Gender roles of men and women. Prejudice against women in careers exists regardless of the gender of the person evaluating them.

Gender roles are roles determined by the differentiation of people in society based on gender. Gender role- differentiation of activities, statuses, rights and responsibilities of individuals depending on their gender; refers to the type of social roles, is normative, expresses certain social expectations (expectations), and manifests itself in behavior. At the cultural level, they exist in the context of a certain system of gender symbolism and stereotypes of masculinity and femininity. Gender “roles are always associated with a certain normative system, which the individual assimilates and refracts in his consciousness and behavior.”

Thus, gender roles can be viewed as external manifestations of patterns of behavior and attitudes that allow other people to judge whether an individual is male or female. In other words, it is a social manifestation of an individual's gender identity.

Gender roles refer to the type of prescribed roles. The status of a future man or future woman is acquired by a child at birth, and then, in the process of gender socialization, the child learns to perform one or another gender role. Gender stereotypes existing in society have a great influence on the process of socialization of children, largely determining its direction. Under gender stereotypes understand standardized ideas about behavior patterns and character traits that correspond to the concepts of “masculine” and “feminine.”

The gender stereotype, which concerns the consolidation of family and professional roles in accordance with gender, is one of the most common stereotypes that prescribe standard models of role behavior for men and women. In accordance with this stereotype, for women the main social roles are considered to be family roles (mother, housewife), for men - professional roles (employee, worker, breadwinner, breadwinner). It is customary to evaluate men by their professional success, and women by the presence of a family and children. Conventional wisdom says that a "normal" woman wants to get married and have children and that all other interests they may have are secondary to these family roles. To fulfill the traditional role of a housewife, a woman must be sensitive, compassionate and caring. While men are expected to be achievement-oriented, women are expected to be people-oriented and to strive for close interpersonal relationships.

One of the grounds for the formation of traditional gender roles is the division of labor based on gender. The main criterion in this division is the biological ability of women to bear children. In modern societies, the social need for the division of labor based on women’s reproductive ability, which existed in archaic societies, has long disappeared. Most women work in the manufacturing sector outside the home, and men have long ceased to be only “warriors and hunters” who protect and feed their families. And yet, stereotypes about traditional gender roles are very stable: women are required to concentrate on the private (domestic) sphere of activity, and men are required to concentrate on the professional, public sphere.

An important role in the affirmation of the gender stereotype about the consolidation of social roles in accordance with gender was played by the concept of “natural” complementarity of the sexes by Talcott Parsons and Robert Bales, who considered the differentiation of male and female roles in structural and functional terms. According to their point of view, in a modern family, spouses must fulfill two different roles. The instrumental role is to maintain communication between the family and the outside world - this is a professional activity that brings material income and social status; The expressive role primarily involves caring for children and regulating relationships within the family. How are responsibilities distributed between spouses based on these two roles? Parsons and Bales believe that a wife’s ability to bear children and care for children uniquely determines her expressive role, and a husband who cannot perform these biological functions becomes a performer of an instrumental role.

This theory contributed to the integration of socio-anthropological and psychological data into a single scheme. However, feminist criticism has shown that the basis of the dichotomy between instrumentality and expressiveness - for all its empirical and everyday persuasiveness - is not so much natural gender differences as social norms, the adherence to which constrains the individual self-development and self-expression of women and men.

Traditional gender roles hinder personal development and the realization of existing potential. This idea was the impetus for the development of Sandra Bem androgyny concept, according to which a person, regardless of his biological sex, can have both masculinity and femininity traits, combining both traditionally feminine and traditionally masculine qualities. This allows us to distinguish masculine, feminine, androgynous models of gender roles. This idea was developed further, and J. Plec in his works began to talk about the splitting, or fragmentation, of gender roles. There is no single male or female role. Each person performs a number of different roles (wife, mother, businesswoman, etc.), often these roles may not be combined, which leads to intrapersonal role conflict.

Gender roles can be studied at three different levels. At the macrosocial level, we are talking about the differentiation of social functions by gender and the corresponding cultural norms. To describe the “female role” at this level means to reveal the specifics of a woman’s social position (typical activities, social status, mass ideas about women) by correlating it with the position of a man within a given society, system.

At the level of interpersonal relationships, the gender role is derived not only from general social norms and conditions, but also from the specific system of joint activity being studied. The role of a mother or wife always depends on how exactly responsibilities are distributed in a given family, how the roles of father, husband, children, etc. are defined in it.

At the intra-individual level, the internalized gender role is derived from the characteristics of a particular personality: the individual builds his behavior as a husband or father, taking into account his ideas about what, in his opinion, a man should be, based on all his conscious and unconscious attitudes and life experience.

