Gender and Socialization

The phrase “boys will be boys” is often used to justify behavior such as pushing, shoving, or
other forms of aggression from young boys. The phrase implies that such behavior is
unchangeable and something that is part of a boy’s nature. Aggressive behavior, when it does not
inflict significant harm, is often accepted from boys and men because it is congruent with the
cultural script for masculinity. The “script” written by society is in some ways similar to a script
written by a playwright. Just as a playwright expects actors to adhere to a prescribed script,
society expects women and men to behave according to the expectations of their respective
gender roles. Scripts are generally learned through a process known as socialization, which
teaches people to behave according to social norms.

Socialization

Children learn at a young age that there are distinct expectations for boys and girls. Cross-
cultural studies reveal that children are aware of gender roles by age two or three. At four or five,
most children are firmly entrenched in culturally appropriate gender roles (Kane 1996). Children
acquire these roles through socialization, a process in which people learn to behave in a
particular way as dictated by societal values, beliefs, and attitudes. For example, society often
views riding a motorcycle as a masculine activity and, therefore, considers it to be part of the
male gender role. Attitudes such as this are typically based on stereotypes, oversimplified
notions about members of a group. Gender stereotyping involves overgeneralizing about the
attitudes, traits, or behavior patterns of women or men. For example, women may be thought of
as too timid or weak to ride a motorcycle.

Gender stereotypes form the basis of sexism. Sexism refers to prejudiced beliefs that value one
sex over another. It varies in its level of severity. In parts of the world where women are strongly
undervalued, young girls may not be given the same access to nutrition, healthcare, and
education as boys. Further, they will grow up believing they deserve to be treated differently
from boys (UNICEF 2011; Thorne 1993). While it is illegal in the United States when practiced
as discrimination, unequal treatment of women continues to pervade social life. It should be
noted that discrimination based on sex occurs at both the micro- and macro-levels. Many
sociologists focus on discrimination that is built into the social structure; this type of
discrimination is known as institutional discrimination (Pincus 2008).

Gender socialization occurs through four major agents of socialization: family, education, peer
groups, and mass media. Each agent reinforces gender roles by creating and maintaining
normative expectations for gender-specific behavior. Exposure also occurs through secondary
agents such as religion and the workplace. Repeated exposure to these agents over time leads
men and women into a false sense that they are acting naturally rather than following a socially
constructed role.

Family is the first agent of socialization. There is considerable evidence that parents socialize
sons and daughters differently. Generally speaking, girls are given more latitude to step outside
of their prescribed gender role (Coltrane and Adams 2004; Kimmel 2000; Raffaelli and Ontai
2004). However, differential socialization typically results in greater privileges afforded to sons.
For instance, boys are allowed more autonomy and independence at an earlier age than
daughters. They may be given fewer restrictions on appropriate clothing, dating habits, or
curfew. Sons are also often free from performing domestic duties such as cleaning or cooking
and other household tasks that are considered feminine. Daughters are limited by their
expectation to be passive and nurturing, generally obedient, and to assume many of the domestic
responsibilities.

Even when parents set gender equality as a goal, there may be underlying indications of
inequality. For example, boys may be asked to take out the garbage or perform other tasks that
require strength or toughness, while girls may be asked to fold laundry or perform duties that
require neatness and care. It has been found that fathers are firmer in their expectations for
gender conformity than are mothers, and their expectations are stronger for sons than they are for
daughters (Kimmel 2000). This is true in many types of activities, including preference for toys,
play styles, discipline, chores, and personal achievements. As a result, boys tend to be
particularly attuned to their father’s disapproval when engaging in an activity that might be
considered feminine, like dancing or singing (Coltraine and Adams 2008). Parental socialization
and normative expectations also vary along lines of social class, race, and ethnicity. African
American families, for instance, are more likely than Caucasians to model an egalitarian role
structure for their children (Staples and Boulin Johnson 2004).

The reinforcement of gender roles and stereotypes continues once a child reaches school age.
Until very recently, schools were rather explicit in their efforts to stratify boys and girls. The first
step toward stratification was segregation. Girls were encouraged to take home economics or
humanities courses and boys to take math and science.

