, children in a contemporary family environment might grasp a more diverse view of gender roles, such as everyone participating in cleaning the house and not just mom. As children grow older, they naturally develop behavior patterns of close relations with the kids of the same sex, and prefer to spend their time with them. Blum explains “interviews with children find that 3-year-olds say that about half their friendships are with the opposite sex” (Blum 208). In this stage of life, the boys want to hang out with other boys. Similarly, girls wanted to spend more time with the other girls. As a result, each gender has little or no contact with each other until they approach their teenage years. Overall, the question here is whether our gender roles occur naturally or affected by family and friends. I believe it is a case for both, because I remember growing up in a “traditional” household where I saw the distinctions between my mother and father. My father went to work every day and my mother took care of me and my brother. Furthermore, my understanding of gender carried on into my school years, as I preferred hanging out with other boys and did boy stuff until I started dating. I also understand that gender behaviors and roles do not stop at this point, and we continue to develop other behaviors
In today’s society, it can be argued that the choice of being male or female is up to others more than you. A child’s appearance, beliefs and emotions are controlled until they have completely understood what they were “born to be.” In the article Learning to Be Gendered, Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell- Ginet speaks out on how we are influenced to differentiate ourselves through gender. It starts with our parents, creating our appearances, names and behaviors and distinguishing them into a male or female thing. Eventually, we grow to continue this action on our own by watching our peers. From personal experience, a child cannot freely choose the gender that suits them best unless our society approves.
The human species is qualified as a man and women. Categorically, gender roles relative to the identifying role are characterized as being either masculine or feminine. In the article “Becoming Members Of Society: Learning The Social Meanings Of Gender by Aaron H. Devor, says that “children begin to settle into a gender identity between the age of eighteen months and two years (Devor 387). The intricate workings of the masculine and feminine gender roles are very multifaceted and at the same time, very delicate. They are intertwined into our personalities and give us our gender identities (Devor 390). Our society is maintained by social norms that as individuals, we are consciously unaware of but knowingly understand they are necessary to get along out in the public eye which is our “generalized other” and in our inner circle of family and friends which is our “significant others” (Devor 390). Our learned behaviors signify whether our gender
One theory of gender role development would be Kohlberg's theory of gender development (1966). His theory indicates that gender develops throughout different stages. Therefore, he predicts that children think about gender in characteristic ways in each stage. Going through the various stages children develop a more complex understanding of behaviour. The different stages are gender identity, gender stability and gender constancy.
Gender plays an important role in society. It points out men, women, their actions, and how they should behave according to society's perception
Gender differences are influences on gender behavior in the way that one must fit through the assumptions and inevitable confusion to distinguish the reality of the assumption. Men and women are obviously different inherently, but not in what they can and cannot do. Men and women are different and have different roles because this is society presented them to the world. Women have the most difficulty getting through these complicated times. There should be equality among all men and women of all races and ethnicity. This is a never-ending issue. We as a society should always know and act on the importance of gender roles, gender equality, and challenges with education in developed and developing countries.
In regards to the development of gender identity, it is a more complex issue to deal with, as one has to be concerned about all aspects of the person life, starting from even before they have been born (Swaab, 2004), to a point in their life where they are settled and satisfied with their identity. The American Psychological Association states that while development is very fluid among young children, it is usually believed to form between ages 3 and 6, however many transgender, individuals are not able to embrace their true gender identity until much later in life, largely due to societal stigma associated with these identities.
Gender is determined by the sex chromosomes, XX produces a female, and XY produces a male. Males are produced by the action of the SRY gene on the Y chromosome, which contains the code necessary to cause the indifferent gonads to develop as testes (1). In turn the testes secrete two kinds of hormones, the anti-Mullerian hormone and testosterone, which instruct the body to develop in a masculine fashion (1). The presence of androgens during the development of the embryo results in a male while their absence results by default in a female. Hence the dictum "Nature's impulse is to create a female" (1). The genetic sex (whether the individual is XX or XY) determines the gonadal sex (whether there are ovaries or testis), which through hormonal secretions determines the phenotypic sex. Sexual differentiation is not drive...
