Chapter 1. Sex and Gender "We're Having a Baby!"

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After a long day of classes, studying and socializing, you are thrilled to see a text message from your cousin Jordan, whom you haven’t heard from in a bit. You’re glad to have this break. Click the Read Text Message button to read Jordan’s message.

Read Text Message

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Jordan and Taylor are waiting to find out the sex of their baby. As you saw in Chapter 10, the sex of a baby is determined when the egg is fertilized by the sperm. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes and the 23rd pair determines the individual’s sex. An embryo with two X chromosomes is a biological female and an embryo with an X and a Y chromosome is a biological male. So, all children, except in some rare cases, are born with a genetic sex (XX for females and XY for males).

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What makes a child act, feel, and think like a boy or girl? What creates the child’s gender? Even though they are often used together and/or interchangeably, sex and gender are not the same thing. Sex is a biological term. How gender develops in an individual is still a bit of a mystery, but it can be determined by the social, cultural, and psychological environment in which the individual is raised.

What gender identity will this baby have? