University of

Baguio
Assumption Road, Baguio City

2600 Gender and Society

Topic: Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Gender Roles

I.Objectives:

1. Explain the basic terms and concepts concerning gender, identity, expression,
and roles.
2. Form critical judgment about issues of gender identity, expression, and roles.
3. Value the unique aspects of others’ gender identity, expression, and roles.

II. Lesson Proper:

Gender Identity and Expression

The ways in which a person identifies and/or expresses his gender, including self-image,
appearance, and embodiment of gender roles. One’s sex (e.g. male, female, intersex,
etc.) is usually assigned at birth based on one’s physical biology. One’s gender (e.g.
male, female, genderqueer, etc.) is one’s internal sense of self and identity. One’s
gender expression (e.g. masculine, feminine, androgynous, etc.) is how one embodies
gender attributes, presentations, roles, and more.

Our gender identity is how we feel in relation to being male or female - and there are
different terms, descriptions, and labels for different types of gender identities.
We describe some of these terms.

 Agender- Not having a gender or identifying with a gender. They may

describe themselves as being gender neutral or genderless.

 Androgyny - The mixing of masculine and feminine gender expression or the

lack of gender identification. The terms androgyne, agender, and neutrois
are
sometimes used by people who identify as genderless, non-gendered,
beyond or between genders, or some combination thereof.

 Bigender- A person who fluctuates between traditionally “male”

and “female”gender-based behaviors and identities.

 Cisgender - A gender identity that society considers to “match” the

biological sex assigned at birth. The prefix cis- means “on this side of” or “not
across from.” A term
 used to call attention to the privilege of people who are not transgender.

 Crossdresser - Cross-dressing refers to occasionally wearing clothing of the

“opposite” gender, and someone who considers this an integral part of their
identity may identify as a crossdresser (note: the term crossdresser is preferable
to transvestite, and neither may ever be used to describe a transsexual
person).
Crossdressing is not necessarily tied to erotic activity or sexual orientation.

Gender Expression

The external display of one’s gender, through a combination of how they dress, how
they act and other factors, generally measured on the scale of masculinity and
femininity.

Gender Fluid - A mix of boy and girl. A person who is gender fluid may always feel
like a mix of the two traditional genders, but may feel more man some days, and
more woman other days.

Genderqueer- A gender identity label often used by people who do not identify
with being a man or a woman, or as an umbrella term for many gender
nonconforming or non-binary identities.
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Intersex- A person born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem
to fit the typical definitions of female or male. For example, a person might be born
appearing to be female on the outside but having mostly male-typical anatomy on
the inside.

Mx. - Is a title (e.g. Mr., Ms., etc.) that is gender neutral. Pronounced miks, (similar to
Ms) it is often the option of choice for folks who do not identify as cisgender.

Transgender - First coined to distinguish gender benders with no desire for surgery or
hormones from transsexuals, those who desired to change their sex legally and
medically, more recently transgender and/or trans has become an umbrella term
popularly used to refer to all people who transgress dominant conceptions of
gender, or at least all who identify themselves as doing so. The definition continues
to evolve.

Transsexual - The term transsexual has historically been used to refer to individuals
who have medically and legally changed their sex, or who wish to do so. Most
transsexual
people feel a conflict between their gender identity and the sex they were assigned
at birth. Other labels used within this group are MtF (male-to female) or trans woman,
and FtM (female-to-male) or trans man.

Ze / Hir - Alternate pronouns that are gender neutral. Pronounced /zee/ and
/here/ they replace “he” and “she” and “his” and “hers” respectively. Alternatively,
some people who are not comfortable/do not embrace he/she use the plural pronoun
“they/their” as a gender-neutral singular pronoun.

Gender Roles

Gender role theories struggle with the same issues, and different theorists take
different positions. Social learning theorists believe that we learn gender roles almost
entirely from our environment, whereas cognitive development theorists believe that
children go
through a set series of stages that correspond to certain beliefs and attitudes about
gender. In this section, we talk about evolutionary, social learning, cognitive
development, and gender schema theories.