Personal development presupposes her socialization, her mastery of a number of social roles that she may need in the present and future in order to become a member of society. In order to successfully self-actualize, a child needs to master roles that will be useful for his professional self-determination - an attentive student, an accurate performer and a confident leader, a thoughtful researcher or a creator open to everything new. But no less important is personal self-determination, which, among other things, will require mastering gender roles.

A person’s gender is not only a set of specific chromosomes, but also a set of social roles prescribed by society for men and women, and life satisfaction is largely related to whether an individual’s sense of self coincides with the requirements put forward to her and her behavior by society.

When professionals start talking to parents about the development of their children's gender behavior, parents often begin to worry, because in their minds the concept of gender is confused with the concept of gender and sexual orientation, and in such serious issues, most adults would like their child not to give them surprises . At the same time, modern researchers are inclined to believe that family upbringing rarely influences a person’s perception of himself as a representative of a certain sex (gender identity) and his views on what gender of partners will suit him (sexual orientation). But the formation of behavior and lifestyle, worldview and attitudes that allow a person to express himself in everyday life as a masculine (masculine) or feminine (feminine) being is directly influenced by family and the immediate environment.

Parents give their children the first lessons of masculinity or femininity even before the child is able to recognize himself not only as a person of a certain gender, but as a person in general. The color-coded clothing assigned to boys and girls in our culture, gender-specific toys, and the design of a child's room are all intended to educate the individual to conform to her or his biological gender. By early childhood, your child already has time to get used to the fact that you constantly direct his or her behavior in line with your expectations: “Don’t cry, you’re a boy!”, “Don’t fight, you’re a girl!” By the end of the period of preschool childhood, a person, as a rule, already has not fully conscious, but well-established ideas about his preferred way of life, about the ratio of sociability and isolation that is comfortable for himself, and leadership qualities or gentleness of character are manifested. A six-year-old girl acting like a tomboy forces her parents to accept her as she is, whether they like it or not.

What makes children deviate from the usual course of development within socially approved frameworks? First of all, the growing personality is influenced by the family environment. A child can imitate, voluntarily or unwittingly, the behavior of one of the parents, and not always the parent of the same sex. Children occupy the niches that the current family situation offers them. Mom works two jobs, manages to combine this with housework without any help, is she active, cheerful and bosses everyone around? Dad is soft and reserved, spends a lot of free time on the couch watching TV, obeys mom unquestioningly, depends on her worries? Whose position will the child take? Regardless of gender, a child is highly likely to imitate the one behind whom he feels positional superiority, the one who benefits from the family situation as it is. If the father manipulates his family, demonstrating his helplessness, the child will take a passive position; if the mother manipulates others, suppressing any attempts to overthrow her power, then the child will try to mirror her masculinity, if not in the family, then among his peers.

In addition to direct imitation, the child’s relationship with a significant adult plays an important role. A girl who receives encouragement from her father only when she behaves like a boy (achieves something in sports, demonstrates courage, fortitude, or, for example, a love of fishing), and her achievements in “female disciplines” go unnoticed by him , will develop in a more masculine spirit than if her father encouraged her for any success. It is interesting that if a child does not receive extremely specific requirements from a parent in a form that is understandable to him, he strives to meet the expectations of his significant parent, guided by his own ideas about these expectations. For example, children left without parental care have mixed feelings towards anonymous relatives. It is not uncommon among such children to fantasize about a parent who was a socially significant figure, but could not take care of the child for objective reasons (the death of a parent, the kidnapping of a child, various kinds of dramatic events that separated them). Girls who fantasized about their father (pilot, film actor, criminal) showed more signs of masculinity and manliness than girls who imagined an imaginary mother (ballerina, wife of a famous person, singer). Thus, a significant adult demanded that the child meet his (the child’s) expectations even in complete physical absence.

Another important source of broadcasting norms of gender behavior is such a mouthpiece of public opinion as the media. In contrast to the direct influence of society, which offers teenagers a traditional view of the ideals of masculinity and femininity (a man should be strong, independent, courageous, active, strive for freedom and financial independence; a woman should be soft, caring, strive to look good and honor family values above all else) professional), the media do not pursue the goals of preserving traditions. Their goal is completely different - to sell goods, services, form opinions, and educate the young viewer into an ideal consumer. The media, in its own interests, imposes unrealistic patterns of behavior on young people, which is especially clearly seen in commercials. The young women in them have huge, perfectly furnished houses in which there is an exhibition cleanliness, while stylishly coiffed children, elite animals and a successful husband run around the house, and the owner looks like a supermodel, but has an important job, plays sports and spends a lot of time with friends. Thinking rationally, the girl understands that this picture cannot be an example to follow, it is unrealistic, but the advertisement is designed to touch the irrational, emotional sphere, to evoke a feeling of inferiority, a readiness to buy a product that will bring her closer to this beautiful, unattainable life of an ideal woman .

