SOCIALIZATION AND GENDER:

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SOCI O-

CULTURAL CONTEXTS

Lynette Šikić-Mićanović
Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb

UDK 316.736:176
Pregledni rad

Primljeno: 16.6. 1997.

The objective of this article is to show the relevance of socio-

cultural contexts in any description of socialization, particular-
ly gender socialization. Fundamentally, this perspective considers
how culture affects socialization or how culture organizes individ-
uals. Of particular interest is the cultural construction of gender
and how this relates to social experience. It is suggested that fu-
ture research on gender socialization, using a post-structural frame-
work should be towards more contextually specific and detailed
studies where focus is on the gendered individual.

SOCIALIZATION

S ocialization is the life span process by which someone learns the behav-
iours and beliefs of a given society or social group. Enculturation was in-
troduced in U.S. cultural anthropology as a substitute or alternative term for
socialization. Participation in a socio-cultural system entails learning and inter-
nalizing appropriate behaviours, knowledge, values, expectations, and atti-
tudes in order to become an effective member,' that is, both a social and cul-
tural being"Children are born into a world of shared symbols, established pat-
terns, and acknowledged positions all of which already exist. Societal norms,
values, statuses, and roles are acquired in different ways primarily through so-
cial relationships; others wittingly or unwittingly, teach through their guidance,
examples, responses, and emotional attachment (Elkin, 1968:5).

Requests for reprints should be sent to Lynette Šikić-Mićanović, Institute of Social Sciences Ivo
Pilar, Marulićev trg 19/1, p.p. 277, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia, [email protected]
1
This definition assumes that 'everyone knows' what it means to an effective member of society
(Cook, 1973:297). Further, individuals do not acquire all the features of culture presented to them
(for example, See Mageo, 1991 :405 where the society's collective orientation is resisted by both par-
ents and children), nor are the same things in the same orderlearned (see Spindler and Spindler
1991 ; Wolcott 1982, 1991). Surprisingly, derogatory and constraining images are often accepted
and even internalized.

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ln classical antiquity, children were trained to conform to the pattern ofthe group:
only so there could be safety against hostile strangers or jealous gods. The
child was initiated into State ceremonials and taught how to behave to men
and gods (Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1957:306). Historical parameters must
be taken into account in any analysis of socialization since child-rearing and
socialization practices have differed considerably over the centuries. Further-
more, caution must be taken when attempting to assign "typical" child rearing
characteristics to a particular historical period. Rather, families and individual
parents tend to employ different modes at different points during their life cy-
cles (Petschauer & de Mause, 1989:1-34).

The significance of the socio-cultural context

Children or those being socialized learn what is socially and culturally appro-
priate and the manner in which they learn this is socially and culturally medi-
ated. Attitudes towards 'the socialized' determine and shape the socializing
practices that develop from these beliefs. The following ethnographic exam-
ples illustrate this point. Among the Sherbros of West Africa socialization is
viewed as a process which transforms protosocial children who are egoistical-
ly greedy and wilful into initiated aduits; a fully social state. Careful training is
carried out by their parents who feel that children do not have 'sense' and need
'training' (MacCormack, 1982:95). ln comparison, the Hagen of the Papua
New Guinea claim that a child 'grows' and can be nurtured into social maturi-
ty rather than being trained into it; children are not seen as needing training in-
to adulthood from a pre-social state (Strathern, 1982:196).

ln theories of how culture affects socialization, individuals are defined, cate-

gorized, shaped, or determined by social practices that reflect social and cul-
tural priorities. Children from an all-Aboriginal environment, in which their iden-
tities are formed and in which they are loved and protected, suffer from severe
culture shock when turned over to white schools. Although, failure in the
school system is the result of complicated issues, it is clear that the lack of cul-
tural relevance and often the subtle but significant differences in the sociaIiza-
tion of Aboriginal children play a significant part and show the defectiveness of
the system, rather than reflect the failure of students (Kaplan and Eckermann,
1994). Nursing is a social practice that reflects social and cultural priorities in
a traditional Mandinka village of the Casamance Region of Senegal. A Mandin-
ka woman nurses her offspring in part to achieve the socialization of the par-
ticular child and the onqolnq negotiations between the mother and child help
to forge emotional intelligence (hakilo), an attribute that sustains aMandinko
throughout life. Thus, Mandinka women know that to nurture is not only to feed
and shelter, but also to dali lo, to accustom tlie infant, toddler, and child to a
social geography of well-being or socialization to the "Mandinka way" (Whitte-
more and Beverly, 1996:59).