When babies are born, they possess no knowledge and few instinctual
behaviors. However, by the time children are about age 3 or 4 years, they can usually
talk, feed themselves, interact with adults, describe objects, and use correct facial
expressions and body language. Children also typically exhibit a wide range of
behaviors that are appropriate to their gender. This process, whereby an infant who
knows nothing becomes a preschooler who has the basic skills for functioning in
society, is called socialization.

Socialization occurs at every age and level of development, and the same is
true of gender role socialization. Most boys dress and act like other boys and
play with traditionally male toys (guns, trucks), whereas most girls insist on wearing
dresses and express a desire to do traditional "female things”, such as playing
with dolls and toy
kitchens. Is this behavior innate, or are gender stereotypes still getting through to these
children through television and in playing with their peers?

Evolutionary Theory

Evolutionary psychology perspectives, including those on gender differences in

sexuality and violence, focus on behavior’s adaptive value, and are grounded in
Darwin’s (1871) concept of “survival of the fittest.” Evolutionary psychology posits that
reproductive strategies differ between men and women in part because of their
differing reproductive investment; according to Sexual Strategies Theory, because
sperm are an abundant and renewable resource and eggs are relatively scarce,
females are incentivized to be more choosey when selecting sexual partners, while
males are driven to adopt a more short-term strategy (Buss & Schmitt, 1993). Research
indicates that while most men today have longer-term partners (Smiler, 2013), males
who have multiple short-term partners have been found to have higher levels of
testosterone (Archer, 2006). Likewise, men have historically reported a greater
number of desired (Schmitt et al., 2003) and actual (Oliver & Hyde, 1993) sexual

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partners than women. Evolutionary psychology also theorizes that male violence,
aggression,

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competitiveness, and risk-taking can be partially explained by drives to gain status,
win the favor of females, and pass on their genes. Research has indeed suggested
that men (as a group) are more violent than women (Kruger & Nesse, 2004). Thus,
there is
evidence to support an evolutionary psychology perspective.

Social Learning Theory

Social learning theory suggests that we learn gender roles from our environment,
from the same system of rewards and punishments that we learn from our other
social roles.
For example, research shows that many parents commonly reward gender-appropriate
behavior and disapprove of gender-inappropriate behavior. Telling a boy sternly not to
cry "like a girl:' approving a girl's use of makeup, taking a Barbie away from a boy and
handing him Spider-Man, making girls help with cooking and cleaning and boys take
out the trash- these little, everyday actions build into powerful messages about gender.

Children also learn to model their behavior after the same gender parent to win
parental approval. They may learn about gender-appropriate behavior from parents
even if they are too young to perform the actions themselves; for example, they may
see that Mommy is more likely to make dinner, whereas Daddy is more likely to pay the
bills. Children also see models of the "appropriate" ways for their genders to behave in
their books, on television, and when interacting with others. Even the structure of our
language conveys gender attitudes about things, such as the dominant position of the
male; for example, the use of male words to include men and women (using
"chairman" or "mankind" to refer to both men and women), or the differentiation
between Miss and Mrs. to indicate whether a woman is married.

Cognitive Development Theory: Age-Stage Learning

Cognitive development theory assumes that all children go through a

universal pattern of development, and there really is not many parents can do to
alter it. As children's brains mature and grow, they develop new abilities and
concerns, at each stage, their understanding of gender changes in predictable
ways. This theory follows the ideas of Piaget (1951), the child development theorist
who suggested that social attitudes in children are mediated through their
processes of cognitive
development. In other words, children can process only a certain kind and amount of
information at each developmental stage.

As children begin to be able to recognize the physical differences between girls and
boys, and then to categorize themselves as one or the other, they look for information
about their genders. Around the ages of 2 to 5, they form strict stereotypes of gender
based on their observed differences: Men are bigger and stronger and are seen in
aggressive roles such as policeman and superhero; women tend to be associated
with motherhood through their physicality (e.g., the child asks what the mother's
breasts are and is told they are used to feed children) and through women's social
roles of nurturing and emotional expressiveness. These "physicalistic" thought patterns
are universal in
young children and are organized around ideas of gender.