Studies suggest that gender socialization still occurs in schools today, perhaps in less obvious
forms (Lips 2004). Teachers may not even realize they are acting in ways that reproduce gender
differentiated behavior patterns. Yet any time they ask students to arrange their seats or line up
according to gender, teachers may be asserting that boys and girls should be treated differently
(Thorne 1993).

Even in levels as low as kindergarten, schools subtly convey messages to girls indicating that
they are less intelligent or less important than boys. For example, in a study of teacher responses
to male and female students, data indicated that teachers praised male students far more than
female students. Teachers interrupted girls more often and gave boys more opportunities to
expand on their ideas (Sadker and Sadker 1994). Further, in social as well as academic situations,
teachers have traditionally treated boys and girls in opposite ways, reinforcing a sense of
competition rather than collaboration (Thorne 1993). Boys are also permitted a greater degree of
freedom to break rules or commit minor acts of deviance, whereas girls are expected to follow
rules carefully and adopt an obedient role (Ready 2001).

Mimicking the actions of significant others is the first step in the development of a separate sense
of self (Mead 1934). Like adults, children become agents who actively facilitate and apply
normative gender expectations to those around them. When children do not conform to the
appropriate gender role, they may face negative sanctions such as being criticized or
marginalized by their peers. Though many of these sanctions are informal, they can be quite
severe. For example, a girl who wishes to take karate class instead of dance lessons may be
called a “tomboy” and face difficulty gaining acceptance from both male and female peer groups
(Ready 2001). Boys, especially, are subject to intense ridicule for gender nonconformity
(Coltrane and Adams 2004; Kimmel 2000).

Mass media serves as another significant agent of gender socialization. In television and movies,
women tend to have less significant roles and are often portrayed as wives or mothers. When
women are given a lead role, it often falls into one of two extremes: a wholesome, saint-like
figure or a malevolent, hypersexual figure (Etaugh and Bridges 2003). This same inequality is
pervasive in children’s movies (Smith 2008). Research indicates that in the ten top-grossing G-
rated movies released between 1991 and 2013, nine out of ten characters were male (Smith
2008).

Television commercials and other forms of advertising also reinforce inequality and gender-
based stereotypes. Women are almost exclusively present in ads promoting cooking, cleaning, or
childcare-related products (Davis 1993). Think about the last time you saw a man star in a
dishwasher or laundry detergent commercial. In general, women are underrepresented in roles
that involve leadership, intelligence, or a balanced psyche. Of particular concern is the depiction
of women in ways that are dehumanizing, especially in music videos. Even in mainstream
advertising, however, themes intermingling violence and sexuality are quite common (Kilbourne
2000).

Social Stratification and Inequality

Stratification refers to a system in which groups of people experience unequal access to basic,
yet highly valuable, social resources. There is a long history of gender stratification in the United
States. When looking to the past, it would appear that society has made great strides in terms of
abolishing some of the most blatant forms of gender inequality (see timeline below) but
underlying effects of male dominance still permeate many aspects of society.

 Before 1809—Women could not execute a will

 Before 1840—Women were not allowed to own or control property
 Before 1920—Women were not permitted to vote
 Before 1963—Employers could legally pay a woman less than a man for the same work
 Before 1973—Women did not have the right to a safe and legal abortion


The Pay Gap

Despite making up nearly half (49.8 percent) of payroll employment, men vastly outnumber
women in authoritative, powerful, and, therefore, high-earning jobs (U.S. Census Bureau 2010).
Even when a woman’s employment status is equal to a man’s, she will generally make only 81
cents for every dollar made by her male counterpart (Payscale 2020). Women in the paid labor
force also still do the majority of the unpaid work at home. On an average day, 84 percent of
women (compared to 67 percent of men) spend time doing household management activities
This double duty keeps working women in a subordinate role in the family structure (Hochschild
and Machung 1989).

