Download Document

Sex Roles
——How does the differentiation
come about?
What’s common
concept of sex roles?
It seems that while the
earth’s experiencing great
diversification, the sex roles
change a little bit, too.
Want to know more about the formation of
Sex Roles?
Prenatal or Postnatal?
Biology or Socialization?
Sex Roles
Formation: Nature or Nurture
Discussion with Experts
Hot spot: Sex-Role
Egalitarianism
Conclusion
Forecast about the Future
Formation of sex roles
Biological viewpoint
Nurture by society
Gene：Man and woman differ in their
genetic structure which determines
physical development.
Formation of sex roles
Biological viewpoint
Hormones:
Prenatal development: Androgen & Estrogen
——Body shape and sexual organs
Postnatal development: Testosterone & Prolactin
——emotional development and
actual behavior
Formation of sex roles
Nurture by society
Children are rewarded for
conforming to parents’
expectations and are
punished for behavior that
meets with disapprove.
1、Family
interactions
(especially
parents)
Learning
in society
Then
…
If grows up into a…
But if…
Formation of sex roles
Nurture by society
Expectation from teachers:
girls as a group score
consistently lower than boys
as a group on mathematics
and science achievement
tests.
2、socialization in
schools
Learning
in society
Ms. Maths never expects
Peter to work it out like this.
Formation of sex roles
Nurture by society
Children and adolescents
are influenced by the role
models available in a society.
They will begin to draw
conclusions about which
jobs are for them and which
are not.
“Real-life” role models affect children’s
thinking: the role models presented in
literature (including comics and
children’s books), film, and television.
3、Mass
media
Learning
in society
Discussion with experts
Now let’s
welcome
Prof. Li and
Dr. He
He C.(1984- ), a biologist who
works hard on uncovering the
inherent relation between sex
roles and biological aspects.
Li X.L.(1985-), a professor
who is accomplished in
sociology and anthropology.
Question 1
More details about the effect of
hormone on the formation of sex roles?
Q2： Hermaphrodites?
Women gain more
Ms. Thomas
power from
economic wellbeing, becoming
less subservient
Q3:
What do you think of sex role
in your specialty?
Q4:
One of your books mentions
that sex roles are related to
economic independence in some
culture, is it the case?
Mr. Thomas
Additional knowledge from experts
A Hormone on brain function
Male: superior visual-spatial skills.
Female: an advantage in verbal skills.
B Hermaphrodites
Hermaphrodites are those who are a
mixture of male and female biology.
C Anthropological evidence
1、In some culture, women are
dominant, controlling, and
hardworking, while men were
emotional dependent, irresponsible.
2、In society where women control
their economic well-being, they
develop more power.
Hot spot
Sex-role egalitarianism
92%
Dealing with sex roles, no expert could get rid of this
too hot to handle “sex-role egalitarianism”, although
much progress has been made to realize a better
situation, there’re still a lot that needs improvement.
8%
Male
Female
Percentage of male and female in
Top-100 richest people in China.
Conclusion: How do sex roles come about?
Sex Roles
ELSE
Society: Learning
Evidence
Definitely, there will be other factors that have a lot impact on
sex roles’ formation, it is just that we’re not aware of them
for the time being.
Family, school & mass media are the main sources children
learn sex roles——we call them social expectations.
Can we do something to challenge the status quo?
Culture: The
Anthropological
Evidence
Genetics: The biological Evidence
Facts that obvious differences exist in
masculine and feminine behavior as well as
status of male and female in other cultures.
Genes and Hormones determine physical,
emotional development, actual behavior
as well as brain function.
What would sex roles
be like in the future?
Unaltered
Change a lot or
Poles Apart
Team members:
Du Ruijun
Li Xulin
He Chao
Thanks for your attention!