Gender Schema Theory: Our Cultural Maps

Sandra Bem’s (1074. 1977, 1981) theory is a good example of a theory that
tries to overcome the difficulties posed by the other theories. According to
Bern, children (and, for that matter, all of us) think according to schemas (SKI-
muz), which are cognitive mechanisms that organize our world. These
schemas
develop over time and are universal, like the stages in cognitive development
theory; the difference lies in Bern's assertion that the contents of schemas are
determined by the culture. Schemas are like maps in our heads that direct our
thought processes.

Bern suggests that one schema we all have is a gender schema, which organizes our
thinking about gender. From the moment we are born, information about gender is
continuously presented to us by our parents, relatives, teachers, peers, television,
movies, advertising, and the like. We absorb the more obvious information about

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sexual anatomy, "male" and "female" types of work and activities, and gender-linked
personality traits. However, society also attributes gender to things as abstract as
shapes (rounded, soft shapes are often described as "feminine;' and sharp, angular

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shapes as "masculine") and even our drinks (champagne is seen as more feminine,
whereas beer is seen as more masculine; Crawford et al., 2004).

Gender schemas are powerful in our culture. When we first meet a man, we
immediately use our masculine gender schema and begin our relationship with an
already established series of beliefs about him. For example, we may believe that
men are strong or assertive. Our gender schema is more powerful than other
schemas and is used more often, Bern argues, because our culture puts so much
emphasis on gender and gender differences.

Masculinity and Femininity

What is masculine? What is feminine? Not too long ago, the answers would have
seemed obvious: Men naturally have masculine traits, meaning they are strong,
stable, aggressive, competitive, self-reliant, and emotionally undemonstrative;
women are naturally feminine, meaning they are intuitive, loving, nurturing,
emotionally expressive, and gentle. Even today, many would agree that such traits
describe the differences
between the sexes.

These gender stereotypes, however, are becoming less acceptable as our

culture changes. Masculinity and femininity refer to the ideal cluster of traits
that society
attributes to each gender. Men and women always seem to wonder why people of
the other sex behave the way they do. Yet, society itself supports those kinds of
behaviors. Is it really any surprise that men often seem to pursue appearance over
substance in
women when advertising, television, and women's and men's magazines all emphasize
women's appearance? Is it surprising, conversely, that some women pursue the "tough
guys" when society teaches them to admire male power? In the end, it is society that
determines the way we view gender relationships, and each of us is responsible to
some degree for continuing those attitudes.

Gender Stereotyping

The gender stereotyping of men and women has a profound impact on our society.
Due to the advances made in recent years to establish equality between the sexes,
society reflects fewer attitudes that support discrimination and inequality between men
and women. However, even though we are liberated in our beliefs and attitudes,
many of our actions are still influenced by gender stereotyping and misconceptions
about men and women that have been passed down through the generations.
Despite their stated values, a surprising number of people today relate to each other
based on
gender stereotypes.

Common Gender Stereotypes of Common Gender Stereotypes of

Men Women
Men are tough and powerful. Women are helpless and childish.
Men are insensitive. Women are sensitive and intuitive.
Men are rational and reasonable. Women are irrational.
Men doesn’t want commitment. Women can easily have emotional
attachment.
Men are career oriented. Women don’t prioritize their career.
Marriage is men’s least priority. Parenthood is women’s priority.

III. Assessment:

Breaking Gender Stereotypes:

List down 5 stereotypes associated with males and 5 stereotypes associated with
females. Beside the listed stereotypes, recommend solutions or ways on how to break
these identified stereotypes. (40 points)

Rubric:

Organization of Idea – 10
points Clarity of Idea - 5 points
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Use of Words - 5 points

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