Introduction:
Gender socialization is a process by which females and males are informed about the norms and the behaviours which are to be associated with their sex. It is the process by which a person is taught how to behave socially according to their gender, based on their biological sex on their birth. Most of the gender differences are mainly due to differences in socialization than due to biological and genetic factors. The result of gender socialization is gender stereotypes. There are certain norms which are expected to be followed in socialization according to their gender from birth. If there is any child or adult not acting according to the stereotypes of their gender then they are cold-shouldered by their peers for being different. The individuals believe that gender is just not masculine and feminine binary but it is fluid and not a rigid. There is a division of people into various categories like male and female according to the socio-cultural phenomenon. Each category is associated with certain roles stereotypes, expectations, etc.
The behaviour differences between genders are attributed is to socialization according to social scientist and sociologist. The process of transferring believes, values, norms and behaviours to group members is known as group members. The most important period of socialization in and individual is childhood. In this stage of life, the adults guide the children the method to behave so that they are complying with social norms. While guiding them the gender of the individual is kept in mind by gender we mean the biological sex which is assigned at the time of work. Gender socialization is merely the process of teaching and instructing females and males as per the norms, values, believes and behaviour of group members.
Development
Gender socialization of a child begins right from birth. Depending upon the sex of the child preparations are be done like for a girl room is painted pink and for a boy, it is painted blue in colour. Gender socialization arises due to gender stereotypes. A parent right from the birth depending upon the gender helps their child to socialize as expected by the norms set by society. For example, girls are expected to be neat and clean, quiet, submissive, polite, obedient, etc. while on the other hand boys can be outspoken, loud as the child starts growing their gender stereotypes become very apparent which can be observed from their style of dressing, hobbies and choice of leisure activities. Girls and boys who do not behave socially as expected by society according to their gender are shunned away by their peer groups for being different in their attitude. When they are shunned by their peer groups they have negative thoughts due to which their self-esteem lowers, they feel lonely, they have FOMO (fear of being missed out) etc. some people do not feel that they fall into the gender binary that is male and female binary these people are identified as transgender. They feel that their identity of gender does not match with their biological sex. These identities indicate that gender is fluid and not a rigid binary. The fluidity of gender tells us how gender norms are learned and whether they are expected or rejected by a socialized individual.
There is no inherent proof of gender as proposed by social constructivists. It is only constructed as per the expectations of a particular gender socially expected and their performance as per the gender assigned to them at the time of birth. Acting according to gender is fundamentally a social relationship. Gender is always internalized and it acquires significance for the individuals. Some individuals want to feel like masculine while others like to feel feminine. The social constructionists tell that within a social context categories are formed so social relation is in some was due to the effect of gender. When we are in contact with someone our behaviour is evaluated and categorized on the parameter of gender. Basically gender is interactional which is developed through social interactions rather than individuals. People are judging us as male or female by our behaviour.
Cisgenders are those people whose gender identity aligns with their sex organs while transgenders are those people whose gender identity do not align. New legal frontiers are opening on the bases that male, female gender binary as there is a dispute in gender identities. As per the law, it discriminates individuals who identify themselves as the opposite of their biological sex or not identified as either male or female. The gender identity is basically how one perceives one’s own gender and also how one presents one’s gender in public.
Comparison of Third Gender with other Countries
In India, a person who is neither male nor female is considered as hijra who is the third form of gender. They do not enjoy the same respect and acceptance as cisgender (male/female). In Polynesian societies, apart from male and female the third gender which is the natural gender is called Fa’afafine. They are not discriminated and are not looked down, they are biological males but their sense of dressing and behaviour is typical of a female. They are physiologically not able to reproduce. In Oman societies, the third gender is known as xanith. They are male, homosexual prostitutes who dress like males and they wear pastel colours. But their behaviour is like a female. Xanith can interact with women but men cannot. As per the social role theory, the social structure is the underlining force which distinguishes genders. The division of labor between the two sex in a society is based on sex-differentiated behavior.
