Download Modern Conceptions of Race and Gender

Gender
Why study gender differences
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Because people believe they exist
Possible evolutionary significance
Male dominance and importance of alternative views
Cautions
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Differences are rarely large or socially important
May change over time due to socialization
May be different at different ages
May exist more in shapes of distribution and at extremes
Generally do not justify discrimination
The genetics of gender
Xs and Ys
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General rule is that 1 Y makes a male
X and Y genes do not generally match up
X contains relatively little genetic information
But Y contains a great deal
Consequences of a single X
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Any mutations on the X will be expressed
Consequently a large number of sex-related diseases which affect
largely men
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Muscular dystrophy
Hemophilia
Color blindness
Why men die young
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No protection from a second X
More mutations in male germ line
Violence
Testosterone affects immune system
Determination of gender
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The Sry region of the X
Turns on other genes
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Other genes promote development of testes and other male equipment
Testes produce testosterone
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Which affects brain structures
And other genes for muscle development and the like
Female is default
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X chromosome has relatively little to do with sex determination
Are gender differences genetic
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Relatively few are in an absolute sense
Genes may push males and females in different directions
But
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May be overridden by environmental factor, learning, and culture
And interact with environmental pushes and pulls
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Maccoby suggests that boys and especially girls play differently in mixed gender and same sex groups
Single sex colleges
Major gender differences
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Verbal abilities
Mathematical abilities
Spatial abilities
Social skills
Language use
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M use more assertive language
Fs more socially enabling language
F use language more in competition
Verbal abilities
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No major differences on complex tests such as SAT – and decreasing over
time
F are better at basic skills
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Correct pronunciation
Ease and speed of articulating complex words
Discriminating speech sounds
Use fewer speech pauses
Related to circulating estrogens
F tend to be more bi-lateral in language processing
Math skills
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F better at basic computation
M better at word and more complex problems
Differences in SAT greater as SAT scores get higher
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Means are about the same
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But 19 of 20 scores of 800 are by males
M also more highly represented at low end of math ability
Spatial tasks
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M better at judging movement and velocity
M better at mental rotation
M better at memory for location of objects in visual displays
M better at map drawing and on learning routes in unfamiliar territory
However no differences for many other tasks
Processing of social stimuli
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From very early age boys focus more on objects and girls on people
F better at communicating and decoding nonverbal cues
Men tend to be better at reading angry expressions of other men
Facial processing related to circulating hormone levels and to brain
regions
Theory of Mind
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Girls tend to develop theories earlier and are more sophisticated
Implicated in autism and boys much more likely to be affected
Social behavior
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Males more aggressive and competitive
Among children
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Boys more competitive and sex-stereotyped in play
Girls more cooperative
Boys play in larger groups
Occupational interests
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Males more likely to prefer jobs on basis of prestige and income
Males more drawn to jobs working with things and females to those working
with people
Traditionally boys reported a wider range of possible jobs
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Difference is now greatly reduced
And may be reversing
Gender stereotyping
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Who is stereotyped more
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Unclear
But generally more prescriptions for male behavior
Gender discrimination
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Strong previously
Less so now
The gender gap in earnings
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Equivalent jobs
Capital investments
“Penalties for child rearing”
Paying the price of adapting to male norms
Theories of gender differences
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Evolution and genetics
Social learning and social cognition
Social role
Peer group influence
Evolution and genetics
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Gender roles built around reproductive roles
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Mother nature doesn’t fool around
Size differences
Violence and prosocial behaviors
Differences in cognitive abilities
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Created by different roles – hunting vs. gathering
Problems with evolutionary accounts
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May claim too much
Assumptions about life in evolutionary times
Animal data provide conflicting guidance
Little attention to mechanism and nature of causality
Social learning and social cognition -- Bandura
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Children learn gender roles
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Imitation of same sexed parent
Reward and operant conditioning
The media reinforce cultural roles
Problems with social learning/cognition