Young men are also subject to pressure from the media, which besieges them with pictures of successful peers: a young man, in the minds of commodity producers, barely out of the age of a teenager, begins to wear expensive suits, live in penthouses, enjoy the mass attention of beautiful women and buy only the best for himself. The fact that even with a good education a man of 21-25 years old, as a rule, cannot achieve such heights, is kept silent. There are no such forms of behavior that young people can embody on-screen ideals in their lives. All this information can do is to cause in a young man a sharp rejection of “long” paths to success, such as working in the real sector of the economy, to provoke him “not so much to be as to be known”: not to strive for goals appropriate to age, but to consume goods that which symbolize success earlier (and instead of) looking for opportunities for “quick money” before they become affordable.

As a result, adolescents' ideas about the behavior and lifestyle of a representative of their gender and age are greatly distorted. Dissatisfaction with oneself keeps entire industries afloat; young people intellectually understand that their real life generally corresponds to that of their peers, but unconsciously they still engage in the race for unattainable images imposed from the outside. This often leads to adolescents adopting forms of behavior that are a reaction to social pressure, but do not help them achieve their age-gender goals.

Some peoples of the North have genders, i.e. There are not two types of behavior assigned to social gender, as in our culture, but... five. Heterosexual women in women's clothing performing feminine functions; heterosexual men in men's clothing, with men's responsibilities; homosexual men in women's clothing; heterosexual men in women's clothing doing women's work; heterosexual women in men's clothing doing men's work. Why are there so many roles? Mainly because the society, the tribe, needs it. A man is not asked whether, as a boy, he wants to wear a woman's dress and tend the fire. When he was born, there were already enough boys in the tribe, but there were noticeably fewer of those who would do women’s work in 10-20-30 years. Therefore, society carries out its characteristic rituals and entrusts the child with a function that he will perform throughout his life, without caring whether this will make him happy. In our society, such dressing of a baby would be considered a gross violation of human rights and is therefore not practiced. But anyone can easily imagine a sign of the late Soviet era - powerful masculine women working on road repairs (society needs them, because men do not want to do hard work for money, and women agree and work conscientiously, in addition, they drink less). It is also easy to understand why modern urban culture gives rise to various types of fragile and aesthetically adjusted male fashionistas, and the larger the populated area, the more such characters there are in it. This is what society needs, of course. The higher the building density and crowding, the more pressing is the issue of regulating aggression. Populations of non-aggressive, non-competitive men in the physical sense, who invest their energy not in a fight for resources, but in self-improvement in intangible, intellectual, aesthetic, and creative terms, make big cities a safer place.

Thus, in order to meet the interests of society, it is not necessary to establish a separate gender; you can adjust the settings of those that already exist. At the same time, parents of children and adolescents with disabilities often make an attempt to turn their child into a being of zero gender - an ageless and sexless child. Working with adolescents with disabilities, we have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that they are subject to parental attempts to disguise and suppress what is associated with the behavior and appearance inherent in a particular gender. Boys were often timid, gentle, obedient, and dressed in what looked like a grandma's jacket. The girls, in turn, had their hair cut like boys and had no idea about jewelry, manicure or flirting, although their healthy peers were keen on just this and other aspects of life that were new to a growing girl. Adolescents with disabilities, studying in the same groups, but without guardians, demonstrated pronounced femininity and masculinity, not always in accordance with biological sex, but with great enthusiasm inherent in age.

The concerns of parents responsible for a special child are understandable. Some infantilism of their charges is also understandable: the one who is protected from society and surrounded by care, of course, will be more careless and childish. But there is something dishonest about trying to resist your child's femininity or masculinity in the interests of the family. You may suspect that your child is not mature enough socially and intellectually to become a teenager and all that that entails. But that's how most teenagers are. Perhaps you believe that your son or daughter will get into trouble because he does not have a clear understanding of the world of relationships. But if you keep it at your hem forever, he or she will never learn anything. Perhaps you believe that having difficulties with health and development, your child will never succeed as a man or as a woman, and in this case it is better for the mother to be nearby. But this is where you are wrong. Finding a person who can share sorrows and joys is equally difficult, but equally possible for young people with disabilities and healthy people of any age.

Don't make life difficult for your children.

It is not always easy for them to understand that the gap between who they are and what they are shown as a model is about the same scale as that of their healthy peers. Many young people do not want to hear that they are guided by false images, attributing all adversities and deprivations to a defect inherent in their health. “A man should have (hereinafter a list of luxury goods), but I do not have this and will not have it”; “A woman should look like this, but I am the complete opposite” - this is the typical idea of a teenager with disabilities about his place in society as a representative of his gender. In addition to distorted ideas about themselves, the media and social networks form in adolescents an idea of the desired behavior of a partner, which automatically makes any peer uncompetitive and unsuitable for a relationship. “We met with him three times, but he didn’t give me anything significant,” the young girl complains to the psychologist, “I’ll have to break up with him, but it’s a pity, I really liked him, it was fun with him.” When asked how she knows about the obligatory nature of gifts, the girl refers to the community in which she was “enlightened.”