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Characterizations of socialization patterns

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett (1995a) discerns two general types of cultural sociaIiza-
tion, broad and narrow. He asserts that broad socialization is intended to pro-
mote independence, individualism, and self-expression. In contrast, cultures
with narrow socialization hold obedience and conformity as their highest val-
ues, and discourage deviation from cultural expectations. Arnett contends that
although it is generally possible to characterize socialization patterns of a cul-
ture as either broad or narrow, this does not mean that cultures can be di-
chotomized into two homogeneous types because socialization may be rela-
tively broad through some sources but relatively narrow through others. In ad-
dition, there is also variation within cultures. Thus, variation is likely to be
greater in a culture characterized by broad socialization. In contrast, narrow
socializatlon prornotes a narrow range of variance not only in the characteris-
tics of those who are being socialized but also in the practices of those who
are doing the socializing.

ln essence, all the sources of socialization are related to one another and act
together to promote the socialization goals of the culture. Arnett claims that the
family, peers, schoollwork, community, media, legal system, and cultural belief
system are all sources of socialization (1995a:619-624):

i) Family practices reflect and transmit the values of the culture as a whole,"
parents do not create their parenting practices de novo but are likely to follow
role requirements for parents in their culture which they have learn ed as a re-
sult of their own socialization which reflects the expectations of the communi-
ty. Children in nuclear families are much less tightly embraced within the envi-
ronment of the family since they are more exposed to socialization influences
outside the family-(peers, child care workers, TV characters). By diminishing
the number of people within the family to whom they owe obedience they are
exposed to a greater range of possible models and viable influences.

ii) Children and adolescents in industrialized cultures spend a considerable

amount of time with peers and their socialization may be in conflict with other
sources (e.g., encouragement ·of alcohol use, high-speed driving) Socialization
by peers becomes narrower in adulthood, even in cultures characterized by
broad socialization .

iii) There have been recent trends in American education to make classroom
learning entirely individualistic, such that the teacher does little teaching and

2
Tarifa and Kloep discuss the role that the family plays in the "political' socialization of children by
focusing on child rearing techniques and parental educational styles. They found thatAlbanian chil-
dren are not afraid of either poverty or war but are bothered by ghosts and imaginary dangers of
darkness (1996:27). The authors claim that in such authoritarian societies or father-centered cul-
tures the political socialization of children is procrastinated but continued for a longer period com-
pared to, for example, the United States, where it starts at 3 and is completed by 13.

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attempts to tailor the curriculum individually to each child (Linney and Seid-
man, 1989 cited in Arnett 1995a). This is a quintessential example of broad so-
cialization, specifically designed to recognize and enhance individuality.

iv) The workplace replaces the school setting, socialization is relatively narrow
because roles consist of definite expectations for performance, rewards, and
punishments.

v) Community size and cohesion (or lack of it) determine the nature of social
life and socialization. Small scale communities have more power over the in-
dividual and are able to bind the individual strongly to the will of the communi-
ty. In contrast, in the West, most communities have neither much involvement
in nor much influence over the socialization of children. Geographical mobility
acts to weaken long-term attachments and obligations between community
members (Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler and lipton 1985 cited in Arnett
1995a).

vi) Cultures vary in the range of media they allow their members to consume
(cable TV (religious programs, educational programs, pornography) and desk-
top publishing. Self-socialization is possible, in which individuals are free to
choose the materials that contribute to their socialization. They choose the
ones that best suit their individual preferences and personalities. In this re-
spect, media differ from other socializing agents in that individuals can exert
greater control over their media choices (Arnett 1995b:519). In cultures ohar-
acterized by narrow socialization, the media may be tightly controlled by the
government and used by the government to promote conformity to govern-
ment-approved ways of thinking and behaving.

vii) The cultural belief system is a system of norms and moral standards of a
society, the standards of right and wrong, good and bad, which in turn, set ex-
pectations for behaviour. This sometimes takes the form of definite religious in-
stitutions or a political institution. This is not a source of socialization in its own
right but provides an ideological basis for socialization through other sources.
ln cultures characterized by narrow socialization, the cultural belief system
promotes values such as self-restraint, self-denial, self-sacrifice, and confor-
mity to a particular way of thinking. Individualism, self-fulfillment, and self-es-
teem, rather than a set of religious or political beliefs are the most important
and influential sources of broad socialization. They form theideological foun-
dation for socialization through other sources.

Culture as multiple discourses

The mentioned sources of socialization all contribute to a commonly possible
characterization of socialization patterns. As' (Scarr, 1993:1335-37) noted,
"Cultures set a range of opportunities for development; they define the limits
of what is desirable, 'normal' individual variation ... Cultures define the range

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and focus of personal variation that is acceptable and rewarded." However, the
symbols and values that create the culture's ideological frame(s) of reference
are not unique and ahistorical. More specifically, in complex societies, divi-
sions of gender, class, race, and ethnicity fundamentally constitute the make-
up of a given society. Subsequently, the core dimension of the concept of cul-
ture is not shared by all members in the same way under the same conditions.
Nor is it necessarily durable and stable. Moreover, we need to see culture as
multiple discourses, occasionally coming together in large systemic configura-
tion, but more often coexisting within dynamic fields of interaction and conflict
(Dirks, N.B., Eley, G. and Ortner, S.B. 1994:3-4). Clearly, the socio-cultural con-
texts of socialization must be taken into account, since these contexts are im-
portant to description and understanding of human behaviour.

