The family begin the process of socialisation, and therefore create gender identity. They do this predominantly through use of gender scripts; from the beginning of a baby’s life, it is normal for parents to paint a child’s room either blue or pink, depending on whether they are a boy or a girl—this is one of the first things that create gender identity. Gender identity can also be created through the process of imitation. If a boy sees his father going out to work and being the main breadwinner, this is how he will believe that males should act and will there behave similarly. Conversely, if females see their mothers staying at home, caring for the children and the home, this is how they will believe they should act. Parsons suggested that the family socialises children into their roles that are reflective of their natural characteristics, describing male behaviour as “instrumental”, and female behaviour as “expressive”.
The media is one way in which the creation of gender identity is reinforced through the secondary socialisation process. It promotes gender scripts heavily, pushing stories of men doing masculine duties and women doing feminine ones; for example, it is rare for in advertisements for cleaning products there to be a man advertising—in spite of a few exceptions—it is women in these adverts, showing that the women should take on the expressive role and take care of the home. Another way in which the media reinforce gender identity is through role models. The media often promote certain people as role models for people to adopt similar behavioural traits. David Beckham, for example, is a man who is seen as promoting the modern view that men can hold both masculine traits—playing football, coinciding with “laddish” culture—as well as paying attention to some feminine traits such as grooming.
Marxists would argue that the ruling class use the media as a way of pushing their beliefs in mass onto the world, in order to create the dominant ideology in their favour. Which supports the argument that gender identity is social constructed, as a dominant ideology can be formed as a result of exposure to these values that are held by the bourgeoisie.
Ergo, gender identity is created through primary socialisation—the family is the starting point for gender identity to be formed and is the first learning of the norms and values attached to masculinities and femininities. It is reinforced through secondary socialisation—media being one example of this, pushing gender scripts and role models onto the world, supplementing the same norms and values the family teaches.
by
patrickctucker (student)