Boys and girls who are trying to start dating their peers trust the stereotypes spread by anonymous online advisers, and as a result they are faced with the fact that their lives are out of control, that they are looking for something in people, not what they need. imposed by society. Teenagers discover that, having kissed a thousand frogs in search of their princess, it is difficult to remain a prince, since each new relationship breaks down more easily than the previous ones and meeting “their person” is almost impossible.

This problem is compounded by the fact that the older generation can no longer serve as an example and source of information for their children, since the pace and content of young people's daily lives have changed radically since their parents considered them youth. Boys and girls are trying to adopt the lifestyle they saw in American cinema and television shows, but this image has no cultural and historical roots in our country. For example, in an American school, a girl who has been on dates (meaning going out - a walk, a trip to the cinema, a cafe) with dozens of fans and has not chosen any of them - is popular, arouses a desire to imitate herself and the respect of her peers. In our culture, she will cause a mixed reaction - some of her classmates will consider her popular, the other part will be sure that the girl has tarnished her reputation and needs to stay away from her. The same mismatch of gender stereotypes occurs in other areas of life, and it is increasingly difficult for young people to understand each other correctly. After all, the established rules that parents followed disappeared, and in their place a complete confusion arose.

The only way out for teenagers who have reached a dead end in search of an ideal relationship is the need to listen more to their hearts than to public opinion, and to look for people who share their own ideas about how modern men and women should live. After all, only independent choice and acceptance of responsibility for it make a teenager a mature person in control of his life.

Kropivyanskaya S.O.

Humanity is changing. Changes affect even those things that, seemingly from time immemorial, have been and will remain unchanged. The gender roles of men and women are also undergoing changes. To be even more precise, in our time the boundaries between traditionally “masculine” and “feminine” are already difficult to distinguish.

The gender role and everything connected with it is a relatively new phenomenon and for our society remains a rather ambiguous and not fully understood category. Therefore, before delving into this topic, we need to define the basic concepts.

Biological sex– a set of genetically and hormonally determined characteristics of an organism, summarizing all its reproductive (sexual) characteristics that distinguish it from representatives of another biological sex and determine its role in the process of fertilization during sexual reproduction.

It is customary to talk about the existence of two types of biological sex: male and female.

Gender – social person's gender; characterization of a person in terms of masculinity (a set of physical, mental and behavioral characteristics considered masculine) or femininity (a set of qualities traditionally attributed to women or expected from women).

The modern world is dominated by binary gender system- dividing people into two opposing groups men and women.

It is interesting that not in all cultures gender is a significant social category, as in ours. There are societies where there are three or more genders, as well as many gender roles.

Gender role- view social roles, representing behavior, normative expected from male and female individuals. This behavior, which traditionally seen as appropriate for both men and women.

Social role- socially normalized behavior of a person who occupies a certain position in society and, in connection with this, has certain rights and responsibilities.

Thus, gender roles of men and women- these are forms of behavior expected by society from men and women.

But gender roles are not only expected, they are also:

are prescribed
are vaccinated (through upbringing and education),
are getting used to it
are being fulfilled
are violated
accepted or rejected by the individual.

There is another concept related to gender – gender identity.

Gender identity- a person’s internal sense of himself as a representative of one gender or another, that is, a man, a woman or a representative of another category.

How are the gender roles of men and women formed?

A person is born male or female only in the biological sense, in the social sense he becomes man or woman. There are no differences in the behavior of female and male infants. There is no significant gender difference between a man and a woman!

Initially, representatives of both sexes are simply people. The set of human characteristics and qualities is the same, divided into male and female qualities conditionally accepted in society.

A boy becomes a man because he educate as a man, they develop traditionally masculine traits and qualities, instill appropriate principles and goals, and teach masculine models of behavior. Likewise, a girl learns to be a woman.

Boys and girls brought up differently, they are expected to behave differently, reinforce the manifestations of different character traits, and make different demands.

Is it any wonder then that, growing up, men and women look at each other as beings from different planets? How can they understand each other if they are different and no one taught them mutual understanding? Only through self-education and acquiring personal communication experience.

Gender roles of women and men are changing over the course of history, have been and remain different in different cultures and societies, differ depending on the economy, politics, religion and other social factors in the life of a particular society. But we can still talk about some traditionality gender roles that have been passed down from generation to generation for centuries.

In our society, the gender roles of men are traditionally designated as “Breadwinner”, “Owner”, “Defender”. They persist, but it’s impossible not to notice that “soft”, even feminine, masculinity has been in fashion for a couple of decades. What is increasingly valued in men is not physical strength, activity, courage, and the ability to take risks, but intelligence, forbearance, restraint, the ability to communicate, empathize and care.