How do individuals organize culture?

Thus far, the possible ways in which society and its respective culture affects
socialization have been outlined. Transmission models (see, Spindler 1974,
Mead 1935, Whiting & Whiting 1975) tend to overlook individual variations be-
cause they assume a kind of "fax model" of learning (Strauss, ·1992:9) in which
cultural facts are simply copied into internal structures, a model in which cul-
ture is learned as the fax is received. These models examine "how culture or-
ganizes individuals" and tend to overlook "how individuals organize culture".
Aptly, anthropologist Margaret Eisenhart (1995:5-6) asserts that we must un-
derstand how culture is remade and affected by individuals over time. She sug-
gests that one means by which individuals actively organize culture is through
the 'stories of self' that they express or enact when they join new social set-
tings. Thus, the culture is seen to unfold as it is molded by the interactions of
newcomers and agents of "cultural learning". Cook (1973) argues that social-
ization is not a matter of learning the rules and applying them, but of develop-
ing a set of 'interpretative procedures' a set of taken-for-granted assumptions
that enables the member to see the rules in the first place. In conclusion, an-
alytic focus should be on the milieu context that encompasses all conditions
so far mentioned as well as the part of individuals in these specified contexts.

GENDER
Essentialism and Social Constructionism
Gender has been used to refer to social, cultural and psychological pattern ing
of differences between males and females. Many anthropologists assert that
the essentialist position e.g., woman is a natural category; that she is nurtu-
rant, relational and non-vio lent, is untenable. This view concedes that a uni-
versal woman's nature exists, despite cultural variations, such that biological
sexual differences are stable and presocial and are reflected in the socially

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constructed gender categories. If this framework were true, it would be possi-

ble to trace the transformation of sex into gender by locating stable mecha-
nisms of cultures. Ortner and Whitehead (1981) argued that while there are, no
doubt, some natural bases of gender distinctions, and of sexual and repro-
ductive behaviour, these are relatively minimal in terms in which gender, sex-
uality, and reproduction are culturally defined, shaped, and woven into the so-
cial fabric in any given society at any given time. Ira L. Reiss (1986) challenges
biological determinism by providing evidence of the impact of societal factors
on gender roles. She asserts that although male aggressiveness does appear
to be hormonally based, there is a considerable overlap between the sexes,
and social training is of immense importance in directing aggressive tenden-
cies. It is worth noting that many different meanings have been given to 'es-
sentialism' extending beyond its usual biological connotations. For example,
Luce Irigaray attempts to ground a radically different feminine culture in the
specificity of the female body that challenges the foundations of much patriar-
chai thought. However, critics have accentuated the problems of essentialism
in her work due to the ways in which the female body is seen to be the basis
of this different feminine culture (Stacey, 1993:69). It has been argued that es-
sentialism and social constructionism are a false dichotomy and should be
seen as a continuum open to competing classification (Stacey, 1993:71).

The constructionist position maintains that gender is socially, culturally, and

historically constructed, shaped, and assessed. Moreover, gender construc-
tion and reconstruction are within a framework that interacts with biological
considerations; but are not unalterably controlled or contained by that biology.
Thus, in relative constructionist terms, how are sexual differences constituted
through socio-cultural and historic discourse and interaction? How does one
become or acquire a gender and what are the mechanisms of this cultural con-
struction or learning? The scientific research traditions that have contributed to
a better understanding of this process will be dealt with at the end of this arti-
cle. Simone de Beauvoir (1973:301) claimed that "one is not born a woman,
but, rather, becomes one".' Essentially,this is not a neoteric idea, Erasmus
first claimed that 'man is fashioned not born' in his treatise On the early scien-

3
ln her elucidation of the sex/gender terminological distinction Judith Butler points out that nothing
in de Beauvoir's account guarantees that the 'one' who becomes a woman is necessarily female
(Butler, 1990:111). In other words, she dissociates gender from sex-sex does not cause gender; it
cannot be understood to reflect or express sex. Monique Wittig (quoted in Butler, 1990:112) makes
no distinction between sex and gender. She claims that the category of 'sex'is itself agendered
category that is neither invariant nor natural, so 'one is not born female but becomes female'.
Further, she conte nds that there is no reason to divide up human bodies into male and female sex-
es except that such divisions suit economic needs of heterosexuality, that is, a woman only exists
as a term that stabilizes and consolidates a binary and oppositlonal relation to a man. Errington
(1990) makes the distinction between 'sex', 'Sex', and 'gender'. By 'Sex' she refers to a particular
social contrast of human bodies. The term 'sex by contrast refers to the physical nature of human
bodies, while gender refers to what different cultures make of sex. John Hood-Williams draws on
recent work in genetics to demonstrate that sex, like gender is a discursive construction. He claims
that it is wrong to assume biological differences as naturally given (Hood-Williams, 1996:1-16).

