Question

Address how gender identity is formed, the scientific evidence for the differences between the genders, and the various influences (biological, social, and cultural) that affect these differences.

Assume you are making a presentation as part of a national symposium on gender development. Your contribution will serve as the introductory presentation to provide context to the symposium and your co-presenters. The target audience for this project is the research community.

Research how gender identity is formed.

Develop a presentation that addresses the following:

Introduction: Overview of presentation

The history of the study of gender

Ways in which gender is studied

Psychological theories about gender development

Relative roles of biological, social, and cultural influences on gender (such as stereotyping and discrimination)

Scientific evidence for gender differences in the following areas:

School and work

Relationships and sexuality

Health and wellness

Stress, coping, and psychopathology

Conclusions that forecast the landscape for gender development at work and home, and in political arenas and initiatives in the coming years

Answer 1

• Gender identity formation refers to the complex processes through which young children come to incorporate their sex and gender into their behavior, attitudes, and self-understanding. This includes the development of an inner sense of one’s femaleness or maleness, the acquisition of knowledge about cultural expectations for women and men, and the development of attitudes, interests, and behavior that reflect these expectations.
• Around two-years-old, children become conscious of the physical differences between boys and girls.Before their third birthday, most children are easily able to label themselves as either a boy or a girl. By age four, most children have a stable sense of their gender identity. During this same time of life, children learn gender role behavior—that is, do­ing "things that boys do" or "things that girls do."
• Before the age of three, children can dif­ferentiate toys typically used by boys or girls and begin to play with children of their own gender in activities identified with that gender. For example, a girl may gravitate toward dolls and playing house. By contrast, a boy may play games that are more active and enjoy toy soldiers, blocks, and toy trucks.
• Once children begin to think about gender as a stable trait, they also start to incorporate gender into their own identity.Around that time, they become motivated to relate to other members of their group and seek out gender-related information, often becoming very strict about adhering to gender stereotypes. For example, children between the ages of three and five prefer to play with members of their own gender. And they also prefer to engage with gender-stereotyped toys and activities.
• Social factors-
• Parents a major role in gender identity development because they act both as models for gender appropriate behaviour as well as sources of rewards and punishments.
• Parents would praise gender appropriate behaviour and punish gender inappropriate behaviour. For example, if a boy wanted to do ballet, his parents may ignore or shout at him for wanting to do ballet (punishment) and this could then discourage the child from doing ballet because he may think that he would get punished even more if he carried on doing it. Instead, the child may decide to do a more gender appropriate activity that his parents would approve of, such as playing football, in order to get rewarded by his parents.
• Biological factors-
• In some ways, gender roles are biologically based. For example, physiologically, it is women who must gestate and bear the young of the species. However, this does not necessarily mean that it is the woman who must take care of the child after it is born, as is demonstrated by stay-at-home fathers who nurture the child while the mother returns to work in a reversal of traditional typical Western gender roles.
• Although gender has a biological foundation in the physiological differences between females and males, the way that gender is interpreted differs from culture to culture and, in some ways, from individual to individual. For example, although some societies are patriarchal in nature in which the male is the head of the family, descent is traced through the father's side of the family, and men have power over women, others are matriarchal with women holding these roles instead of men.
• Key Assumptions of the Biological Approach concerning Gender Differences-
• Hormones play a huge role in gender differences and it is our DNA that dictates our behaviour as men and women.
• Men and women have different brain structures.
• Women have evolved to be the carers of children whilst men have evolved to be the providers for their families.
• Women have predetermined characteristics like being more: caring, protective and loyal than men.
• Men have predetermined characteristics like being more: aggressive, competitive and dominant than women.
• The fundamental cause of our gender differences is our genetic makeup, more specifically, the DNA found in our two 23rd chromosomes - the chromosomes that dictate which sex we are.
• Cultural factors-
• The constant bombardment of information through advertisements,television,magazines etc.presents traditional and evolving less-traditionally defined gender roles. People subconsciously and consciously take in this cultural information about gender roles. They then evaluate the information to try and understand how the information applies to them and how they should then operate within society. While many people and organizations challenge these traditional gender roles, the influence of mainstream culture remains evident in perceptions while other cultural influences are growing.
• Women have traditionally been the caregivers of children as well as homemakers. Historically, they have done more housework, including laundry, washing dishes, cleaning and cooking but gender roles and tasks in the home are no longer defined strictly by gender. Movies, TV and other forms of media reinforce these traditional roles through characters leading to development of stereotypical gender roles.
• While female gender roles are often defined when children watch their mothers or sisters complete more household tasks or household tasks gender-designated as for women, there are also cultural influences that affect how men form their own gender role perceptions. If a young boy grows up in a household with an overly masculine attitude that relegates all women to subordinate roles, a child may grow up to reflect those same attitudes in their own relationships and behaviors.
• Due to time limit,remaining questions can be asked as another question,they will be answered,thankyou for your cooperation