Traditional gender roles for women: “Homemaker”, “Mother”, “Wife”. Society expects a woman to be kind, patient, modest, gentle, caring, understanding, and “homey.” But how many women in our time are socially active, active, work on an equal basis with men, often earning more than men?! The breadwinner is no longer He, but She. In a woman, not only beauty, kindness and thriftiness are valued, but also the ability to earn money, efficiency, determination, resistance to stress, and courage.

The most common gender role of women in our society has no name. This role, characteristic of women who are representatives of the working class, appeared in our society and became entrenched in it in the twentieth century. You can call this role " Universal Soldier". A woman is required to be a wife, mother, housewife, worker, breadwinner, protector - ideal always and in everything and at the same time successful everywhere!

Consequences of the struggle for equal rights

Women's struggle for gender equality, which began at the end of the nineteenth century, ended with many women now working for themselves and for men, and men abdicating part of the responsibility for raising funds to support their families, while not considering themselves obligated to help women with their needs. home and in raising children.

A modern woman takes on too much and, “turning” into a man, complains: “There are simply no normal men left!”

The gender role of men is also undergoing significant changes these days. She getting closer to the traditional gender role of women, just like the gender role of women to men. Gender roles merge together.

Another trend is also observed. Men and women switch roles! For example, today it is becoming increasingly popular (especially in Western European countries) for men, rather than women, to go on maternity leave (and they do it voluntarily, of their own free will).

It was after women received equal rights with men that not equality, but a change in roles began to be observed.

Men and women legally have equal rights, but in fact remain unequal. A modern woman is more often both a Homemaker (the traditional role of a woman) and a Provider (the traditional role of a man), and a man is more often either a Provider or a Homemaker. This is what the movement and struggle for gender equality led to - to new inequality.

But the fact is that a man and a woman cannot be equal, because nature made them different! No matter how strong a person’s mind is and no matter how developed his personality is, he also biological being, nature also determines gender roles.

Even if a woman chooses a traditionally male gender role, and her man chooses a female one, there will come a time when their system goes wrong. This moment will be the birth of the child. No matter how feminine a man is, no matter how good he is at running a household and taking care of children, there is something that will never allow him to fully realize himself in the female role - he cannot become pregnant and give birth to a child.

If both spouses have the same rights and responsibilities, are completely equal, there will be no family! Who will take care of the children if both work? Who will bring money into the house if both are unemployed?

Women solve this problem by shouldering a double burden of responsibility, but judging by the number of unhappy women, unhappy families, divorces and children growing up without a father, it is not difficult to guess that this approach to solving the problem ineffective.

Freedom to be yourself

It would seem, why in our time, when a man and a woman are equal in rights, can freely, voluntarily, without the obligatory consent of relatives, choose each other and create a family of love, there are so many unhappy couples? Is it because, retreating from traditions and nature, people simply do not understand How they can continue to live.

When people don’t know what to do with freedom, it becomes a greater evil for them than the need to live under someone’s strict leadership. But freedom– this is the highest value, this is the opportunity to be yourself! A person today is free to choose who he should be and how he should live. He is not obliged to adhere to the gender role that is imposed and expected. Regardless of gender, it is important to be yourself!

If a girl likes to fight, why not become a professional boxer? If a boy likes to take care of younger children, why shouldn't he become a teacher? But the phrases “You’re a boy!” or “You’re a girl!” wean children understand yourself. As a result, the child speaks, acts and feels as expected, and not as he really experiences it.

The problem “I don’t know what to do with freedom of choice” grows out of the problem “I don’t know myself.”

Too traditional and strict, requiring strict adherence to social norms and stereotypical thinking, upbringing in childhood in adulthood leads to what is called gender role stress.

Gender role stress – This is a state of mental tension that occurs in the event of an inability to adhere to one’s gender role or, on the contrary, the need to adhere to behavior characteristic of the opposite gender role.

The trends observed today in developed countries are such that emphasizing gender differences is considered incorrect, since the traditional gender role has come to be understood as imposition the needs of society to the individual without taking into account his personal desires and goals. Society, imposing certain patterns of behavior on a person, deprives him of the opportunity to be himself, and therefore to be happy.

On the other hand, if all people behave only the way they want, without being guided by social norms and requirements for themselves as a representative of a certain gender, the world risks losing such important institutions for the continuation of the human race as marriage and family! After all, it was the emergence of traditional gender roles of men and women that once upon a time gave rise to monogamy, the traditional family and the responsibility to take care of one’s children until they grow up!

Poll for women. Do you adhere to traditional gender-role norms of female behavior?

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Subtitles

Gender role and gender identity

Gender role should be distinguished from gender identity: the first concept describes social expectations external to a person in connection with his gender, the second - a person’s internal sense of self as a representative of a particular gender. A person's gender identity and gender role may not be the same - particularly for transgender and intersex people. Adjusting one's gender role to one's gender identity is part of the transgender transition.