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tific education of children. (1529) (cited in Niestro], 1994:28). It is worth noting

here that there is a lack of isomorphism between genetic sex and gender in
the minds of people in many cultures. Further, there are cultures that have
more than two genders. One of the best-known examples occurs among the
Navaja Indians in North America. They have a third gender known as the na-
. die. The entry into this gender is by two pathways: (1) if an infant is born with
ambiguous genitalia that makes it difficult to know if the child is a male or fe-
male and (b) if a person feels unhappy in the male or female gender role and
wishes to change to another gender (Reiss, 1986:85).

The significance of the socio-cultural context

Since, gender is a construct, representing a particular social and cultural way
in which biology is presented and understood. the socia-cultural context is of
significance in any analysis of gender. A strikingly iIIustrative ethnographic ex-
ample is provided by Janice Boddy (1989:57). She asserts that through pharaon-
ic circumcision, appropriate female dispositions are incuicated in young Hofri-
yati girls in Northern Sudan. but trauma alone is insufficient to shape the fem-
inine self. Meaning is achieved through the use of rnetaphors and associations
which combine to establish an identification of circumcised women with a mo-
rally appropriate fertility. A child is formally initiated to its gender between the
ages of five and ten (when the child has developed minimal degree of 'agi.
reason. self-awareness. ability to recognize and follow Allah 's laws). GenitaIsur-
gery performed by women (women actively and ongoingly construct other
women) accomplishes the social definition of a child's sex, it completes and
purifies a child's sexual identity. By eliminating any vestiges of maleness, they
constitute women as separate entities and distinct social persons

GENDER SOCIALIZATION
Gender socialization is a process whereby humans in the course of social in-
teraction as well as exposure and reactions to diverse information are molded
and continually shaped to culturally appropriate images of femaleness and
maleness. If we understand that gender is socially and culturally constructed.
variable in composition and essence from one culture to the next, focus must
be on the socia-cultural contexts. Likewise, differences exist within societies.
hence it is inaccurate to assume a 'single society' because it is more likely that
members of the same gender category, located differentially in the socialstruc-
ture, both subjectively and Iiterally occupy different social worlds and realities.
Thus, gender is never constructed in a vacuum, but always within a field of oth-
er constructions of inequality that both feed it and naturalize it (Dirks et ai.,
1994:35).

Nancy Chodorow has suggested that early gender socialization proceeds in

universally similar ways. She establishes certain basic differences in the psy-

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chological (interpersonal) orientations of male and female children. Chodorow

(1974:43-66) shows how early involvement with a female figure has charac-
teristic consequences for the development of both girls and boys.

A young girl has the option of becoming a 'little mother' and absorbed into
womanhood without effort.' ln this sense, woman's status comes 'naturally'
(e.g. female initiation rites are more a celebration of natural, biological devel-
opments than a 'proof' of femininity). She has an adequate and intelligible pic-
ture of most of the possibilities and important relationships that will define her
throughout life. A young girl's early development may proceed without conflict
or challenge in a group that never questions her membership; where her age
rather than her abilities or achievement is likely to define her status, which is
both a liability and privilege. Finally, a young girl has more experience of oth-
ers as individuals than as occupants of formal institutionalized roles, so she
learns to pursue her own interests by being nurturing, responsive, and kind. In
essence, she develops a 'feminine' psychology and gains respect, power, and
status through personal relations with men. In comparison, boys must learn to
be men, which is a feat in itself, since adult male activities are rarely available
to young children. He must prove himself to become an adult and cultures treat
this development as something achieved.

Generally, this argument is defensible. Quite familiarly, characteristics which

are most adaptive for mothering/nurturing are often encouraged in females
and girls do get direct practical training in nurturant and prosocial behaviour
because they are expected to look after younger children. In contrast, boys are
socialized to suppress feeling pain or tears, taught to accept 'toughness' and
invulnerability and traits such as autonomy and self-reliance are encouraged
and valued. However, this may not be strictly applicable in some socio-cultur-
al contexts and the terms and descriptors may have significantly different con-
notations, such that the efficacy of translated standardized Western measures
of psychological gender in cross-cultural studies is debatable. In addition,
some traits may be accorded different values depending on the cultural con-
text. For example, in Russia communal characteristics (tendency towards mu-
tuality, interdependence, and the suppression of self-interest in favour of the
group) are more positively valued than agency (tendency towards individual-
ism, self-assertion, and self-expansion) (Kerig, Alyoshina, Volovich 1993:403).
Clearly, a unlversalizlnq framework discounts the multiplicity of cultural config-
urations of male and female.

Imposition of gender roles

By reiterating some of the sources of socialization (family, community, mass
media (consumption), and legal system) Arnett (1995a) listed we can observe

4
This effortless absorption otherwise known as 'easy' socialization is a process that is more or less
taken for granted. Pertinently, Alice Rossi propounds that this depends on the kind of woman one
has in mind as an end-product of socialization. In other words, only if the woman is to be the 'tra-
ditional wife-mother' is this an easy socialization (Rossi, 1964:133).

