Essay: Transformations: Women, Gender and Psychology – Mary Crawford

1. Meanings of Difference
Throughout the text of Transformations: Women, Gender & Psychology, author Mary Crawford speaks upon the differences and similarities between women and men in many different categories. In chapter four, Crawford goes in-depth on the actual differences between men and women. Her research asserts that emotion is often gendered, meaning that women and men are looked at in a certain way when it comes to emotions. Crawford states that “women are stereotyped as the emotional sex” and that they are way more emotional than men (Crawford, 2012).
When we look at emotional stereotypes between men and women, we see such a significant difference. Women’s emotions are often feeling of awe, disgust, distress, embarrassment, shyness, surprise, and sympathy. However, on the other hand, men’s emotions are quite less as they are often feeling anger, contempt, and pride. Research shows that “emotional displays by men are often not labeled as emotionality” as emotionality is considered something females do (Crawford, 2012).
Throughout the movie Girl Fight, Diana expressed a plethora of emotions such as distress, embarrassment, love, affection, pride, sadness, but most importantly anger. Diana was always angry. Her anger caused her problems and gotten her into trouble…but her anger also made her into a great boxer. Diana’s emotional expressions challenge the research from the textbook as she expressed emotions that females feel, as well as emotions that men feel.
Like stated in the text, women are more emotional than men and that anger is seen as a completely forbidden emotion as women are supposed to be ‘happy’ and ‘loving.’ Because of Diana’s fighting and her attitude problem, her own father is embarrassed by her because she does not act like a ‘woman’ and Diana gets offended. How Diana expresses her emotions does not just affect her relationship with her father, it also affects her relationships with other females at school. Veronica talks to Diana like she is a man because of the way she dresses and how she acts.
According to the textbook, stereotype threat is “the pressure caused by [a group’s] fear of confirming the stereotype can interfere with their performance.” However, stereotype threat can be prevented. Stereotype threat is common and consistent for both minorities and women. Diana just happened to be both; a Hispanic woman. “Stereotype threat is likely to be activated whenever the negative stereotype of the group is salient or explicit in the situation.” In other words, Diana experienced stereotype threat when she first joined the gym and started training; by being the only girl surrounded by a bunch of men, she felt like she had to really prove herself as women are seen as inferior to men.
Diana also experienced stereotype threat before she even joined the gym. To get herself into boxing, she had to seek out a trainer, so Diana showed up to the gym after-hours and tried to get Hector to train her. At first, Hector or the other guys did not take Diana seriously…they thought she was crazy. Hector then told Diana that she could train but not fight because ‘girls do not have the same power as boys.’ Another man then suggested that she go do aerobics or some other ‘female’ sport. Offended, Diana was not going to take no for an answer and was going to prove herself that she was just as good as the boys in the gym.
Another person who faced a stereotype threat was Diana’s younger brother Tiny. Being a male, his father wanted him to box and be able to defend himself as he was considered scrawny for his age. But Tiny did not want to box…he wanted to pursue art and go to school for it. When Tiny mentioned that to both Diana and their father one night at dinner, he laughed at the thought and told him it was a waste of time and that it would get him nowhere. Art is a failure according to their father. Tiny felt crushed.
After analyzing the peer-reviewed research of Age, Gender, and Self-Esteem: A Sociocultural Look Through a Nonparametric Lens by Nathaniel E. Helwig and Mark R. Ruprecht, one can better understand the ways in which sociocultural level changes in the ways we examine gender and sex. The point of Helwig’s and Ruprecht’s research was to examine and identify “age, gender, and sociocultural differences in self-esteem across the ages of 10-80 in 45,185 individuals throughout 171 countries” that were split into seven sociocultural regions from the years of 2011 to 2014 (Helwig & Ruprecht, 2017).
Based on the work of Barro and Lee in 2013, Helwig and Ruprecht were able to group the 171 countries into seven sociocultural regions that included Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, advanced economies, Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa. Based on the research, Helwig and Ruprecht found that sociocultural region has an effect on gender and age in regard to self-esteem. Such results included females from age 10-30 reported lower self-esteem than males from the same age group, across all sociocultural regions females and males display different self-esteem patterns, and “sociocultural region significantly moderates patterns of age and gender in different self-esteem” (Helwig & Ruprecht, 2017).
