Gender Identity And Gender Roles

Most major topics these days seem to be related to sexual identity, equal rights, and gender roles. It is no doubt that sex and gender roles play a substantial role in society; however, these terms are often mistakenly used interchangeably and incorrectly. The American Psychological Association defines ones sex as their biological determinant (i.e. male or female) and this does not naturally change from the time of birth; whereas gender “refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex” (Definition of Terms, para. 2). It is important when partaking in the gender debate to keep these two terms separate and understand their differences. Unless surgically and legally changed, one’s
The basis of this theory is that both biological and social environmental factors “form the basis for sex-typing” (Hayden-McPeak, 1993) and consists of two key components: gender identity and gender constancy (Hayden-McPeak, 1993). Gender identity is a term used to describe one categorizing themselves as either simply a boy or a girl; while, gender constancy is the “understanding that gender does not change over time” (Hayden-McPeak, 1993). According to the cognitive development theory, gender identity starts to come into full focus around age three and these gender stereotypes are firm between the ages of two and seven and will not change again throughout development (Hayden-McPeak, 1993). Social factors come into play in this theory in the idea that children “develop the stereotypic conceptions of gender from what they see and hear around them” (Bussy & Bandura, 1999). This theory differs from the others largely in part that it is set in the idea that once a notion is confirmed, it is irreversible and the motivation to maintain these gender roles is because they “value their gender identity and seek to behave only in ways that are contingent with that conception” (Bussy & Bandura, 1999). In simpler vocabulary, it is essentially, “I am a boy, so I want to do boy things, therefore the opportunity to do boy things is rewarding for me” (Bussy & Bandura, 1999). The main issue is with this theory and how it pertains to gender is that it gives little acknowledgement to biological factors and places most of the determining role on the side of social and culture factors. However, to assume a child at such a young age is able to observe and model their environment for reasons of self-affirmation in identity and then maintain that as life progresses through more trying events of development seems ostensibly