Gender roles in different cultures

Modern societies are dominated by a binary gender system - a way of social organization in which people are divided into two opposing groups - men and women. The binary gender system implies a strict correspondence between the sex assigned at birth and the gender role, as well as other parameters (in particular, gender identity and sexual orientation). As anthropological research shows, the establishment of such a correspondence is not universal: in many cultures, biological, in particular anatomical sex does not play a key role in determining the gender role or gender identity. It is not universal to single out only two genders. For example, many indigenous North American cultures recognize three or four genders and corresponding gender roles. In West African Yoruba culture, gender is not traditionally a significant social category, and social roles are determined primarily by age and kinship.

Even within close cultures or within the same culture, gender roles can vary markedly. For example, in European secular culture of the 18th and 19th centuries, women were expected to be weak and fragile, while in most peasant cultures, women were considered naturally strong and resilient. In Western (North American and Western European) middle-class cultures since the 1950s, the female gender role has been that of the housewife, and participation in productive work has been excluded for women. Yet at the same time and in the same societies, working outside the home was an expected and self-evident element of the gender role for working-class women. Women's gender roles in socialist societies also included a combination of work outside the home, housework, and family care.

Explanations of gender development

In the debate about the origins of gender roles and differences, there are two main points of view: supporters of biological determinism suggest that gender differences are determined by biological, natural factors, and supporters of social constructivism suggest that they are formed by society through the process of socialization. Various theories of gender development have been put forward in science. Biologically-based theories that explain differences in gender roles by evolution have not found convincing empirical support. Empirical research has also refuted psychoanalytic theories that explained gender development through the child's relationship with his parents. The strongest empirical support exists for cognitive and social-cognitive theories, which explain gender development as a complex interaction of biological, cognitive, and social factors.

Views on the origins of gender roles

Ordinary consciousness often represents the gender roles existing in a given society in a particular historical period as natural and natural. There is also much research that seeks to identify the biological basis of gender roles - in particular, to establish the biological origin of gender differences between men and women, as well as to find the biological causes of gender nonconformity. But the historical and anthropological knowledge accumulated to date does not support this point of view, since the diversity of ideas about gender and gender roles in the cultures of the world and throughout history is too great. At the same time, modern social sciences have collected a lot of data on how gender roles are formed under the influence of various social processes.

Biological determinism

The view that social phenomena are determined by biological factors is called biological determinism. A concept close to it is naturalization social practices - describes the process of interpreting social practices as facts of nature. Biological determinism regarding gender roles is expressed, for example, in widespread statements that motherhood is a woman's natural destiny, or that men are not naturally emotional.

Since the end of the 19th century, scientists from various scientific fields have conducted many studies on gender differences between men and women. Until the 1970s, the main goal of these studies was to confirm the biological nature of gender differences and justify the content of existing gender roles. However, the results of most studies show that there are many more similarities between men and women than differences. In a widely cited review study, psychologists Eleanor Maccoby and Carol Jacklin cited four dimensions on which differences were found between men and women: spatial ability, math ability, language skills, and aggressiveness. But even these detected differences are small and strongly depend on the methodology and conditions of the study.

Since the 1970s, scientists have also become interested in the causes of gender nonconformity, that is, violation of gender roles. In particular, research was carried out aimed at elucidating the biological causes of transsexuality. There are currently theories linking transsexuality to genetics, brain structure, brain activity, and androgen exposure during fetal development. However, the results of these studies are also controversial - for example, the identified features of the brain structure of transsexual people are not unique (similar differences are observed in homosexual people compared to heterosexual people), and there is evidence that the structure of the brain can change under the influence of life experiences.

Social constructivism

The view that gender roles are shaped, or constructed, by society belongs to the theory of social constructivism. The basis for studying the social nature and processes of constructing gender roles was laid, in particular, by the theoretical works of Simone de Beauvoir and Michel Foucault. Research on the social construction of gender roles shows how, in the process of socialization and interaction between people, those gender differences and expectations are formed that are perceived as natural and natural in ordinary consciousness.

According to recent research, the differences found between men and women are largely explained by social factors. For example, research reveals several reasons why women are less successful in mathematics than men: firstly, they lack confidence in their abilities, and secondly, they consider mathematics classes to be inappropriate for their gender role and refuse them even when show excellent abilities in this area, thirdly, parents and teachers encourage girls to do mathematics much less than boys. Thus, as some researchers have noted, gender stereotypes function as self-fulfilling prophecies: through socialization, people are taught information about gender roles that shapes their expectations of themselves, and as a result, they engage in gender-conforming behavior.

Biological theories

Biologically based explanations of gender development and differences are widespread. One of the most influential such theories, evolutionary psychology, attributes gender differentiation to heredity. The hereditary origins of gender roles are analyzed through preferences in choosing sexual partners, reproductive strategies, parental investment in caring for offspring, and male aggressiveness. From the point of view of this theory, modern gender roles are due to the successful adaptation of the ancestors of modern humans to differences in the reproductive tasks of men and women.

