#5

The video below consists of young children (both boys and girls) being questioned about their gender.  It is said in the beginning of the clip that most two year old children know for sure what sex they are.   The children are also questioned on the "roles" boys and girls are expected to have.  At one point the interviewer asks these children to point to a certain doll that is known for a certain "role."  There comes another scene when the dolls are positioned in a way that looks like the opposite gender.  When asked about the dolls positions, one of the kids disagrees that this would be okay.

In class we talked about how the definition of a role is a behavior, obligation and privilege attached to a status.  There was also the theory behind Status Inconsistency.  The theory is that statuses come with built in norms. When there are violations of these norms, we see them not fitting into our expectations.  An example in class was a 15 year old becoming a college freshman.  Relating this idea back to the video, the violation would be a boy wearing a dress or a girl wearing boy cloths.  

#4


Gender Development is all about how female and male children are "supposed to act."  In this first picture, it shows the stereotype that in order to be classified in the male gender, there is this expectation of  being tall and muscular.  On the other side of this, the female gender expectation is to typically be the teacher and be the one to take care of the children.

In class we learned about Socialization.  Gender Socialization is learning about society's "gender map." There are different Agents of Socialization that help shape your identity.  An example would be your family class and work.  There are situations today where it is common for one parent to stay at home while the other one works.  Sometimes a family will consist of only one parent/guardian.  So, the picture is stereotypical because you could have a situation where the man has to be feminine and stay at home to take care of the children.

 "Boys can't cry and need to be manly"...."Girls need to act ladylike"...In this case it's "Boys are football players"..."Girls are cheerleaders."  This next picture is another example of the Gender Development's role in what boys and girls can do.

  

#3/2

So in my last blog, I had posted a website that mentioned how there are "expectations" to being female and male.  These "expectations" are believed to be one of the reasons Gender Roles are an issue. This video, from the TV show What would you do?, shows an example of how the expectations effect our society.  You will see a little boy trying on a girly costume and a girl trying on a boyish costume.  The mom's job is trying to discourage the child from wearing the costume.  When you watch the video you will see how other people will respond to the child's behavior. 

In class we talked a lot about Culture.  The difference between Culture Relativism and Ethnocentrism is that in Culture Relativism, we see people trying to appreciate another group, culture or way of life.  However in Ethnocentrism, it is hard to look at another viewpoint and people think their culture does a better job in doing things.   Let's say we split our own culture into two different groups.  One group has gender roles with expectations and one doesn't.  Most likely we would see more of Ethnocentrism.