Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Cultural Approach Chapter 5 Gender Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Cultural Approach by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett. Copyright © 2004 by Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Clarifying the Difference Gender Refers to the social categories of male and female Sex Refers to the biological status of being male or female

Traditional Cultures From Girl to Woman Girls typically work alongside their mothers from an early age Girls typically maintain a close relationship with their mothers During adolescent the ‘world contracts for girls’ Girls endure new restrictions observed for women Girls have narrower socialization at adolescence because of their budding sexuality is more likely to be tightly restricted

Traditional Cultures From Boy to Man Boys typically have less contact with their families and more contact with peers During adolescent the ‘world expands for boys’ Boys enjoy new privileges reserved for men For boys, manhood is something that has to be achieved

‘Achieving’ Manhood For boys the attainment of manhood is often fraught with peril and carries a definite and formidable possibility of failure In most cultures an adolescent boy must demonstrate three capacities before he is considered a man Provide Skills that are economically useful Protect Show he can contribute to protecting his family Procreate He must gain some degree of sexual experience before marriage

Gender in American History I was discouraged from pursuing a profession because it was considered “unhealthy” for women This view was connected to beliefs about menstruation – specifically that intellectual work would draw a woman’s energy toward her brain and away from her ovaries … thus disrupting her menstrual cycle and endangering her health

Girls in American History Four areas where the lives of adolescent girls were narrowly constricted: Occupational Choice Intellectual Work Sexuality Physical Appearance

Three Manhood Transformations (Rotundo, 1993) Communal Manhood (17th and 18th centuries) The focus on gender expectations for adolescent boys was on preparing to assume adult role responsibilities in work and marriage Self-Made Manhood (19th century) Males were increasingly expected to become independent from their families in adolescence and emerging adulthood Passionate Manhood (20th century) Passionate emotions such as anger and sexual desire became regarded more favorably as part of the manhood ideal Self-expression and self-enjoyment replaced self-control and self-denial as the paramount virtues

“Gender Intensification Hypothesis” Psychological and behavioural difference between males and females become more pronounced at adolescence because of the intensified socialization pressures to conform to culturally prescribed roles Gender intensification occurs especially for adolescents who are exposed to socialization pressures to conform to traditional gender roles How did your answer compare?

Family, Peers and School Differential Gender Socialization Socializing boys and girls according to different expectations Creates an understanding of ‘appropriate’ behaviours for males and females Differential socialization most often results from how parents and teachers were socialized Reflects a culture’s beliefs about gender Parents and teachers may do this without even thinking consciously about what they are doing One study found that 90% of all infants observed at an American shopping mall were wearing clothing that was gender specific in color or style

Magazines … a special issue This media forms the most obvious focus on gender socialization especially for adolescent girls Physical appearance is stressed as being of ultimate importance There is also an intense focus on how to be appealing to boys

Cognition and Gender Kolhberg’s Cognitive Developmental Theory of Gender Gender is a fundamental way of organizing ideas about the world Age 4 or 5 Identify things as appropriate for either males or females Age 12 to 16 Perceptions of gender become more rigid – gender intensification Age 3 Understand themselves as being either male or female Age 6 to 10 Perceptions of gender become less rigid As adolescents become more capable of reflecting on these issues they become more concerned with compliance to gender norms for themselves and other.

Masculinity, Femininity, and Androgyny The Bem Sex Role Inventory Describes traits regarded by most members of the American majority culture as being masculine or feminine Most widely used measure of gender role perception A cross-national study of young people in 30 countries found similar gender role perceptions with remarkable consistency

Bem Sex Role Inventory … the answers! Affectionate – Feminine Independent – Masculine Aggressive – Masculine Sympathetic – Feminine Athletic – Masculine Child-Like – Feminine Tender – Feminine Individualistic – Masculine Competitive – Masculine Gullible – Feminine Self-Reliant – Masculine Compassionate – Feminine Shy – Feminine Analytical – Masculine Dominant – Masculine Ambitious – Masculine Loyal – Feminine Understanding – Feminine Assertive – Masculine Cheerful – Feminine

But what about adolescents? Is androgyny best for them? The term used for the combination of masculine and feminine traits in one person Advocates of androgyny have argued that being androgynous is better than being either masculine or feminine because an androgynous person has a greater repertoire of traits to draw on in their daily lives Advocates point to research that show androgynous children are more flexible and creative than other children (Hemmer and Klieber, 1981) Androgynous women are better at saying “no” to unreasonable requests (Kelly et al., 1981) But what about adolescents? Is androgyny best for them?

Gender Roles in American Minority Groups African American Women Female role contains a variety of characteristics that reflect the difficult challenge that Black women have faced historically which include self-reliance assertiveness perseverance Black adolescent girls tend to have higher self-esteem and are less concerned with physical appearance than White girls

Gender Roles in American Minority Groups African American Men Black men have been frequently subjected to insults to their manhood, from their status as property during slavery to being denigrated as “boys” not matter what their age (in some parts of the United States) Economic conditions in many American cities make it difficult for Black men to fill the traditional “provider” aspect of the male role As a consequence of these humiliations, according to some scholars, many young Black men adopt extreme characteristics of the male role in order to declare their masculinity in spite of the discrimination they experience

Gender Roles in American Minority Groups Latino Women Gender roles have been highly traditional until recently, much along the lines of the traditional culture The role of women was concentrated on caring for children, taking care of the home and providing emotional support for the husband Woman have been taught to emulate the Virgin Mary by being submissive and self-denying

Gender Roles in American Minority Groups Latino Men The role of men has been guided by the ideology of machismo which emphasizes males’ dominance over females Men are expected to be the undisputed head of the household and to demand respect and obedience from their wives and children The traditional aspects of manhood are strong among Latinos to provide for a family, protect the family from harm and procreate a large family

Gender Stereotypes in Emerging Adulthood Occurs when people believe others possess certain characteristics simply as a result of being a member of a particular group Gender Stereotypes Attributing certain characteristics to others simply on the basis of whether they are male or female Example: Truck are “male” Example: Shopping are “female”

Persistence of Beliefs about Gender Differences Even when there is a statistically significant difference between males and females, for most characteristics there is nevertheless more similarity than difference between genders Most human characteristics fall into a NORMAL DISTRIBUTION where a small proportion of people rate much higher; a small proportion rate much lower; but most people fall somewhere in the middle Take a look at the next slide to see how this works !

The Bell Curve looking at math and gender Even when gender difference exist between males and females the portion of the two bell curves that overlap is much greater than the portion that is distinctive to either gender

Persistence of Gender Differences Gender schemas tend to shape the way we notice, interpret and remember information according to our expectations about genders Social roles for males and females enhance or suppress different capabilities (social roles theory) Differential gender socialization leads males and females to develop different skills and attitudes which leads to different behaviours – the differences in behavior seem to confirm the appropriateness of the different roles

Gender and Globalization Adolescent girls today have opportunities that were unknown to women in previous eras of Western history The proportion of females in fields such as medicine, business and law are considerably higher than 20 years ago However, women tend to earn less money than men even when they are doing similar work Gender equality still has a long way to go!

Gender and Globalization In countries outside the West, adolescent girls have much less in the way of educational and occupational opportunities In most developing countries adolescent girls are considerably less likely than boys to go to a secondary school As traditional cultures proceed toward economic development, they may offer more opportunities for girls As economies become more developed and complex, brain matters more than brawn and men’s physical advantage ceases to matter in work – women may have more opportunity for different gender roles