With Diana being 18, she is right in the middle of Helwig’s and Ruprecht’s study of females age 10-30 who reported lower self-esteem than men. However, throughout the movie, Diana did not show any signs of low self-esteem as she was confident with herself and her ability to train and become a boxer, despite what everyone else thought of her. Her brother Tiny, however, felt low self-esteem when he realized that his father was only putting him through boxing lessons because he felt that Tiny was not able to stand up and defend himself.
2. Images of Women
According to Crawford, “any woman who is not White, young, thin, rich, feminine, and sexually available” is considered to be an invisible woman. Athletic women are one of many groups and/or types of women who are considered invisible. When compared to men, women’s sports are very underrepresented when it comes to print and broadcast journalism. Although women who participate in sex-appropriate sports, such as gymnastics, cheerleading, figure skating, receive more coverage than women participating in other sports, they are still underrepresented as a whole (Crawford, 2012).
Women athletes are usually pictured as not being engaged in their sports. They usually are shown wearing make-up and revealing clothing showing that women in sports are more than often sexually objectified. Diana’s experience as a boxer supports the textbook’s research finding of women in sports as she is underrepresented as well. When she first starts training, nobody supports Diana and takes her as a joke because she is a female. Because of that, Diana had to work even harder to prove herself and to let people know that she was just as good as the boys. Diana had her first ever fight – against a Ricky – and majority of the people in the crowd were objectifying her and calling her names because she was a female and they felt that she did not have what it takes to be a boxer…but she sure proved them wrong.
“In general, people associate gender with a variety of attributes including physical characteristics, personality, behaviors, and roles.” In other words, people are seeking to believe that men and women should be a certain way based on how they act and carry themselves. According to the text, role stereotypes are “behaviors and social roles that are stereotyped as more typical of women or men.” Meaning that men and women fell into different categories based on the roles they perform (Crawford, 2012).
Common role stereotypes for men include a businessman, blue-collar, macho, and athletic. Whereas, common role stereotypes for women include mother/housewife, sexy woman, an athletic woman, and a career woman. For men, each role attributed different characteristics, but they were all seen as masculine. For women, each role was different in its own way; some being seen as more feminine than others. Role stereotypes are basically strongly held beliefs between women and men.
Diana faced role stereotypes throughout the movie such as being the one responsible of the household duties such as clearing the table after dinner, washing the dishes, and cleaning because she was the only female in the house…it was like her duty. Ricky was picking on Tiny at the gym, so Diana went up and punched him in the face and afterward, Ricky told Diana ‘I guess you never learned how to be a lady,’ inferring that she did not fit into any of the role stereotypes of women.
Physical characteristics is a huge gender stereotype as a person’s physical appearance is the “first thing we perceive when we meet someone.” Basically, how someone looks really puts a person’s opinion on them into perspective.  When someone is stereotyped as having feminine physical characteristics, they are more than often seen to have feminine occupations, personalities, and gender-typed behaviors. The same goes for when someone is stereotyped as having masculine physical characteristics; they are more than often seen to have masculine jobs, personalities, and gender-typed behaviors.
Physical Characteristics played a huge role throughout the movie. Diana thinks of Veronica as the ‘typical whore’ and hates her because of the way she presents herself and acts. Veronica’s physical characteristics make her out to be a ‘bitch’ or a female who does not like to get her hands dirty. She dresses very skimpy and shoes a lot of skin. Whereas, Diana on the other hand, is seen as the exact opposite. She dresses like a tomboy and therefore is not afraid to get down and dirty. Because of Diana’s physical appearance, she is not liked by most girls and intimidates some boys.