Empirical data refutes the main provisions of biological theories of gender development. Many researchers also criticize the methodology of biologically oriented research. Nevertheless, biological theories continue to be very popular, including among the general public. According to some authors, this is due to the fact that in many societies ordinary consciousness ascribes to biology the status of absolute truth. In addition, the provisions of biological theories correspond to gender stereotypes.

Reproductive strategies

According to evolutionary psychology, in the process of evolution, different reproductive strategies were fixed at the genetic level in men and women, dictated by the need to ensure the survival of humans as a biological species. The reproductive strategy of men is aimed at maximizing the spread of their genes, so men prefer to have many sexual partners and not waste time caring for offspring. Women's reproductive strategy is aimed at having few sexual partners who will be able to provide themselves and their offspring with the necessary resources for survival.

Many researchers question the very concept of reproductive strategy. From the point of view of the general theory of evolution, natural selection is determined by immediate practical benefits, and not by future goals. The assertion that ancient men sought to father as many children as possible, and ancient women sought to find reliable providers, suggests that they had a conscious or unconscious goal, which, according to some authors, contradicts the Darwinian functional explanation.

Other authors have noted that the evolutionary psychology hypothesis is not supported by empirical data. In particular, the assumption that ancient women did not have enough food during pregnancy and lactation looks quite convincing, but with the same success it can be assumed that in connection with this women developed increased abilities for spatial orientation and memory , which would allow them to find and remember the location of food sources. Additional information is required to substantiate any hypothesis about specific adaptive mechanisms. Such information could come from molecular studies of fossilized human remains or archaeological data, but evolutionary psychology does not offer such data. Some authors have noted that the concept of reproductive strategies represents an attempt to “retroactively” explain modern gender stereotypes.

Anthropological data also speak against the hypothesis of reproductive strategies. They show, in particular, that reproductive behavior is influenced by cultural beliefs about the human body and reproduction. In cultures where reproduction is believed to require insemination by multiple partners, women have sexual intercourse with different partners, and these partners are not jealous of each other.

Choice of sexual partners

Evolutionary psychology argues that men tend to choose young and physically attractive partners because such partners are more likely to bear healthy offspring, and women tend to choose financially secure men who can support them. In support of these data, the results of surveys are presented in which men and women named the most attractive characteristics of potential partners for themselves. However, numerous studies show that what people say is significantly different from how they actually behave: in fact, physical attractiveness influences the choice of partners in the same way for men and women. On the other hand, indicators of physical attractiveness vary greatly across cultures around the world, and most of these characteristics are not related to fertility. Some authors also point out that evolutionary psychology only explains heterosexual behavior, and suggest that proponents of evolutionary psychology avoid considering research data on non-heterosexual people because their behavior and gender roles do not match gender stereotypes and thus undermine evolutionary explanations.

Aggressive behavior

Psychoanalytic theories

Although psychoanalytic theory had a great influence on the formation of developmental psychology, empirical evidence does not support it. Research has not found a strong connection between identification with a same-sex parent and gender role internalization. Children's behavioral role models are much more likely to be caring adults or adults with social power than threatening adults with whom the child has competitive relationships.

The lack of empirical evidence for classical psychoanalytic theory has led to the emergence of various updated versions of it. In the field of gender development, one of the most influential recent theories is that of Nancy Chodorow. According to this theory, gender identification is formed in infancy, and not in the phallic phase, as Freud argued. Both boys and girls initially identify with their mother, but because daughters are the same sex as their mother, identification between daughters and mothers is stronger than between sons and mothers. During further development, girls retain identification with their mother and psychologically merge with her. As a result, the girl's and woman's self-image is characterized by a strong sense of interdependence, which translates into a desire for interpersonal relationships and motivates the woman, in turn, to become a mother. The development of a boy is determined by the desire to separate from his mother and further define himself in terms of difference from women, which leads to the belittlement of femininity.

But empirical evidence does not support Chodorow's theory either. Research does not find a stronger bond between mothers and daughters than between mothers and sons. There is also no evidence that women's interpersonal needs are met only through motherhood. On the contrary, research shows that women whose only social role is that of mother and wife are more susceptible to psychological problems than childless married or unmarried women and working mothers.

Cognitive and social theories

Cognitive and social theories of gender development include theories of cognitive development, gender schemas, social learning, and social cognitive theory. Although in the early stages these theories differed significantly from each other, and their proponents had heated discussions among themselves, modern versions of these theories have much in common. In general, cognitive and social theories view gender development as a complex process of interaction between biological, social and cognitive factors. All of them pay significant attention to the social sources of gender development and the active role that a person plays in his own gender development.