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how gender roles are imposed by different socialization agents cross-cultural-

ly.5 ln essence, this shows how mates and females are defined, categorized,
shaped or determined by social practices that reflect social and cultural prior-
ities."

i) Numerous studies have examined gender role socialization in families and

found that girls and boys receive gender-specific socialization messages. These
messages are transmitted in a number of ways: through task allocation, mod-
elling, and instruction. Anne Miles observed that the selective and negotiated
nature of gender socialization is especially apparent among migrant families in
urban contexts in Cuenca, Ecuador because rural and urban views of gender
role behaviour differ significantly. The Andean rural tradition stress es comple-
mentarity, with male and female contributions being different but equally val-
ued. In comparison, the Hispanic urban model is one of submission and de-
pendence for women, where emphasis is on the private. She claims that Cuen-
cano parents teach their children about appropriate gender behaviour through
the routines of work that promote specific gender-linked abilities.' Helping out
is considered to be an intrinsic moral good and the telling of devil stories are
used in addition to reinforce morallessons. These recounts are mechanisms
for encouraging appropriate gender behaviour, that ensure intended mes-
sages are received and appropriately interpreted. (Miles, 1996:132-157).

ii) Pierre Bourdieu argues that the organization of space (in houses, villages,
cities) and the organization of time (rhythms ofwork, leisure, holidays) embody
assumptions of gender, age and social hierarchy upon which a particular way
of life is built. As the actor grows up, and lives everyday life within these spa-
tial and temporal forms, slhe comes to embody those assumptions, Iiterally
and figuratively (Bourdieu, 1994:155-199). The effect is one of near-total nat-
uralization of the social order, the forging of homologies between personal
identity and social classification. Relevantly, Little and Austin (1996:101-111)
contend that 'rural' women are defined by the 'rural idyll' that is instrumental in
shaping and sustain ing patriarchai gender relations and incorporates, both
consciously and unconsciously, strong expectations concerning aspects of
household strategy and gender roles.

5
African-American researchers, Shirley A. Hill and Joey Sprague (1996) found that the most strik-
ing differences in socialization patterns were related to race and social class rather than gender,
such that gender plays little in the socialization of black children.

6
Asymmetry in the cultural evaluations of male and female appears to be a universal fact of human
life that is highly variable both between cultures and between different realms within a single cul-
ture (Rosaido and Lamphere 1974; Leacock 1981)

7
The allotment of household tasks after the age of 6 or 7 contrasts with middle and upper class
households where mothers take pride in the fact that their children have no domestic responsibil-
ities Miles (1996:155).

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iii) Particular representational media and associated genres both register and
themselves shape the construction of gender and sexuality in very concrete
and historical ways (see Dirks et al. 1994 ,...specific cultural fields include pho-
tograpy (Williamson), film (Traube), television (Harding) popular music and
video (McClary). Mass media facilitates selective consumption and subse-
quently encourages boys and girls to envision their futures based on a cultur-
al ideal reflected in media images. In industrial countries, consumerism is a
gendered construct with varying kinds and amounts of consumer behaviour
expected for each gender. Stores also need to be considered as sites of edu-
cation and socialization.Millie R. Creighton (1994:35-52) shows how retailing
activities perpetuate Japanese gender roles. Clearly, the socialization of gen-
der roles and of culturally appropriate consumer behaviour are not separate is-
sues.
iv) ln the following example Heying Jenny Zhan (1995:269-289) shows how
the Chinese patrimoniai state, with its centralized propaganda and coercive le-
gal control has played an active part in forming Chinese notions of femininity.
She asserts that the submissive position of Chinese women cannot simply be
ascribed to Chinese "tradition" in general, or to "Confucianism" in particular.
Manipulation of women by the state for purposes of social control can be seen
clearly by examining how women were educated to be women, socialized to
fulfill womanly duties, legally punished when they deviated from the ethical
codes, or praised or glorified by the patrimoniai state when their virtuous
deeds were recorded. From these analyses, it is clear that emotions and cog-
nitions are socially learned and culturally constructed.
Clearly, these ethnographic examples show thatthe contents, differences, and
relations between gender categories that determine particular gender identi-
ties are socially and culturally relative."

The role of language

ln addition, consideration must be given to specific operating factors that re-
produce and reinforce cultural constructions of gender. The whole process is
orchestrated and mediated by language so emphasis must be given to words
as a means of animating, stabilizing and objectifying what would otherwise be
private experience. Language not only reflects but also shapes visual images
and suggests appropriate feelings and attitudes (Hazou, 1990:22). Language
is a vehicle for encapsulating and expressing cultural constructs or models of
gender. Styies of communication, words, and expressions may reflect models
of gender.9 What is considered to be gender-appropriate behaviour, a particu-

8
Anthropologists have long understood that "gender" roles, the normative activities of women and
men which contribute to gender identity vary considerably fro culture to culture (see Mead 1935;
Friedl 1975).

