Gender And Behavior: Human Diversity In The United States

Gender and Behavior

When examining human diversity in the United States or any other society, it is important to first understand the criteria commonly used for making group distinctions. There are many ways in which diversity and complexity can be explained. These generally are based on cultural and/or biological factors. So what defines gender? When put into a biological category, it is meaningless because gender is socially constructed and defined mildly different in each society. Gender cannot be measured or tested, yet gender is the key factor to determining so many things in life. From the time a person is born, as soon as the sex is determined the parents begin to visualize what the life of the baby will be like as a girl or
boy, man or woman. When humans speak of gender, they refer to differences among people from the characteristics that are expected to be exerted.
Through family, peers, and mass media, society will simplify lives by dictating how a person is to look, what to wear, what names should be, whether or not that person can join a combat infantry and whom each can marry. Though biological factors set the stage for the direction of one's physical being it is society that reinforces masculine and feminine qualities. Tradition has conditioned people to respond to individuals according to their sex. From birth, families add to the perception of what characteristics are considered as masculine and feminine. Traditionally, parents raised boys much differently than girls by giving each gender specific toys deemed appropriate by societal norms spread through media. Toys given to girls tend to be dolls and kitchen appliance replicas, such as an Easy-Bake Oven, which will prepare the girls for future "duties;" whereas, boys will play with toy cars and video games of violence or sports which will give the boys the masculine mindset necessary for future "success." Aaron Devor comments in "Gender Role Behaviors an Attitudes" about gender differences saying "The schema claims that males are innately aggressive and competitive and
therefore will dominate over females" which further illustrates the gap that exists between men and women (Devor 463). Even before children can speak, they get a sense of what it is to be a male or female simply by the colors and patterns they are surrounded by in their environment and how they are dressed. As the children grow through adolescence into adulthood, their sense of gender becomes more defined through peers, mass media and schools with which they are exposed as Deborah Blum stresses "If there is indeed a biology to sex differences, we amplify it" (Blum 479). People of the same age, background, occupation, or social status influence each other starting at an early age. Even at the tender age of three children have ideas about what boys do and what girls do and put pressure on one another to act accordingly because "consensus seems to be that full-blown…instincts arrive between the ages of 2 and 3" (Blum 479). A boy who wears a frilly, pink shirt or a ponytail may be ridiculed by classmates. In addition, many children tend to select playmates of the same sex, which reinforces traditional gender roles. In high school, peer groups have strongly defined gender roles with rules about proper behavior for males and females. During youth, winning the approval and acceptance of peers can be more important than the approval of parents, since not fitting in carries heavy consequences. Individuals who do not meet the group's expectations for behavior may be subjected to being teased, left out of group activities and other forms of pressure that creates a feeling of undesirable loneliness. Males that prefer to stay away from sports rather than participate will never be the "man of the campus" because as Michael A. Messner points out in his article "The competitive hierarchy of athletic careers encouraged the development of masculine identities based on very narrow definitions of public success" (Messner 515). Yet females that do play sports receive a completely different response, the way for a female to be popular at a school is to take part in activities not considered masculine as emphasized by John Carroll believing that "women should once again be prohibited from sport" (Messner 514). Television also plays a large role in shaping an individual's values, attitudes, and behavior.
A style of clothing or hairstyle that becomes trendy on television or in motion pictures quickly becomes trendy at school as well. Traditionally television has portrayed women and men in stereotypical gender roles. Characters who participate in nontraditional gender roles are frequently portrayed as silly. Such images have reinforced ideas about how a male or a female is "suppose" to behave, as one writer fiercely objects to such standards: "Instead of resigning ourselves to being at the mercy of the media, we have to recognize power to have an impact on it" (Morgan 497). Currently, there are many female characters which are shown as assertive and independent with nontraditional careers, such as surgeons, military officers, or police officers, in addition, male characters are shown as caring, nurturing husbands and parents. Conventionally, gay characters were used in movies and television as comic relief, but now they are featured as the main stars which the storyline revolves around. In observing these trends, one can speculate that the media's images of men and women have an incredible impact on the views of gender roles. As mass media continues to change and show different aspects of gender roles it becomes more socially acceptable for regular people to behave in the same
manner.
Family, peers and mass media produce the images of which all choose from. Many conform easily to the images that society sets forth and have a mind set of how the characteristics for each gender are to be. Many lines have been drawn and opinions have been formed about gender roles, it becomes obvious that this is a process that is first biological then reinforced by society. Over the years as society evolves into a more flexible and more accepting environment the trend may be that more people feel the acceptance of society growing more comfortable with coming out and truly expressing who they are.
Foreign cultures have different ideas of gender roles that can differ greatly from American ones. If males in the United States do not portray masculinity, they are putting themselves at risk of being called gay; however, there is a growing acceptance for males that are heterosexual yet possess many feminine behaviors—commonly known as metrosexuals. In Asian countries, the action of one male holding the hand or hugging another male is considered very normal for that culture and in no way confused for homosexuality. The roles of women are dependent on the culture in question as well. In certain African tribes women are the leaders of the tribe while men must try to win their affection by donning make-up and performing. In the United States and most other cultures women tend to be the less aggressive of the sexes. Typically, female norm behavior consists of submissiveness as well as a willingness to be the only caretaker to the children. I am an Asian-American woman who feels caught between two worlds—contemporary versus traditional. My mother is a very traditional Vietnamese woman that believes in order for me to attract a man I must know how to cook well, be able to mend, and always seem charming; I feel that I do not need to attract a man whatsoever. Modern times call for a modern woman, and this modern woman does not need a husband to survive, but I still learn all the things my mother wants me to because in the end I know I have a better chance to reel in a man since I am playing into the gender roles expected of me.
By using gender to categorize people, it emphasizes differences among people which opens the door to inequalities and discrimination. Clearly one sex is preferred over the other sex for certain jobs and duties. Women have been denied allowance to serve in the infantry units of the military for generations simply because of sex and not skill or ability. In the business world men tend to be favored since it has long been viewed that males hold all the necessary traits to succeed, such as assertiveness and boldness. The traditional view of women's role has been a stay at home wife that takes care of the children while cooks and cleans. Although I feel that the stereotype of how a woman needs to behave in a marriage has altered to fit the modern woman, a lot still needs to change because there is not yet complete equality in upper management workforce where a woman's right to family may be an impediment.