The Gendered Self

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The Gendered Self
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Traditional Clusters of M/F Traits

• Male
• aggressiveindependent
• unemotional
• decision-maker
• dominantcompetitive
• logical
• not verbal
• strong
• brave
• outgoingsloppy

• Female
• passive
• dependent
• emotional
• easily influenced
• submissive
• not competitive
• illogical
• verbal
• weak
• afraid
• shy
• neat

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What is Gender Difference?

• Are differences biologically determined?
• Are differences socially constructed?
• Both?

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Devors Key ClaimBecoming Members of Society

• Gender identity / role is constructed by society
  and taught to us
• Not biologically determined
• Evidence- study of language systems

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Language Systems Reveal

• How gender rules are - established and enforced
  by society
• How important rules are
• How persistent they are in society

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Gender Socialization Language Research

• Children by 2 yearsrecognize themselves as
  members of gender group, can assign gender of
  otherstend to see categories as fluid
• Children at 5 7 yearschildren view gender as
  fixedcategorize on basis of role information
  rather than anatomy
• Most Salient Qualities are Gender Prescriptions

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Importance Conveyed By

• Prescriptions- the gender rules for how each
  sex should behave
• Proscriptions
• - what is forbidden or viewed as inappropriate

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Process of Becoming Gendered

• Generalized Others
• - gender behaviors as defined by society
• - self-monitoring
• Significant Others
• - family, friends, close contacts define- may
  serve to reinforce or help resist

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M/F Clusters of Attributes Viewed As

• Binary complements
• - male and female difference completes each
• Fixed, Unchanging
• Connected to Theory of Natural Law

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Religious Roots of M/F Attributes

• Christian Teachings -Augustine s Interpretation
  of the Fall
• Eve as Inferior Being
• Adam as Vulnerable to Her
• -Chain of Being

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Problem Posed by Research

• M/F attributes displayed by either gender
• Cross gender behaviors ignored or labeled
  inappropriate depending on larger social forces-
  example womens place in the workforce WWI and
  WWII
• Attributes associated more with subordinate or
  dominant status (in either gender)

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Quote 1 Female as Inferior Being

• Conceptual thought is exclusive to the masculine
  intellect but it is no deprecation of a woman to
  state that she is more sensitive in her emotions
  and less ruled by her intellect. We are merely
  stating a difference, a difference which equips
  her for the special part for which she was cast.
  . . .her skull is also smaller than mans and,
  so of course, is her brain.
• T.Lang, The Difference Between a Man and a Woman
  (1971)emphasis mine

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Traditional M/F Brain Theory

• Male brain is right-hemisphere dominated- account
  ing for superior visual/spatial abilities
• Female brain is interconnected- accounting for
  superior verbal and emotional abilities

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Problem with Gendered Brain Theory

• Which sphere accounts for male superiority
  changes
• Ignores evidence of no sex differences in brains
  of humans in favor of differences found in the
  brains of rats
• Example Geschwind and Behan - male cortex 3
  thicker on right than left

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How Study Was Interpreted

• In the male rat, it is necessary to have greater
  spatial orientation to interact with a female rat
  during estrus and to integrate that input into a
  meaningful output.
• Geschwind and Behan (1982)

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Translation

• When having sex with a female, the male needs to
  be able to look around in case a dangerous
  predator, such as her husband, walks in on them.
• Carol Travis, The Mismeasure of Woman

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Problem with Gendered Brain Research

• What the evidence doesnt support
• - abilities are binary or opposite complements
• What the evidence does support - two spheres
  are interdependent (both/and)
• Example math ability requires visual/spatial
  and reasoning skills

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Same Tune Different Gender

• Female Superior Theory- men warlike,
  planet-destroying sex- women empathic,
  planet-saving sex
• Problem perpetuates gendered theory problems
  just changes the tune