(G.C Davenport, ESSENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY, chapter five, page 116.)
When a child is born their gender role (set of expectations to say how they should think, act, feel.) is based on their gender identity (sense of being male/female), which is usually based on what sex the child’s genitalia reflects.
When we look at children who have Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, it is interesting to see that some individuals develop in a feminine direction and acquire a sense of identity as female but others are brought up as males. The child’s upbringing was based purely on judgements about their genitals, which makes me doubt the theory above.
Depending on the case, the child’s behaviour could have been seen as boyish, rather than tomboyish and the child will have acquired the role given to it.
Most people believe that our gender role is the result of our environmental influences, particularly the way we are treated by our parents. A child’s gender role is made clear through observation and imitation of gender behaviour.
“Ones gender is a product of socialization”
G.C Davenport, ESSENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY, chapter five, page 115.)
Single parents and their children constitute a rapidly increasing population. So I have found myself asking the question,
“Would I little girl raised by her father alone be tomboyish?”
Answer: Not necessarily and I am proof.
Single mothers and fathers need to establish strong support networks, personal friendships, and new social networks, and work on improving their self-esteem. Single parent families have a greater appreciation of responsibility in being the primary parent. They show more concern about day care, more interest in education and protection of their children, and more discipline orientation. Bringing up a family as single parents is tough work. However, with special effort, and the support of individuals, communities and institutions around them, single parent families can be very successful.
Sigmund Freud claims that moral feelings are learned from our parents through identification. It makes sense that children should learn appropriate behaviour from the important people around them.
Freud emphasises emotional development with his theories, his psychoanalytic theory was designed to account for gender development. Freud believed that identification played a huge role in the development of gender stereotypes.
Freud’s studies led to him to see personality consisting of three parts- the id, ego and super ego. His psychoanalytic theory of personality shows how a child proceeds through psychosexual stages. During each stage certain body parts are particularly sensitive to sexual stimulation and the child’s limbo is focused on these parts.
- Oral stage- mouth
- Anal stage- anus
- Phallic stage- genital region
Freud believed that personality and its three parts motivate behaviour.
Freud’s phallic stage is important for moral development, during this stage the oedipal conflict occurs. Resolution of the Oedipus conflict in boys is strong but a little girl’s resolution of penis envy is never complete.
Frustration or over indulgence in any stage may result in fixation when some of the child’s limbo remains permanently locked in one stage and the method of obtaining satisfaction, that characterized that stage will dominate their adult personality which will affect their adult behaviour.
As a child interacts with the world their personality is formed.
Children internalise society’s expectations of them with behavioural differences that can be observed between boys and girls at a young age. Males are discouraged from expressing their feelings and there is pressure on them to appear strong.
The world of a child is not gender neutral; as it should be Gender role stereotyping is evidence of this. When we look at how young children learn to approach and play with toys we see that boys are encouraged to play with cars and girls to play with dolls.
(Above taken from Internet website)
The importance of play is reflected by the role it plays in development. Children are encouraged to play with gender appropriate toys but I have to ask myself why parents would rather have their son play with a gun rather than a doll.
Some studies have linked gunplay with aggressive behaviour and it is interesting to see (the table below) that boys are more aggressive than girls at a young age
Some child health professionals encourage parents to limit this type of play. Concern about guns also include potential confusion with real ones, which could lead to someone getting seriously injured.
The media is also seen to be a major influence on behaviour. The way television affects a child depends on the child’s age and what stage of cognitive development they are at. As a child watches television they absorb the program and then they interpret it to how they saw it. Some cartoons that are violent such as “itchy & scratchy”, which is shown on “The Simpson’s ” shows a cat and mouse attack each other and put each others body parts in food blenders etc. It’s a bit disturbing to some people but children find it hilarious. I think this is because it is unlikely in real life and depending on the age of the child, they will know that this sort of behaviour is not rewarded.
Boys need to be parented in a different way from girls. Home, society and education have failed boy’s badly- these failures lead to unhappy men who cannot fully become happy, responsible emotionally confident adults.
There is a lot of research comparing the abilities and behaviours of males and females. As we consider the behaviour of boys and girls we have to consider how they differ in their behaviour.
Albert Bandura believed aggression reinforced by family members was the most prominent source of behaviour modelling. He reports that children use the same aggressive tactics that their parents illustrate when dealing with others. Children learn to act aggressive when they model their behaviour after witnessing violent acts of adults, especially family members. Bandura is most famous for his Bobo doll experiment, in this experiment; he had children witness a model aggressively attacking a plastic clown called the Bobo doll. Bandura found that the children imitated the aggressive behaviour.
There are many sex differences between boys and girls and one of the most comprehensive studies was conducted by, Maccoby and Jacklin (1974). They discover there were only four significant differences between the sexes. Although the differences were small they showed there is an overlap in the behaviour of boys and girls.
Although the study by Maccoby and Jacklin was in depth Shaffer (1993) pointed out,
“First, girls show more emotional sensitivity…. Second, girls are less venerable developmentally than boys, and are less likely to suffer from learning disabilities, various language disorder, or hyperactivity. Third, boys tend to be more physically active than girls. Fourth, girls tend to be more timid than boys…”
(PSYCHOLOGY FOR A2 LEVEL, M.W. ESYWICK, page 698)
In conclusion I would like to say, that I believe that behaviour is learned from society through the process of reinforcement and modelling. Behaviours such as, Sex-role behaviour can be learned by vicarious reinforcement. When you think about it makes sense for a person to keep doing things they are rewarded for and to stop doing things we are not.
I found these quotes below and I agree with both of them on this subject.
“In the theory of gender I began from zero. There is no masculine power or privilege I did not covet. But slowly, step-by-step, decade-by-decade, I was forced to acknowledge that even a woman of abnormal would cannot escape her hormonal identity.
(Paglia, Camille, 1947 American Author Critic Educator)
(Taken from: www.borntomotivate.com)
Except for their genitals, I don't know what immutable differences exist between men and women. Perhaps there are some other unchangeable differences; probably there are a number of irrelevant differences. But it is clear that until social expectations for men and women are equal, until we provide equal respect for both sexes, answers to this question will simply reflect our prejudices.
(Weisstein, Naomi)
(Taken from: www.borntomotivate.com)
By
Joanne Reid