Читать книгу Essentials of Sociology - George Ritzer - Страница 147

Sociologists devote a great deal of attention to gender socialization, or the transmission of norms and values about what boys and girls can and should do (Leaper and Farkas 2015; McHale, Crouter, and Whiteman 2003).

Even before babies are born, their parents (and many others) start to “gender” them (Kane 2018). In the United States they do so by frequently buying blue clothing for boys and pink for girls. Parents often dress baby girls in frilly dresses and affix bows to their bald heads to signal to others that the babies are girls. These gender differences are reinforced by the toys children are often given by parents—trucks and soldiers for boys, dolls and dollhouses for girls. Boys may get toys and games organized around action, activity, and role-playing thought to be appropriate for boys. Girls may get toys and games focused on interactions, relationships, and less active play. Sociologist Emily Kane (2012) found that while parents often want to challenge gender assumptions about what constitute appropriate toys and clothing for children, they are constrained by traditionally gendered structures and social institutions.

As children grow up, they learn from their parents and other significant others (as well as from the generalized other) what behaviors are considered appropriate and inappropriate for their gender. They also learn the consequences, or sanctions, for deviating from these expectations. For example, parents may give a girl a great deal of sympathy when she cries, whereas they may tell a boy to “be a man” and not cry after an injury. Boys may be expected to have an interest in sports, to play roughly with each other, and to be unable to sit still. Girls, in contrast, are expected to display more “ladylike” behaviors, such as sitting quietly and sharing. Many children come to see these traditional gender expectations as “natural” expressions of being male or female. Parents trying to raise boys are more likely to socialize them into narrow gender roles. They cite biology, or “nature,” as the reason for doing so. Parents also do so because they fear social sanctions if they socialize the boys differently.

Beginning in the 1970s the feminist movement challenged traditional notions about the socialization of boys and girls (Lorber 2000). Today, some parents pride themselves on their “gender-neutral” child-rearing (Auster 2016). They socialize their children without rigid adherence to traditional binary gender roles, rejecting the ideas that boys and girls are completely different (Martin 2005). Yet many parents continue to strongly discourage boys from expressing an interest in activities stereotyped as “for girls” (Kane 2006). Illustrating this difference, tomboy can be a positive term applied to a girl who likes physical activity and plays with boys. Sissy, in contrast, is a derogatory term for boys who express an interest in quieter types of play or playing with girls (Thorne 1993). Advice about the differential socialization of boys and girls continues to dominate child-rearing and parenting books, as well as other media (Martin 2005). One recent study found that by the time infants reach the age of 12½ months, they already display preferences for stereotypically gendered toys (Boe and Woods 2017).

Historically, traditional socialization for gender roles has been reinforced in schools, sports, and the mass media. In schools, teachers and curricula once tended to support traditional gender norms, and peer groups were likely to be segregated by gender (Thorne 1993). In sports, girls and boys were channeled into different sports; for example, girls tended to play softball, while boys played baseball (Coakley 2007). When girls did play “male” sports, their efforts were often labeled differently; for instance, girls’ football competitions might be called “powderpuff” football. The passage in 1972 of Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments, which bars discrimination on the basis of gender in educationally based sporting activities receiving federal funding, has changed such views dramatically. Since the passage of Title IX, women’s athletic activities in college and even in high school have become increasingly visible and, in some cases, more highly regarded as “real” sports. One of the best examples is women’s basketball at the collegiate level. More generally, both men and women are now more likely to seek to build muscular and athletic bodies.

Ask Yourself

Why do you think traditional ideas about gender role socialization in childhood remain strong in U.S. culture today? Do you foresee that they will ever give way entirely to more egalitarian norms? Why or why not?

The media, especially movies, TV, and video games, have also tended to reinforce children’s traditional gender role socialization. However, that, too, is changing. Television programs are increasingly featuring strong female characters (Game of Thrones, Big Little Lies, Veep), and numerous shows have featured female cops and police chiefs (CSI, Elementary, The Fall). Other TV shows featuring strong female leads in recent years include She’s Gotta Have It and The Handmaid’s Tale. Female action stars (Sigourney Weaver in the Alien movies, Angelina Jolie in most of her films, Michelle Rodriguez in The Fast and the Furious series) are increasingly likely to play strong and aggressive characters. Young-adult novels and the movies based on them often also have strong female leading characters, such as the extremely smart Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series, Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games series, and Beatrice Prior in the Divergent series.

Change is less obvious in other settings. Malls reinforce traditional gender roles by offering separate shops for boys and girls and for men and women. The Disney theme parks offer highly differentiated attractions aimed at boys (Pirates of the Caribbean) and girls (It’s a Small World). Modern advertisements, both in print and on television, continue to feature men and women in their “traditional” roles—men are often shown fixing things around the house or doing hard labor, while women are shown cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the kids. Most video games are targeted at boys, while girls are offered computer games focused on facial makeovers and shopping. This media emphasis on female appearance is not new. Movies, television programming, and advertisements have been widely critiqued for decades for their unrealistic portrayal of women’s bodies (Cole and Daniel 2005; Milkie 1999; Neuendorf et al. 2009). Magazines such as Rolling Stone have featured sexualized images of men on their covers, but they still use many more such images of women. More striking is the fact that the images of women have become increasingly sexualized over time (Hatton and Trautner 2011). Many of the action heroines (e.g., those in James Bond and X-Men movies) continue to embody traditional male preferences for female bodies: young, attractive, and slender. Young women comparing themselves with these versions of adult Barbie dolls become anxious about their own bodies. Media images of women may also reaffirm racial stereotypes, with young women of color often being sexualized or portrayed as poor and irresponsible (Collins 2004).

What do you think the impact will be of the increasing amount of time young children are spending looking at devices’ screens?

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