Theories of Gender Development Ch 5

Chapter Overview I.Directed Free Writing II.“Quiz” III.Theories of Gender Development A.Psychodynamic B.Social Learning Theory C.Cognitive Developmental Theory D.Gender Schema Theory E.Gender Script Theory IV.Y.J.U. V.Which one is best?

I. Directed Free Writing What do women really want?

Bring to class Button, needle, thread Hair curlers Electric iron and shirt Necktie Shoe polish Screwdriver, board, and screw

II. “Quiz”

1. Freud thought women were inferior to men. True

2. All girls wish that they had a penis. According to Freud, true.

3. Boys work toward separation from mother, rejecting femininity and girls retain connectedness with mother, becoming feminine. According to Chodorow, true.

4. Boys are punished for having feminine traits and rewarded for having masculine traits. According to Social Learning Theory, true.

5. There are more boys in cartoons than girls. True

6. Parents tend to choose masculine toys for boys and feminine or neutral toys for girls, even when the children are too young to care. True

7. Very young children do not have gender constancy, e.g., they think that one can change his or her sex True

8. If you raise a boy to be a girl, he will act just like a girl. Watch the video.

9. Sexual stereotyping is good because it makes it easier to classify behavior and objects which can give people feelings that the environment is manageable and predictable. True

10. Sexual stereotyping is bad because it leads to inaccurate perceptions of what is acceptable for men and women to do and it can cause failures to accept information that does not fit the stereotype. True

III. Theories of Gender Development A. Psychodynamic

1. Freud (late 1800’s) a.What is the unconscious? b.What are the Psychosexual Stages? c.What is the Oedipal Phase? c. What’s with Freud and Women?

2. Karen Horney a.Social emphasis b.Changed masculine bias Penis envy eliminated Postulated men’s claim of female inferiority covers male feelings of inferiority Female masochism is not normal Women’s problems are social.

3. Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theories try to remove the sexist elements from traditional psychoanalytic theory and try to reformulate psychoanalytic concepts.

a. Nancy Chododorow Emphasis on Social Concentrates on mother-infant relationship (pre- Oedipal). Separation Differences boys have to strive for separation girls don’t need the same amount of separation.

Antigone phase replaces Oedipus phase In a patriarchal family… Men who do not overcome the Oedipus phase treat women as extensions of themselves and their needs women who fail to overcome the Antigone phase never acknowledge their own needs. b. Ellyn Kaschak

Antigone: The plot

Ellyn Kaschak’ Theory –Antigone = the caregiver of her father –Antigone’s relationship w/ her father is like women’s relationships w/ their fathers/husbands. –Social structure => subordination of women to men, => Antigone dilemma => women are caregivers. –Men treat women as extensions (aka property) of themselves. Family violence perpetrated by the father/husband is based on the privilege derived from this position. Johnson (1995) called it “patriarchal terrorism.” –Women who separate from fathers (resolve Antigone phase) => more independent..

B. Social Learning Theory: 1.Gender is learned 2.Methods of learning

a. Operant Conditioning: (reinforcement, and punishment)

b. Albert Bandura Observational Learning: Children observe gender-related behaviors from many models & display appropriate gender behaviors due to observation & modeling.

Kindergarten Cop

Flower Drum Song

Demonstration: 1. List some skills that you have you developed that are unique to your gender role. 2. Try something the other gender has to learn. 3. Write your reaction to this demonstration.

C. Cognitive Developmental Theory 1.Learning gender-related behaviors is part of children's cognitive development 2.Developed from Piaget’s Cognitive Development a.0-2 year-olds have no gender identity. b.Eventually children learn correct labels for themselves & others. c.Gender constancy is an important learning 3.Problem: research indicates that gender constancy does not necessarily develop before other gender knowledge 4.Advantage: it correctly predicts gender stereotyping which is common among children.

D. Gender Schema Theory 1.Children develop schemata for gender. What’s a schema? 2.Gender-related behaviors appear from: a.general cognitive development b.adoption of schemata related to gender. (Children come to understand masculinity and femininity, and they attend to and come to behave in ways consistent with their schema.) 3.Gender schemata influence information processing, memory, and attitudes, causing gender stereotyping.

Stereotyping Preconceived Notion of Group Traits Consistent Information Inconsistent Information Retained Information Mostly Forgotten or Seen as an Exception Stereotype Strengthened No Effect on Stereotype

IV. YJU: Which one is best?