Gender stratification through the division of labor is not exclusive to the United States.
According to George Murdock’s classic work, Outline of World Cultures (1954), all societies
classify work by gender. When a pattern appears in all societies, it is called a cultural universal.
While the phenomenon of assigning work by gender is universal, its specifics are not. The same
task is not assigned to either men or women worldwide. But the way each task’s associated
gender is valued is notable. In Murdock’s examination of the division of labor among 324
societies around the world, he found that in nearly all cases the jobs assigned to men were given
greater prestige (Murdock and White 1968). Even if the job types were very similar and the
differences slight, men’s work was still considered more vital.

Part of the gender pay gap can be attributed to unique barriers faced by women regarding work
experience and promotion opportunities. A mother of young children is more likely to drop out
of the labor force for several years or work on a reduced schedule than is the father. As a result,
women in their 30s and 40s are likely, on average, to have less job experience than men. This
effect becomes more evident when considering the pay rates of two groups of women: those who
did not leave the workforce and those who did: In the United States, childless women with the
same education and experience levels as men are typically paid with closer (but not exact) parity
to men. However, women with families and children are paid less: Mothers are recommended a
7.9 percent lower starting salary than non-mothers, which is 8.6 percent lower than men (Correll
2007).

This evidence points to levels of discrimination that go beyond behaviors by individual

companies or organizations. As discussed earlier in the gender roles section, many of these gaps
are rooted in America’s social patterns of discrimination, which involve the roles that different
genders play in child-rearing, rather than individual discrimination by employers in hiring and
salary decisions. On the other hand, legal and ethical practices demand that organizations do
their part to promote more equity among all genders.

The Glass Ceiling

The idea that women are unable to reach the executive suite is known as the glass ceiling. It is an
invisible barrier that women encounter when trying to win jobs in the highest level of business.
At the beginning of 2021, for example, a record 41 of the world’s largest 500 companies were
run by women. While a vast improvement over the number twenty years earlier – where only
two of the companies were run by women – these 41 chief executives still only represent eight
percent of those large companies (Newcomb 2020).

Why do women have a more difficult time reaching the top of a company? One idea is that there
is still a stereotype in the United States that women aren’t aggressive enough to handle the
boardroom or that they tend to seek jobs and work with other women (Reiners 2019). Other
issues stem from the gender biases based on gender roles and motherhood discussed above.
Another idea is that women lack mentors, executives who take an interest and get them into the
right meetings and introduce them to the right people to succeed (Murrell & Blake-Beard 2017).

Women in Politics

One of the most important places for women to help other women is in politics. Historically in
the United States, like many other institutions, political representation has been mostly made up
of White men. By not having women in government, their issues are being decided by people
who don’t share their perspective. The number of women elected to serve in Congress has
increased over the years, but does not yet accurately reflect the general population. For example,
in 2018, the population of the United States was 49 percent male and 51 percent female, but the
population of Congress was 78.8 percent male and 21.2 percent female (Manning 2018). Over
the years, the number of women in the federal government has increased, but until it accurately
reflects the population, there will be inequalities in our laws.

Movements for Change: Feminism

One of the underlying issues that continues to plague women in the United States is misogyny.
This is the hatred of or, aversion to, or prejudice against women. Over the years misogyny has
evolved as an ideology that men are superior to women in all aspects of life. There have been
multiple movements to try and fight this prejudice.

In 1963, writer and feminist Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique in which she
contested the post-World War II belief that it was women’s sole destiny to marry and bear
children. Friedan’s book began to raise the consciousness of many women who agreed that
homemaking in the suburbs sapped them of their individualism and left them unsatisfied. In
1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) formed and proceeded to set an agenda for
the feminist movement. Framed by a statement of purpose written by Friedan, the agenda began
by proclaiming NOW’s goal to make possible women’s participation in all aspects of American
life and to gain for them all the rights enjoyed by men.

Feminists engaged in protests and actions designed to bring awareness and change. For example,
the New York Radical Women demonstrated at the 1968 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City
to bring attention to the contest’s—and society’s—exploitation of women. The protestors tossed
instruments of women’s oppression, including high-heeled shoes, curlers, girdles, and bras, into
a “freedom trash can.” News accounts incorrectly described the protest as a “bra burning,” which
at the time was a way to demean and trivialize the issue of women’s rights (Gay 2018).