9
Adult women are said to have a different relation to language from men. Consequently, formal
speech required for political activity and decision-making is commanded by men. Harris (1982:73)

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lar social pattern in a particular cultural context is not only reflected in the lan-
guage but also reinforced and facilitated by it. Winnie Hazou (1990) explores
how the self-identity ofwomen in the United States is shaped by cultural proces-
ses and explains howattitudes that devalue women are maintained through
socialstereotypes in language, nonverbal communication, rules of etiquette,
and the media. Linguistic and stylistic variations arise to reflect and reinforce
segmentation. Thus, styles that are culturally associated with each gender
have become stereotypes which act as reinforcements because they encour-
age people to conform to socially prescribed norms. In addition, verbal and
non-verbal language needs to be investigated since they reflect a particular
ideology and store modes of thought that would otherwise remain more or less
private.

Negotiation of gender discourses and practices

Gender socialization in many cases starts from birth." Initially, gender typing
may consist of purposive behaviour (pink-blue dichotomy) or differentiai treat-
ment (gentle versus rough) Gender-specific socialization messages vary de-
pending on the socio-cultural context. Subsequently, adoption of a gender iden-
tity follows, wherein young children do not usually have a fixed notion of what
their categorical positioning implies socially

How culture organizes gender can be read in the preceding ethnographic ex-
amples. Symbolic interactionists assert that we mentally reflect on and inter-
pret what goes on about us, but rather than giving a direct response to images,
sounds and sensations, we first assign meanings and then formulate actions
based on these meanings. Moreover, negotiation of gender definitions and
their analogous meanings that develop more slowly can be atlributed to those
being socialized and in effect show how individuals organize culture. Post-
structural theorists of gender describe the negotiation of gender discourses
and practices (Davies, 1989b:237-238; Walkerdine, 1990:xiii; Thorne, 1990:
110-113) as providing the context in which individuals construct definitions of
appropriate gender behaviour, definitions that develop and change throughout
the individual's life. These theories attribute greater agency to the child rather
than imposition of gender roles by socialization agents. Through learning the
discursive practices of a society they are able to position themselves within
those practices in multiple ways, and to develop subiectivities both in concert
with and in opposition to the ways in which others choose to position them
(Davies, 1989a:xi).

The following ethnographic examples illustrate how individuals construct defi-

nitions of appropriate gender behaviour. Margaret J. Finders (1996:78) ob-
served that early adolescent middle-class Euro-American females read teen

10
For example, Hippocratic treatises or Aristotle rarely characterize prepubescent children by sex.
(See also Boddy 1989, Harris 1982).

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magazines in groups and use these textual representations to shape their so-
cial roles and relationships, which subsequently serve to define and constrain
their social roles. It could be argued that teen magazines are a source of so-
cialization but their contents are subject to selection and active interpretation.
Thus, negotiation of gender definitions is a group effort in which individuals
construct definitions of appropriate gender identity and behaviour. Using a
feminist perspective, Barrie Thorne analyzes the daily lives of children from
their point of view and explores how they actively produce gender arrange-
ments. Her analysis of children's gender relations reveals "how kids mark
cross, undermine, and challenge boundaries between girls and boys" (Thorne,
1993:135). Thorne (1993:157) argues that children, as well as aduits, socially
construct gender through "forming lines, choosing seats, teasing, gossiping,
seeking access to or avoiding particluar activities".

Scientific Research
The major scientific research traditions that have influenced socialization with
attention to gender include:

1) Biological Do biological factors predispose males and females towards dif-

ferent patterns of behaviour? The biological approach advocates that genetic,
anatomical, and hormonal variations between the sexes are largely responsi-
ble for sex-linked behavioural differences, which, in turn, will predispose males
and females to adopt gender-consistent sex roles. Huston (1983) found that
sex-linked constitutional factors interact with environmental events to produce
sex-typed patterns of behaviour. For example, parents play more vigorously
with active, muscular sons than with docile, less muscular daughters. Thus,
the child's biological predispositions are likely to affect the behaviour of care-
givers which will elicit certain reactions from the child ,and influence activities
and interests that the child is likely to display. Lueptow and Garovich (1995:
509-530) conclude that valid social psychological explanations for gendered
personality traits cannot rest upon socio-cultural models alone but must in-
clude interaction of this unchanging genetic underlay with changeable social
structures and processes. They claim that current sociobiological research
holds that gender differences reflect innate differences between the sexes re-
sulting from their different reproductive strategies. Rosaido and Lamphere (1974:
6) are certain that biological studies may iIIuminate the understanding of the
sexes and the range of possibilities but this does not determine the relations,
interpretations, and evaluations of the sexes in a cultural order.

