Ruth’s Sociology Resources Blog

Key ideas/points you should be able to write about for gender identities:

• How are gender identities formed?
• You need to look at socialisation processes and which institutions are involved in that – family, education, peer groups, religion, media …
• What are the different sociological viewpoints on gender socialisation?
• Review the studies and viewpoints we have looked at in class, you will find these scattered throughout your notes and in the notes below
• How are gender identities changing?
• In what ways are gender identities different today compared to 20 or 30 years ago?
• How have changes in society had an impact upon gender identities?
• Changes in occupational structure
• Growth of feminism
• Changes in technology
• Changes to the family and other social institutions
• Globalisation
• In what ways have gender identities stayed the same?

Gender IDs key terms: A printable sheet of key terms for Gender identities that you can fill out yourself. This is useful to test yourself and also for creating a handy summary of the ideas covered.

The Formation of Gender Identities

This has been the subject of debate, although sociologists would now generally agree that gender identities are created through socialisation.

However, Murdock (1949) and Parsons (1955), who were functionalists, both thought that women and men had inbuilt differences that made women more suitable to be carers and men to be breadwinners. Parsons talked about women playing an “expressive” role within the family and men as being “instrumental” – earning money and supporting the family in practical ways. Parsons and Murdoch believed that these roles were not interchangeable.

This view has been challenged by many sociologists, primarily Ann Oakley in the 1970s and 80s, who pointed out that the caring housewife role is relatively recent historically and that the industrial revolution was the period when men’s and women’s roles were separated into the private (home) and public (work, politics) spheres. Ann Oakley, therefore sees the “traditional” woman’s role as something that has been created and imposed by society (socially constructed), rather than something natural.

Family

Oakley

• (1974) – looks at the ways in which parents socialise their children
• (1981) – emergence of domestic “housewife” role through industrialization, despite changes still remains dominant role for women

Young & Wilmott (1970s) –

• argue that gender roles have become less noticeable and the division of labour more equal with the rise of the “symmetrical family”

You will find lots of evidence on gender socialisation within the family in your families unit - whenever you come across useful evidence make a note of the sociologist and their ideas on your Key Theorists sheet.

Kelly (1990s)

• subject choices are still gendered and boys and girls are directed towards different subjects
• also boys tend to dominate science lessons – equipment & attention, examples used tend to be more in line with boys’ experience

Lobban (1974) –

• school primary reading schemes are gender stereotyped – heroes & heroines, tasks & activities

Stanworth (1983) –

• teachers pay more attention to boys than girls in the classroom
• expect different behaviour and achievement

Sharpe (1970s & 1990s) –

• situation has improved – girls now have ambitions beyond marriage & motherhood – seeking careers rather than just jobs

Francis (2000)

• girls now want careers,
• different expectations of boys and girls from teachers – different definitions of a “good” pupil

Peer Group
The influence of peer groups in gender socialisation is overlapped with that of the media.
Willis (1977) –

• “lad culture” – looked at the ways in which working class “lads” socialized each other into masculine behaviour – in particular their attitudes to school – formation of anti-school subcultures

Whelehan (2000) – gender inequalities persist

• “girl power” ignores continuing structures of inequality – are the Spice Girls typical?
• looks at the rise of “ladettes” – women gaining power & strength by adopting male aggression – is this equality? – also ladettes are still seen as sexual objects
• the rise of the “singleton” – Bridget Jones, Sex & the City, Ally McBeal – message that women may be independent but in the end they need a man
• magazines (FHM, Loaded) & other media (Men Behaving Badly) encourage “laddism” – particular male frame of reference – drugs, booze , sport, sex (heterosexual) and soft porn
• rise of “retrosexism” – nostalgia for traditional roles

Media

Best (1992) –

• childrens books gendered – differences found by Lobban in 1970s have persisted – some characters shown in non-traditional roles but exception rather than the rule

Ferguson (1983)–

• magazines create a “cult of femininity” – instruct women in values and attitudes

Gauntlett (2002) –

• representations of gender and sexuality are changing and diverse, but agrees with Ferguson about women’s magazines

Perrier (2006)

Another interesting study is that by Maud Perrier (2006), one of my fellow PhD students. Perrier looked at teenage girls’ interpretations of and attitudes towards feminism. She used popular culture - the TV show “Footballers’ Wives” and the popular song “Single” by Natasha Bedingfield - to explore the girls’ attitudes in focus group discussions.

Perrier found that although the girls’ were sceptical of media motives - eg that songs were written to earn money - they subscribed to the media’s portrayal of romantic love and femininity and this formed dominant themes and assumptions in their discussions. The girls’ ideals were based around traditional notions of femininity - love and attractiveness. Perrier also found that the girls did not identify either with feminism or ‘girl-power’, seeing neither as relevant to their situations, with girl-power being seen as too radical while feminism was seen as a concept commodified and capitalised upon by the media (ie with the song “Single”) or as something belonging to older generations. Instead the girls seemed to ‘pick and choose’ aspects of their feminine identities, using aspects of feminine discourse where they served a purpose.

Perrier has kindly granted me permission to put a PDF of her paper (74KB) on this site, for anyone who wishes to read about it in more detail. The document is 10 pages long and includes extracts from the girls’ discussions.

Changing Gender Identities:

Changes in society and the economy have influenced gender identities significantly over the past 30 years. Changes in the occupational structure have meant that there are fewer traditional “masculine” jobs available and the feminist movement along with changes in things like contraception have led to women having greater independence. You’ve probably read about David Beckham and his identity as a “metrosexual” man.

Listen to Ann Oakley and Angela McRobbie discuss changing views on feminism and women’s changing roles. (this link will take you to the BBC website)

For more information on changing gender identities, click here