Introduction
‘Masculinity and femininity were…seen as sex-specific and sex-appropriate personality traits that were expressed behaviourally, rather than as attributions elicited by acts of domination and subordination’ (Schrock and Schwalbe, 2009: p.278). There was a time where masculinity and femininity were seen to only be associated with one gender. As time passed people grew more aware of these gender stereotypes and how people are seen in society because of this. There have been many bodies of research put forward to discuss the issue of gender roles and social norms in today’s society. It is difficult to exactly pinpoint where these ideas of sex-specific gender roles originated but it is evident that it is rooted in us from the very beginning. Gender socialisation plays a big part in the role of the gender inequality that we all know today. In this piece I will discuss gender socialisation, and how it starts in the home. I will also, bring in how big of a role gender stereotypes at a young age affect people in their adult live.
Gender Socialisation
‘Children’s ideal allocation of housework at age 18 is predicted by maternal gender role attitudes when the children were very young and by the parental division of housework when the children were adolescents’ (Cunningham, 2001: p.111). Gender stereotypes are first introduced in the household. Without knowledge parents reinforce social norms at the very beginning of a child’s life. Assigning children household jobs has been one of the main focuses of study which symbolises gender display. Cunningham (2001) discusses his belief that children’s approach to household jobs in adulthood come from their observations in early life. A study shows that if a father participated more in childrearing with children aged 7-9, that child would not hold as much focus on stereotypes and gender socialisation in their future (Williams, Radin & Allegro, 1992). Cunningham (2001) discusses another study carried out over generations of families. Many questions were asked of children to determine their attitudes towards certain aspects of life in early adulthood. The findings were that they believed in the gender stereotype of a father supporting the family while a mother stays at home to look after the children.
Blair (1992) discusses that the amount of housework done by each child is dependent on the amount of housework down by the same sex parent. It is seen as traditional for a father to work and earn money for the family, leaving the mother at home to do most of the household tasks. Their children would learn from this behaviour and expect the same when they have children in the future, thus, continuing the cycle of gender socialisation. It hasn’t been until recently that children are starting to grow up in an environment where both parents are employed. This gives them a different outlook on gender socialisation and will, in turn, change how they behave with their children in the future. Blair (1992) also discusses how the mother’s education level and involvement in the workforce is linked to the household jobs that are appointed to each gender of child. There may be more diversity in the assignment of house chores where both parents are highly educated and have the same level of engagement in the workplace.
Cunningham (2001) hypothesizes a correlation between religion and gender socialisation. The more parents participate in a religion the more gender stereotypes in the family home and in the children’s education. Gender inequality may be seen in the practises of some religions, such as, Islam. It is custom for the women to wear hijabs and burkas which cover them for modesty. Some Muslim children are brought up in such a way that they, or their parents, choose not to wear such things. In many Arab countries is may be seen as disrespectful for a woman not to wear a burka. In these countries, the women are told from a very young age that they must never show skin and never disrespect a man. To some it is unknown whether this harsh inequality still exists because of people’s belief in their religion or because of the rigid and unchanging social norms they grew up in.
There is not only gender inequality in the family but it is all around us, especially the workplace. ‘A system that advantages men over women in material resources, power, status, and authority…has continues in one form or another despite profound structural changes such as industrialisation and the movement of production out of the household’ (Ridgeway, 1997: p.219). It is evident that particular industries suffer from gender stereotyping. Roles such as teaching, nursing or a secretarial job are traditional seen as solely for women. While some gender stereotyping in the job market has developed over the years, others remain the same. Although women are generally seen more positively than men there is still a greater chance that they will suffer from prejudice. Heilman and Eagly (2008) recognised that bias in the workplace comes from gender stereotypes rather than the performance of the worker. In a workplace that was typically seen with a preference for men it is unlikely for women to be employed. It is equally likely for this is due to a bias of the interviewing process, or the lack of women interested in an industry full of men. Some women may have a mind-set that was developed from an early age that certain types of industries are for men only, this would lead to only a small number of women going against the crowd and applying for jobs in male orientated industries. The biological industry is an interesting one to look at when discussing gender stereotypes. Science, as a whole, used to be an industry which was heavy dominated by men. In recent years this has altered slightly. Physics is the branch of science that is now known to be male dominated, whereas biology has become more orientated towards women, because of this biology is now seen to be the easiest of the sciences. This may be due to its female domination, combined with the stereotype that women are unable to do the hard work that men can.
‘Parents’ housework behaviours when the children are young are not associated with the children’s attitudes but that the early gender role attitudes of the mother appear to have a larger effect’ (Cunningham, 2001: p.117). Children’s ideas of social norms may not be developed from the behaviour they see from their parents but rather how their mother deals with these norms. If a child is raised in a traditional family, where the father is the breadwinner and the mother is a homemaker, they may not expect these stereotypes for themselves if the mother portrays to them the importance individualisation and not needlessly following gender stereotypes. This is important for later years in life when they eventually have their own children. It will help them decide how they will behave with them and hopefully inforce the need for their awareness of gender socialisation by not giving specific household chores to one child over another because of their gender.
Conclusion
It can be seen that most gender stereotypes are introduced to children at a young ages. These gender social norms become built in to who the child is and how they behave as they emerge into adulthood. Many parents will raise a child the same way they were raised themselves, because of this is can be said that gender stereotypes can continue through generations and generations of families. Gender stereotypes can not only be learnt from parents in the family home but are present in many aspects of general life, the main ones being through the rigidness of certain religions and in the gender norms of a workplace. Gender socialisation that is learnt from an early age can affect a person’s life, both private and public, well into adulthood.