After analyzing the peer-reviewed research of Do You See What I See? Latino Adolescents’ Perceptions of the Images on Television by Rocío Rivadeneyra, one can better understand the relationship between messages about Latina/Hispanic women’s beauty. The purpose of the study was “to examine how Latino adolescents perceive portrayals of Latino characters on Spanish and English-language television programs.” Rivadeneyra used thirty-seven Latino high school students to participate in his study (Rivadeneyra, 2006).
Fifty-six percent of the participants were female, the average age was sixteen between both men and women, and sixty-two percent of the participants were immigrants to the United States that have lived there for an average of five years. The study had students watch English-language television programs and discuss the stereotypes and negative portrayals, if any, of Latinos, and then they were instructed to do the same for Spanish-language television programs.
The study found that majority of the students felt that the English-language television programs stereotyped and portrayed Latinos negatively and were extremely underrepresented. In 1997, “Latinos made up only two percent of all characters in 139 prime-time shows…and between 2003-2004, the amount of Latino characters in prime-time shows increased to six and a half percent.” However, they are still highly underrepresented when compared to the real population of Latinos within the United States (Rivadeneyra, 2006).
Since Latinos and Hispanics are majorly underrepresented in English-language television programs, it is safe to say that their influence in the beauty sector is underrepresented as well. When we see beauty commercials, it is usually a White, high-class, educated, and good-looking female who is promoting what ‘beauty should look like.’ Women of color, elderly women, athletic women, bigger women, and minorities are considered invisible women and are highly underrepresented.
Because Latina and Hispanic women are underrepresented in the beauty industry, there are not many messages about their beauty standards in the media. Essentially if you are not that White, high-class, good-looking female, you are not considered ‘beautiful’ in society. The lack of representation causes Diana to view and present herself in a more ‘manly’ way by dressing more like a boy…she never wears make-up or dresses and skirts and always has her hair braided.
3. Sex, Love & Romance
Since “the ideology of romance is directed largely at women,” most people believe that women tend to be more romantic than men in relationships. However, the opposite is seen as men are the ones who seem to be more romantic than women in relationships. Women, however, are more emotionally involved in relationships than men. Men tend to fall in love based on physical attractiveness, whereas women tend to fall in love differently as they are not only looking for a romantic partner but a provider to them as well (Crawford, 2012).
When Diana first saw Adrian in the gym, she had this feeling wash over her that she could not explain; especially when she saw this girl visit him from time to time. But as Diana and Adrian got to know each other better and became closer, it was obvious to her that she had feelings for him. But being a female and not knowing his intentions, she decided to not initiate anything with Adrian…it was Adrian who made the first move and kissed Diana. Once Adrian made the move and showed Diana that he was also interested in her, she became emotionally vulnerable to him and it almost affected her boxing career.
“Physical attractiveness is an important factor in romantic relationships.” When it comes to short-term relationships or hookups, good looks are important to men as men tend to fall in love based on physical attractiveness. Women, however, look for personal qualities and/or earning ability. But when compared to long-term relationships, both men and women look for a partner based on personal qualities rather than looks. According to the text, when it comes to physical attractiveness, what a person “says they want in a partner may not be the same as what they actually choose” (Crawford, 2012).
Adrian was with the girl who came to visit him all the time all the time at the gym because she looked good and was used as ‘arm candy’ when they went out. However, as he started to get to know Diana more, he realized that just because the other girl was hot, they did not have much to talk about or relate to on things and he realized that it was not what he wanted…he fell for Diana. Adrian is the perfect example of a person who says what type of person they want to be with but actually ends up with a completely different type. Even when he did realize he had feelings for Diana, he still did not know what he wanted…he was trying to figure it all out.
After analyzing Crossracial Differences in the Racial Preferences of Potential Dating Partners: A Test of Alienation of African Americans and Social Dominance Orientation by George Yancey, one can comprehensively understand how beliefs about romance can impact life outcomes of Hispanics and other racial and ethnic minority groups of adolescent women. Yancey’s study focused on African Americans and their likelihood to participate in interracial dating. Yancey compiles data from an internet dating site to explore the racial dating preferences of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and European Americans. The study found that due to the alienation of African Americans, they are less likely out of all the groups studied to interracially date.