Gender typing
Encyclopedia
Gender typing attempts to make distinctions made between males, females and other genders as defining characteristics of society. Though societies differ in which roles they assign to each gender, roles are often allocated on the basis of gender, and its perceived capabilities. Males and females are expected to acquire gender/sex specific skills, and either male or feminine personality traits, based on how society views and defines individuals.

Definition

Gender typing projects societies expectations regarding people's behavior based upon their biological sex.

Acquisition

Gender typing is most typical during the formative years of developing one's identity. Through social learning theory
Social learning theory
-Theory:Social learning theory is derived from the work of Albert Bandura which proposed that social learning occurred through four main stages of imitation:* close contact* imitation of superiors* understanding of concepts* role model behavior...

 children learn gender roles and behaviors, and begin to gender type. Through such reinforcing statements as "Big boys don't cry" or "You're such a good girl, being such a good mommy to your toys," children realize what is typical of the male and female gender and gender type other traits and behaviors as they try and discover whether they belong in 'girl world' or 'boy world.' Gender typing begins as early as age 2 or 3, as children are just beginning to distinguish between male and female voices, and develop a sense of language. Children at ages 2–4 are gender typing by the clothes they see other children wear, hairstyles and what toys are okay for boys to play with and what toys girls play with. By age 5, a child now has the ability to gender type by observing beavior, traits and tools used by men and women. A child may associate a man with the words aggressive, brave, autocrat, dominant and independent, a woman with the words emotional, sentimental, fragile, dependent and submissive. In many languages, words are masculine or feminine ("la primavera" or "el invierno"), everything in the child's world takes on a female or male presence and is gender typed. The Cognitive development theory is also important in forming one's gender identity through gender typing. Through this theory, it is explained how children socialize themselves with the gender(s) they have come to identify as. This is further emphasized by the social learning theory
Social learning theory
-Theory:Social learning theory is derived from the work of Albert Bandura which proposed that social learning occurred through four main stages of imitation:* close contact* imitation of superiors* understanding of concepts* role model behavior...

, or observations of these self-selected peers behaviors.

Cognitive factors in gender typing

Gender typing is a mental process, it is influenced by several cognitive factors.

1.) KOHLBERG'S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY
a.) Child notices physical and behavioral clues, and classifies herself as a girl;
b.) the child then finds it rewarding to behave in gender-appropriate manner and imitate same-gender models.
EXAMPLE: A girl says, "I am a girl because I am more like my mother and other girls than like boys; therefore I want to dress like a girl, play girl games, and feel and think like a girl."

THREE STAGES:
A.) Gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...

: Recognizing that you are a boy or a girl; this then organizes incoming information. This occurs between age 2 and 3. Recent research: Even in early infancy, babies male and female faces as being in different categories; but they don't think of themselves as being in one category or the other. By age 2, they identify traits as being male or female (men wear ties), but they do not see themselves as a belonging to a gender category until about age 3.

B.)Gender stability: Child accepts the idea that males remain male and females remain female; e.g., a girl will no longer think she will grow up to be like her father or Batman. This occurs between ages 4 and 5. Children of this age still have some gaps in their understanding. Two 4-year-olds:
Jeremy wears a barrette to nursery school. Another boy accuses him of being a girl because "only girls wear barrettes." Jeremy pulls down his pants to show that he really is a boy. The other boy replies, "Everyone has a penis; only girls wear barrettes."

C.) Gender constancy: Recognizing that superficial changes in appearance or in activities will not change a person's gender. A boy who wears a dress is still a boy; a girl who plays football is still a girl. A child who understands gender constancy would not suppose that wearing a barrette makes one a girl.

This theory has been empirically confirmed cross-culturally.

2.) GENDER-SCHEMA THEORY: AN INFORMATION-PROCESSING APPROACH
Children develop schemas or naive theories that help them organize gender differences and gender roles. They tell children what kinds of information to look for in the environment and how to interpret this information.
EXAMPLE: 5- and 6-year-old children shown gender-consistent (boy playing with train) or gender-inconsistent (girl sawing wood). A week later, children distorted the information from the gender inconsistent pictures: They said that they had seen a boy sawing wood. Memory for gender consistent pictures was better, and children were more sure that they remembered it correctly. Boys who have gender constancy pay more attention to TV characters of the same sex.

Gender schemas are more important for younger children because their schemas are more rigid. Some people are more "gendered" in their thinking than others.

3.) COMPARISON OF KOHLBERG'S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL AND GENDER-SCHEMA THEORIES

Kohlberg predicts that achievement of gender constancy should influence children's gender-typed choices. As a result, it predicts that before age 5-7 there should be little or no preference for gender-typed activities. This is massively contradicted by observation of children's behavior.
Gender schema theory does not make this prediction. It proposes that children simply need to be aware of basic information about gender, such as identifying activities as gender appropriate. Children who identify themselves as being a boy or a girl engage in more gender-appropriate behavior, and they do this around age 2, way before they achieve gender stability or constancy. Achievement of gender identity is sufficient to result in gender-typed play.

Some data indicate that children engage in gender-typed play before they have gender identity. This is compatible with biological theories that boys are simply attracted to certain types of toys and activities independent of cultural labeling.

Problems with gender typing

The APA defines gender typing as "expectations about people's behavior that are based on their biological sex," This can often result in problems, because the gender identity of an individual may not be in line with their biological sex, when they do not fulfill stereotypes or behaviors gender type, there can be a dissonance that causes problems.

While the most extreme examples of gender typing begin to cease around 6 years old, problems can also arise with gender typing. As children gender type the roles typical of a specific gender, their gender identity can come into question when they compare themselves to others. These children can either adjust their behavior to fit the gender role
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...

 or as a result develop gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less severe manifestations of gender dysphoria...

 .

Relation to gender identity and gender role

Gender typing is seen more as a way of viewing others, through the ways they identity with a specific gender through stereotypes typical of a specific gender. Such stereotypes can include the idea that girls wear heels and skirts, while boys wear pants and don't wear heels. Gender Identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...

 on the other hands is not how others are viewed or assessed, but how an individual views themselves, and decides which gender to identify with. The gender that one can identify with is not always clearly cut male and female, but can also include one identifying as a transgender. Gender Role
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...

is set of expectations (norms) about a gender, defining how those in that gender group ought to behave. While very similar to gender typing, it is the ominous ideas behind a specific gender, as opposed to the actual thought process of acquiring these ideas about how a gender behaves, and applying them to one's own life. Gender roles are what is assumed when gender typing.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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