Other protests gave women a more significant voice in a male-dominated social, political, and
entertainment climate. For decades, Ladies Home Journal had been a highly influential women’s
magazine, managed and edited almost entirely by men. Men even wrote the advice columns and
beauty articles. In 1970, protesters held a sit-in at the magazine’s offices, demanding that the
company hire a woman editor-in-chief, add women and non-White writers at fair pay, and
expand the publication’s focus.

Feminists were concerned with far more than protests, however. In the 1970s, they opened
battered women’s shelters and successfully fought for protection from employment
discrimination for pregnant women, reform of rape laws (such as the abolition of laws requiring
a witness to corroborate a woman’s report of rape), criminalization of domestic violence, and
funding for schools that sought to counter sexist stereotypes of women. In 1973, the U.S.
Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade invalidated a number of state laws under which abortions
obtained during the first three months of pregnancy were illegal. This made a nontherapeutic
abortion a legal medical procedure nationwide.

Gloria Steinem had pushed through gender barriers to take on serious journalism subjects, and
had emerged as a prominent advocate for women’s rights. Through her work, Steinem met
Dorothy Pittman-Hughes, who had founded New York City’s first shelter for domestic violence
victims as well as the city’s Agency for Child Development. Together they founded Ms.
Magazine, which avoided articles on homemaking and fashion in favor of pieces on women’s
rights and empowerment. Ms. showcased powerful and accomplished women such as Shirley
Chisholm and Sissy Farenthold, and was among the first publications to bring domestic violence,
sexual harassment, and body image issues to the national conversation (Pogrebrin 2011).

Many advances in women’s rights were the result of women’s greater engagement in politics.
For example, Patsy Mink, the first Asian American woman elected to Congress, was the co-
author of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, Title IX of which prohibits sex discrimination
in education. Mink had been interested in fighting discrimination in education since her youth,
when she opposed racial segregation in campus housing while a student at the University of
Nebraska. She went to law school after being denied admission to medical school because of her
gender. Like Mink, many other women sought and won political office, many with the help of
the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC). In 1971, the NWPC was formed by Bella
Abzug, Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, and other leading feminists to encourage women’s
participation in political parties, elect women to office, and raise money for their campaign.

Shirley Chisholm personally took up the mantle of women’s involvement in politics. Born of
immigrant parents, she earned degrees from Brooklyn College and Columbia University, and
began a career in early childhood education and advocacy. In the 1950’s she joined various
political action groups, worked on election campaigns, and pushed for housing and economic
reforms. After leaving one organization over its refusal to involve women in the decision-making
process, she sought to increase gender and racial diversity within political and activist
organizations throughout New York City. In 1968, she became the first Black woman elected to
Congress. Refusing to take the quiet role expected of new Representatives, she immediately
began sponsoring bills and initiatives. She spoke out against the Vietnam War, and fought for
programs such as Head Start and the national school lunch program, which was eventually
signed into law after Chisholm led an effort to override a presidential veto. Chisholm would
eventually undertake a groundbreaking presidential run in 1972, and is viewed as paving the way
for other women, and especially women of color, achieving political and social prominence
(Emmrich 2019).

Theoretical Perspectives on Gender

Sociological theories help sociologists to develop questions and interpret data. For example, a
sociologist studying why middle-school girls are more likely than their male counterparts to fall
behind grade-level expectations in math and science might use a feminist perspective to frame
her research. Another scholar might proceed from the conflict perspective to investigate why
women are underrepresented in political office, and an interactionist might examine how the
symbols of femininity interact with symbols of political authority to affect how women in
Congress are treated by their male counterparts in meetings.

Structural Functionalism

Structural functionalism has provided one of the most important perspectives of sociological
research in the twentieth century and has been a major influence on research in the social
sciences, including gender studies. Viewing the family as the most integral component of
society, assumptions about gender roles within marriage assume a prominent place in this
perspective.

Functionalists argue that gender roles were established well before the pre-industrial era when
men typically took care of responsibilities outside of the home, such as hunting, and women
typically took care of the domestic responsibilities in or around the home. These roles were
considered functional because women were often limited by the physical restraints of pregnancy
and nursing and unable to leave the home for long periods of time. Once established, these roles
were passed on to subsequent generations since they served as an effective means of keeping the
family system functioning properly.