2) Psychoanalytic (identification theory) Freud relied on the concept of identi-

fication, that is, a child's tendency to emu late another person, usually a parent
of the same sex. He argued that the adoption of gender identities and sex-
typed behaviours are the result of an Oedipus conflict that emerges between
the ages of 3 and 6. However, even though children often begin to show clear-

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Iy sex-typed behaviour long before three or four years of age, this tendency is
not verifiable and generalizable across socio-cultural contexts. In addition, this
theory focuses on the holistic, expressive aspects of parent-child communica-
tion, without corresponding attention to specific scripts, such that the stress on
the emotive led to a neglect of language in the field of child rearing research
(Cook, 1973:301).

3) Social Learning Theory (Cultural transmission theory) Bandura 1977; Mi-

schel 1970 have argued that children acquire their gender identities, sex role
preferences, and sex typed behaviour through direct tuition and observational
learning. Direct tuition refers to the tendency of parents, teachers, and other
social agents to reinforce the child's sex-appropriate responses and to punish
or discourage inappropriate behaviour. For example, boys are encouraged to
be tough, assertive, competitive and play with action toys that are gender con-
sistent, whereas girls are encouraged to be gentle, cooperative, to play with
dolls and dish sets and to assume a caretaking role. Fagot (1985) reports that
peer pressure for 'sex-appropriate' play begins very early, even before they es-
tablish a basic gender identity. Observation al learning entails the observation
of activities of same-sex models, including peers, teachers, older siblings, and
media personalities. According to Bandura (1977) children acquire a large per-
centage of sex-typed attributes by observing and imitating same-sex models.
The issue here is that there is only minimal attention to internal processing,
that is the child's understanding, and similar behaviours are assumed to have
similar meanings across diverse cultural settings and contexts. Cook
(1973:304) attributes this to the treatment of language as an elaborated cue
condition which is a limited view of language, where specific signs and sym-
bols activate behaviour.

4) Cognitive-Developmental According to Kohlberg (1966, 1969), once a child

realizes that he is a boy forever (gender constancy occurs at 5 or 6), he be-
comes highly motivated to learn the behaviour that is expected or appropriate
for that gender. However, sex typing is already underway before a child ac-
quires a mature gender identity, e.g., 3-year-olds of both sexes have learned
many sex-role stereotypes and prefer same-sex activities and playmates long
before they begin to attend more selectively to same-sex models. Kuhn, Nash,
and Brucken (1978); Maccoby, (1980). According to JA Cook (1973:319) the
linguistic transmission of cultural knowledge is neglected, such that language
is regarded as a transparent medium and the way in which the form of the lan-
guage shapes the information is not dealt with. In these theories, attention is
given to a child's understanding but these frameworks do not incorporate a di-
rect, interactive study of children's social relationships (Cook, 1973).

5) Integrative Theorist Maccoby (1980) advocates this perspective that is a

combination of biosocial, social-learning, cognitive-developmental and gender
schema approaches. She suggests that biological characteristics and social lear-
ning mechanisms play a central role in the sex-typing process, and that these

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factors interact with one's cognitive structuring abilities and information-pro-

cessing biases (gender schemata) to determine the course and outcome of
sex-role development.

During the prenatal period a fetus develops morphological (biological) charac-

teristics of male or female. From birth to three years, the child is labelled, re-
minded of his or her gender, encouraged to engage in gender consistent be-
haviour, cross-sex activities are discouraged and the child acquires some sex-
typed behaviour preferences and a basic gender identity. From three until six
years of age the child begins to seek information about sex differences, form
gender schernata and become intrinsically motivated to perform sex appropri-
ate acts. When acquiring gender schemata, children attend to both male and
female models, but imitate sex-appropriate behaviour when their gender
schernata are well established. At the age of six or seven and beyond children
acquire gender consistency and rely on the behaviour of same-sex models
and less exclusively on gender schernata to acquire mannerisms and attribut-
es that are consistent with their firm categorization of self as male or female.

All of these theories attempt to render gender socialization as universal or

apart from concrete, social experience. In essence, this denies authenticity
and the potential multiplicity of cultural configurations.

6) Symbolic Interactionism Role learning in this theory specifically addresses

how and why internalization occurs, that is, how the reality of society enters the
intrapsychic life of the individual. Symbolic interactionists (The critical early
generation of G. Mead and C. Cooley was succeeded first by H. Blumer and
then later by E. Goffman and E. Friedson) maintain that our definitions of the
situation are critical to social interaction. Definitions of the situation may differ,
it is only as we arrive at common understandings that we are able to fit our ac-
tion to the actions of other people - the 'generalized other' incorporates the
varied content of person's experiences. The significant others, those persons
whose values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours become increasingly impor-
tant to people because of thier attachments to them, are persons influenced
by their own social and cultural backgrounds, backgrounds conditioned by
forms of social stratification, such that children respond to and internalize the
symbols of meaning produced by the cultural and social memberships of their
significant caregivers. JA Cook (1973:318) argues that we need to study the
content, context, and the linguistic shape of the explanations between the care-
giver and child in order to begin to consider the socio-cognitive implications for
the child. Thus, there is a strong need in socialization research to look for the
organizing principles as the 'culture bearers' define them and as the child per-
ce ives and responds to them. In contrast, post-structural theorists of gender
(see Davies, 1989b; Walkerdine, 1990; Thorne, 1990, Jordan, 1995;) argue
that negotiations of gender definitions and their analogous meanings are ac-
tively sought by those being socialized such that they are not mere, passive
recipients of the norms and values of a particular socio-cultural context.