Gender roles differ from one culture to the next. Culture affects the expectations on men and women within that geographical location. Within the United States of America there have been many different roles in gender throughout past generations. Some of these changes within gender roles affect home life, work, and even school, and affects all Americans in some
In the article, Children’s Gender Identity Development: The Dynamic Negotiation Process Between Conformity and Authenticity, the researchers argue that children are active in the development of their gender identity and that there is a great influence on whether they wish to conform or not to gender stereotypes. There are three known theories about development of gender identity, the three theories are (1) developmental, (2) socialization, and (3) essentialist. Developmental theories say that gender identity develops over time and as children get older, they incorporate gender expectations and gender rules that they have learned from media, and environmental sources. The socialization theory states that gender identity occurs over time and is influenced by others by certain cues they receive. Lastly the essentialists theory says that gender is tied to the persons’ biological sex determined by ones’ genetics and hormones.
Without gender, a child may not be able to integrate into society as easy as other children, feeling a sense of disorientation and misplacement. Identity is strongly correlated to the cultural beliefs and social contexts of society, hence affecting gender, since gender is something that is everywhere in our daily lives. Gender entails cultural beliefs at a marco level and also includes the systems of behavior and organizational practices at the interactional level, selves and identities at the individual level (Ridgeway & Correll 2004). According to Ridgeway and Correll (2004), cultural beliefs about gender and their effects in social relational contexts are among the main principles that maintain and change the gender structure. Social relational contexts involve any situation where individuals define themselves in relation to others to understand the situation and act in an everyday interaction. Symbolic interactionism places a lot of significance on the salient of language and social interactions as main features of the development of a sense of self, viewing society not as an external constitution but rather the result of a patterned web of interactions where people interact in countless settings using symbolic communications, and the reality people experience constantly changes (Germov & Poole 2011). According to Stryker and Vryan (2003), symbolic
Gender is such a ubiquitous notion that humans assume gender is biological. However, gender is a notion that is made up in order to organize human life. It is created and recreated giving power to the dominant gender, creating an inferior gender and producing gender roles. There are many questionable perspectives such as how two genders are learned, how humans learn their own gender and others genders, how they learn to appropriately perform their gender and how gender roles are produced. In order to understand these perspectives, we must view gender as a social institution. Society bases gender on sex and applies a sex category to people in daily life by recognizing gender markers. Sex is the foundation to which gender is created. We must understand the difference between anatomical sex and gender in order to grasp the development of gender. First, I will be assessing existing perspectives on the social construction of gender. Next, I will analyze three case studies and explain how gender construction is applied in order to provide a clearer understanding of gender construction. Lastly, I will develop my own case study by analyzing the movie Mrs. Doubtfire and apply gender construction.
first way gender is defined is by the family in which a child is raised. Second is the society in which a child interacts; makes friends and enemies. The third is our school system and our board of education. And the last but not least is our own self conscious. Each of the above four ways have a unique way of molding and helping an individual define his/her gender.
In order to answer the question above, this essay will discuss in depth what exactly sex is and what gender is and the differences between the two terms. The research carried out will display that we live in a patriarchal society without a doubt as we look at how gender links to inequality in society. A patriarchal society can be clearly seen from the gender inequality in the labour force which is paid labour and also in unpaid labour which occurs in the household. Another area the answer will reflect on is how gender inequality links to education, which overall links to society. Finally, the answer below will show how the media portrays gender inequality and how it affects the people in society.
The first main factor that is said to influence gender is biology. “Nature doesn’t give a flea’s hind leg for our social theories, fads, fashions, political ideologies and other nutty ideas with which people preoccupy themselves (*). This quote explains the argument on the side of biology. People who support this ideology believe that the major biological differences between males and females must most greatly influence our gender development because of their numerous studies.