When changes occurred in the social and economic climate of the United States during World
War II, changes in the family structure also occurred. Many women had to assume the role of
breadwinner (or modern hunter-gatherer) alongside their domestic role in order to stabilize a
rapidly changing society. When the men returned from war and wanted to reclaim their jobs,
society fell back into a state of imbalance, as many women did not want to forfeit their wage-
earning positions (Hawke 2007).

Conflict Theory

According to conflict theory, society is a struggle for dominance among social groups (like
women versus men) that compete for scarce resources. When sociologists examine gender from
this perspective, we can view men as the dominant group and women as the subordinate group.
According to conflict theory, social problems are created when dominant groups exploit or
oppress subordinate groups. Consider the Women’s Suffrage Movement or the debate over
women’s “right to choose” their reproductive futures. It is difficult for women to rise above men,
as dominant group members create the rules for success and opportunity in society (Farrington
and Chertok 1993).

Friedrich Engels, a German sociologist, studied family structure and gender roles. Engels
suggested that the same owner-worker relationship seen in the labor force is also seen in the
household, with women assuming the role of the proletariat. This is due to women’s dependence
on men for the attainment of wages, which is even worse for women who are entirely dependent
upon their spouses for economic support. Contemporary conflict theorists suggest that when
women become wage earners, they can gain power in the family structure and create more
democratic arrangements in the home, although they may still carry the majority of the domestic
burden, as noted earlier (Rismanand and Johnson-Sumerford 1998).

Feminist Theory

Feminist theory is a type of conflict theory that examines inequalities in gender-related issues. It
uses the conflict approach to examine the maintenance of gender roles and inequalities. Radical
feminism, in particular, considers the role of the family in perpetuating male dominance. In
patriarchal societies, men’s contributions are seen as more valuable than those of women.
Patriarchal perspectives and arrangements are widespread and taken for granted. As a result,
women’s viewpoints tend to be silenced or marginalized to the point of being discredited or
considered invalid.

Sanday’s study of the Indonesian Minangkabau (2004) revealed that in societies some consider
to be matriarchies (where women comprise the dominant group), women and men tend to work
cooperatively rather than competitively regardless of whether a job is considered feminine by
U.S. standards. The men, however, do not experience the sense of bifurcated consciousness
under this social structure that modern U.S. females encounter (Sanday 2004).

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of
symbols in human interaction. This is certainly relevant to the discussion of masculinity and
femininity. Imagine that you walk into a bank hoping to get a small loan for school, a home, or a
small business venture. If you meet with a male loan officer, you may state your case logically
by listing all the hard numbers that make you a qualified applicant as a means of appealing to the
analytical characteristics associated with masculinity. If you meet with a female loan officer, you
may make an emotional appeal by stating your good intentions as a means of appealing to the
caring characteristics associated with femininity.

Because the meanings attached to symbols are socially created and not natural, and fluid, not
static, we act and react to symbols based on the current assigned meaning. The word gay, for
example, once meant “cheerful,” but by the 1960s it carried the primary meaning of
“homosexual.” In transition, it was even known to mean “careless” or “bright and showing”
(Oxford American Dictionary 2010). Furthermore, the word gay (as it refers to a person), carried
a somewhat negative and unfavorable meaning fifty years ago, but it has since gained more
neutral and even positive connotations. When people perform tasks or possess characteristics
based on the gender role assigned to them, they are said to be doing gender. This notion is based
on the work of West and Zimmerman (1987). Whether we are expressing our masculinity or
femininity, West and Zimmerman argue, we are always "doing gender." Thus, gender is
something we do or perform, not something we are.

In other words, both gender and sexuality are socially constructed. The social construction of
sexuality refers to the way in which socially created definitions about the cultural
appropriateness of sex-linked behavior shape the way people see and experience sexuality. This
is in marked contrast to theories of sex, gender, and sexuality that link male and female behavior
to biological determinism, or the belief that men and women behave differently due to
differences in their biology.