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Not clear that children imitate same sexed parents differentially
Or that parents treat male and female children differently
Almost no evidence that exposure to media has lasting effects
Children exhibit sex stereotypic preferences long before they know what
gender is
Social role theory – Eagly
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People are placed into social roles by gender
These roles encourage certain behaviors
Stereotypes then arise linking these behaviors to gender and not to roles
Sex linked roles become prescriptive
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Rewards for performing “correct” behavior
Self-selection into “appropriate” roles
Learning of appropriate skills and attitudes
Implications for change of stereotypes and behaviors
Criticisms of social role theory
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Doesn’t explain all aspects of gender differences
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Cognitive differences
Hard to explain how roles arose in the first place
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A nod in the direction of evolutionary factors
Also how perpetrated if people are unhappy with them
Maccoby’s peer theory
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Boys and girls socialize one another into gender roles
Gender segregation early
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Based initially on play activities
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boys are more likely to have rough and tumble play
Probably genetic
And types of toys
Little evidence of parental or teacher involvement in gender roles
Children's groups
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Types of groups
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Boys have larger groups organized around games
Girls have smaller groups organized around intimacy and sharing
Command structures
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Boys more bossy and imperious
Girls more likely to try to warm relationships
Gender segregation
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By early pre-school active hostility
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Boys don’t want to play with girls
Girls would like to play with boys but are put off
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Other gender is alien “cooties”
Enormous pressure to conform to sex role of own sex
Play too active
Influence tactics alien
Is gender a social construction
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Popular theory
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Clearly wrong at one level
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The Blank Slate
Margaret Mead
Radical feminism
Money’s twins –John-Joan-David
Other cases
But clearly culture builds on biology
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Go with the flow
What is valuable
Reinforces gender lessons
Homosexuality
Who is Homosexual – Numbers
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No clear definition
Many figures bandied about
Commonly asserted that 10% of men are gay
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Kinsey data and biased
Some claim less than 1%
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No real basis
Who is Homosexual – definition
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Exclusive homosexual behavior?
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What about bisexuals?
And people who are homosexual only under certain circumstances?
One or more homosexual experiences?
Homosexual arousal and feelings?
National survey on sex
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Attraction to other men – 6%
Sex with a man in the past year – 2%
Sex with another man since age 18 – 5%
Sex with another man since puberty – 9%
Identify self as homosexual – 3%
Measures do not provide a perfect scale
Conservative definition – define self, have at least one homosexual
encounter, and attracted to other men – 2.5%
Characteristics of gay men
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More feminine in interests, especially occupation
Most feminine from a very early age
More artistic and interested in arts
But hypermasculine gay men as ideal
More depressed and anxious even in countries with no strong prejudice
More casual sex
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Before AIDS gay men report 500-1000 sexual partners
For heterosexuals less than 10
Causes of homosexuality
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Almost certainly biological
Not a choice
Not easily “cured” with psychotherapy
Most gay men report knowing from an early age that they were gay
Experiences
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Not related to any except father rejection
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Reverse causality
Not more common in sons raised by gay fathers or lesbians
Not more common in father absent homes
Not related to gay seduction at an early age
The myth of gay seduction
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Do gay men seduce boys
Obviously a few do just as some heterosexual men seduce girls
Not common
Catholic priests?
Genetic?
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Concordance rates
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Gay gene?
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for MZ twins is over 50%
For DZ twins about 25%
One investigator found one on X chromosome
Not replicated
Increased rates of homosexuality among male relatives of mother
Biological?
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INAH-3 medial preoptic area of hypothalamus
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Much larger in males than in females
Also larger in heterosexual than in homosexual men
Has a great number of androgen sensitive neurons
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And also from amygdala areas concerned with aggression and assertive behavior
Stimulation from optic and perhaps smell centers of brain
Fetal development
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2D:4D ratio
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Similar in females, smaller in males
More similar in females
Probably caused by androgens during development
Males with many older brothers more likely
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Testosterone reaction in mother?
Gay rights and homophobia
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Causes ought not affect attitudes
Religious attitudes?
Gay marriage