Interaction of an Individual With Each Other
There is no universal generalized statement about gender roles. This means that what maybe true of gender roles in one cultural group of one country may not be true for another cultural group. The gender norms are imbued in infants from childhood. Whatever example is being put in front of an individual family is also an important part of socialization. For example, if a child growing in a family sees that the father is the bread binner while the mother is a homemaker then the child will accept this concept as the social norm. Gender socialization is a life long process of inheriting, interpreting and disseminating norms, ideologies and customs. The socialization process is a continuous process taking place throughout life and it gets renegotiated from time to time. The gender socialization is of two types :
- Primary socialization: which is right from the birth of the child to adolescent.
- Secondary socialization: is the one which is taking place throughout life and which may be added on as one encounters with new groups.
Socialization is instilled from birth according to their gender. For example, it is being believed that female babies like pink things so their room is painted pin and gifts they get are also mostly in pink colour, while male babies like blue things so their room is also pained in blue and the gifts they receive are also blue. As the children grow up if a boy gets a football and a girl gets a teddy bear, the children accept the gender norms of society and this is also socializing. The dressing sense, toys with which they play also indicates the acceptance of the gender norms by the child. The manner in which a male communicates with another male is different from how female communicates with each other. The gender culture differences inferences the manner by which individuals of different genders communicate as per the Maltz and Broker’s research, the games which children play contributes to socializing children into feminine and masculine cultures. For example, when girls play house it promotes the personal relationship and they play as what they observe is going on at home and boys have the tendency to play competitive teams sports. So these differences result in gender cultures and the children operate and communicate as they observe what is going on around them. Females have the tendency to self-disclose in detail more intimately than males. Females also communicate with others with more affection, intimacy and confidence than male. This means that female communicate more better than male. When a person communicates with their own gender the manner in which they communicate is different than as they communicate with the opposite gender.
Males may interact with only those males whose interest is common to theirs while the interaction of female with other female is based on mutual support. The males while communicating do not discuss the weakness and vulnerability than female. This is the reason why the friendship among female is more closer than males.
Research on ecological perspective, these influences come from the closest environments mainly family and school as the child spend most of the time in school and with the family and then media and cultural values play a very huge role in development and understanding of the child these all helps the child in socializing with other individuals. As the biological difference occurs in women and men there is a different experimental experience from the ones the child gets from birth. The school also plays a role in transmits gender stereotypes through the so-called hidden curriculum, which would include implicit and subtle messages, in some cases like situations of power of subordination, what is expected from each child is to function of their social origin or ethnicity as well as whether they are a boy or a girl. It is observed that from the very early age when children are asked to assign masculine attributes the gender role they prefer is internalized traditional. When asked to assign the masculine attribute the boys were more aware of the expectations surrounding to masculine and on the other hand girls associated it with femininity to women more often than boys. The younger children apply for the gender role as the increasing acquisition of knowledge in the social field, but the older children have increasing strength of bias for this. The conclusion proven to the research was male gender role is more rigid and less malleable.
Children’s at a young age often use gender stereotypes to make inferences about others who are elder than them. While making judgments on the other person they apply their gender stereotypic expectations. It is believed that both female and male raters rated women and men are equally high level in the instrument of competence. Gender stereotypes are evident in self-characterization with the female raters rating themselves less agentic than male, on the other hand, males raters rating themselves less in communal than females.
Conclusion
In gender socialization from birth, children learn gender stereotypes and the roles they have acted from their parents and society. Boys learn to play their role from the physical and social environment by physical strength or dexterity and the girls they learn from what they observe is going on around them in the environment. The gender roles as described by world health organization is socially constructed activities, roles, behaviours and attributes which a society considers being appropriate for men and women. The liberal feminist theory states that due to operation and discrimination the women are deprived of equal work experiences than men because they are not given equal opportunities on the basis of legal rights. In spite of the increasing rate of egalitarian attitudes in modern society related to sexism and gender equality. There is still a pay gap between men and women is declining after the inculcation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 1964. This problem of the gender pay gap and unequal pay gap and unequal work opportunities is solved by the Equal Rights Amendment which guarantees equal rights of women constitutionally. A child’s development and socialization begin from a very young age, traditional gender roles, society must make an effort to promote egalitarian environments that will play a protective factors for future psychological, social and professional development. To avoid gender inequalities faced by adulthood numerous laws and regulations that seek to promote equal opportunities for men and women throughout their life and to reduce sexism in all its aspects. Stereotypes exist in other social factors due to which certain attributes, expectations and behaviours are associated in biased manner in men and women.
0 Comments