590
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CONCLUSION
ln order to become effective members we learn what is culturally appropriate
in ways that are culturally mediated. In this article, I have argued that the so-
cio-cultural context is important because individuals are defined, categorized,
shaped or determined by practices that reflect social and cultural priorities.
This perspective considers how culture affects socialization or how culture or-
ganizes individuals. Alternatively, it is worthwhile to examine how individuals
organize culture. Pertinent/y, social and cultural facts are not always learned
as they are received but are subject to interpretation, redefinition, and revision
over time. Thus, a productive and iIIuminating approach may be towards more
contextually specific and detailed studies where focus is on the individual as a
potential organizer of culture.

Likewise, attention to the socio-cultural context is of importance in gender so-

cialization since gender is constructed in a particular context and thus variable
in composition and essence. Clearly, a universalizing framework discounts the
multiplicity of cultural configurations of male and female. It is evident that a
number of factors contribute to the constitution, differences, and relations of
cu/turally relative gender identities. Specifically, gender-specific socialization mes-
sages regarding roles, emotions and cognitions are transmitted in culturally
appropriate wayS. Some of these include task allocation, modelling, education,
control/manipulation/punishment, and language. - verbal/non-verbal. Gender-
speoltlc soclallzation messages can be found in spatial and temporal forms
and media genres. Significantly, any cross-cultural study requires insight that
certain gender terms and descriptors may have different connotations in other
cultural contexts and that gender characteristics may be accorded different
values.

Finally, the major scientific research traditions were reviewed. In summary, all
of the frameworks (except the symbolic interactionist approach) treat gender
socialization as universal or apart from concrete social experience which de-
nies the authenticity and potential multiplicity of cultural configurations of male
and female. In comparison, the symbolic interactionist approach deals with
how and why internalization occurs. Thus, in accordance with this approach,
the organization of gender behaviour depends on the meanings we assign to
our experiences. These meanings are produced in a particular socio-cultural
context whereby shared definitions facilitate effective transmission. Post-struc-
tural theorists of gender extend this argument, by giving weight to the inter-
pretations and subsequent definitions coined by the child. Interaction with oth-
ers facilitates negotiation of gender discourses and practices -.Since social ex-
pectations pertaining to gender are very difficult to elude, further ethnograph-
ic research is required on the ways in which gendered individuals remake and
affect culture over time.

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SOCIJALIZACIJA I SPOLNOST:
ZNAČENJE SOCIO-KULTURNIH KONTEKSTA
Lynette Šikić-Mićanović
Institut društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar, Zagreb.

C ilj je ovoga rada ukazati na relevantnost socio-kulturnog kon-

teksta u bilo kojem opisu socijalizacije, posebno spolne (rod-
ne) socijalizacije. Bitna je odlika ovakvog stajališta razmatranje ut-
jecaja kulture na socijalizaciju, odnosno procesa kojima kultura
djeluje na razvoj pojedinca. Poseban su interes kulturna konstru-
kcija spolnosti i odnos spram društvenog iskustva. Predlaže se da
se buduća istraživanja spolne socijalizacije, u okviru poststruktu-
ralizma, u većoj mjeri usmjere na izučavanje specifičnosti kon-
teksta, pri čemu je pojedinac u središtu interesa.

SOZIALISIERUNG UND SEXUALITAT:

DIE BEDEUTUNG DES SOZIOKULTURELLEN
KONTEXTS
Lynette Šikić-Mićanović
Ivo-Pilar-Institut fOr GeseJlschaftswissenschaften, Zagreb

Z iel dieser Untersuchung ist hervorzuheben, wie relevant der

soziokultureJle Kontext in der Beschreibung einer jeglichen
Sozialisierung, insbesondere aber der (konnatalen) geschlecht-
lichen Sotialisierung ist. Zu den wesentlichen Merkmalen eines
solchen Standpunkts gehćirt, da~ der Forscher den Einflu~ der
Kultur auf die Sozialisierung bzw. den Einflu~ jenes Prozesses,
mit dem Kultur auf die Entwicklung des einzelnen einwirkt, be-
obachtet. Besonderes Interesse wecken die kUlturbedingte Kon-
struktion der Sexualitat und das VerMltnis zur geseJlschaftlichen
Erfahrung. Es wird vorgeschlagen, bei zUkOnftigen, im Rahmen
des Poststrukturalismus sich bewegenden Forschungen zur ge-
schlechtlichen Sozialisierung sich mehr auf die Untersuchung des
spezifischen Kontexts auszurichten und sich auf die RoJle des
Individuums zu konzentrieren.

595