Social sources of gender development

Social sources of gender development include, in particular, the influence of parents, other significant adults and peers, as well as information pressure from the media, cinema, literature, etc.

Parental influence

Differences in the upbringing of boys and girls are described by the concept of “differential socialization.” Differential socialization is not necessarily expressed in the form of direct instructions or prohibitions. Research shows that differential socialization begins even before the birth of a child, as soon as his gender is determined using ultrasound. Mothers who have found out the sex of their unborn child in this way describe boys as “active” and “active,” and girls as “calm.” From birth, children are typically surrounded by gender-specific toys, diapers, and other items; Male infants are described as “large,” “strong,” and “independent,” while female infants are described as “gentle,” “delicate,” and “beautiful,” even though there are no objective differences in the infants’ appearance or behavior. Thus, ideas and expectations from children related to gender are formed by adults based on gender stereotypes long before the child can begin to exhibit this or that behavior.

Differential socialization continues in the child’s later life. For example, numerous studies show that parents are more stimulating and responsive to physical activity in male infants than in female infants. Another revealing experiment concerns the influence of adult gender stereotypes on the choice of toys for children. The experiment was initially carried out with the participation of a three-month-old child, and later again with the participation of several children aged from three to 11 months. Three groups of adults were asked to play with the child, while the first group was told that the child was a girl, the second that it was a boy, and the third was not told about the child’s gender. The adults had three toys at their disposal: a doll, a ball, and a gender-neutral teething ring. Most adults who considered the child a boy offered him a ball, and the majority who considered the child a girl offered him a doll, without trying to find out which of the toys was more interesting to the child himself.

Peer influence

As the child’s social world expands, peer groups become another important source of gender development, as well as social learning in general. In interactions with peers, children from the age of three to four reward each other for gender-typical behavior, as well as for playing in gender-same groups, and punish each other for behavior that is considered inappropriate for their gender.

Information pressure

Finally, the media, especially television, as well as literature, cinema and video games, play a significant role in gender development. In these sources from which children receive information about gender roles, men and women are often portrayed in exaggerated stereotypes: men are portrayed as active and enterprising, and women as dependent, unambitious and emotional. Portrayals of the professional lives of men and women often do not correspond to reality: men are portrayed as representatives of a variety of professions, leaders and bosses, and women as either housewives or working in low-status positions. This image does not correspond either to the real statistics of professional employment of men, or to the widespread involvement of women in professional activities. Research shows that gender stereotypes in the media and culture have a big impact on children: those who watch a lot of TV develop more stereotypical ideas about gender roles. On the other hand, non-stereotypical portrayals of different genders broaden the range of children's desires and aspirations, as well as the roles they consider acceptable for their gender. Repeated depictions of equal participation of different genders in certain activities contribute to a sustained reduction in gender stereotyping in young children.

The active role of man in gender development

Social sources of gender development often provide conflicting information about gender roles and impose conflicting expectations on the child. This requires the child, starting from a very early age, to actively seek and build his own rules and ideas about gender as a new and significant social category for him. Activity in the formation of ideas about gender is manifested, in particular, in selective attention and memory, as well as in the formation of preferences - for example, gender-typical or atypical toys, games with peers of the same or another gender.

The meaning of gender roles

Gender roles in Russian society

Notes

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In the section on the question How are gender roles fixed? given by the author pickle the best answer is Gender education begins in infancy. Parents communicate differently with girls and boys, even if they are not always aware of it. The first toys and clothes are chosen taking into account gender. Children realize quite early that they belong to a certain gender and acquire a characteristic type of behavior. Thus, a boy who fell while playing and was hit hard tries to hold back his tears, because “only girls cry.” Under the influence of family, immediate environment, and television programs, children develop certain personal qualities and behavior patterns that will help them fulfill gender roles.
To a certain extent, school reinforces models of gender behavior. For example, technology lessons are different for girls and boys.
The place where gender roles manifest themselves most often and very clearly is the home. Women and men usually do different jobs around the house. Women take care of children, clean the home, cook, do laundry, etc. Men repair cars, household appliances, and in rural areas they work in the yard. In general, the bulk of household chores falls on the woman.
At work, gender roles also remain important. The number of working women has increased worldwide. However, professional restrictions related to belonging to a certain gender remain. This is partly due to the physical characteristics of the sexes, but to a lesser extent also with prevailing ideas and prejudices in society. There are professions that are predominantly male (pilot, steelmaker, plumber, etc.) and female (kindergarten teacher, seamstress, etc.). Women are less likely to occupy leadership positions and often receive lower salaries for the same work as men.
Modern post-industrial society is characterized by changes in gender role attitudes. Women are increasingly mastering new roles for themselves - managers of large enterprises, politicians, judges, prosecutors, etc. The role range of men is also expanding, so many of them strive to spend more time with their families, are actively involved in raising children, and take on part of the worries around the house. ("Social statuses and roles" 8th grade social studies).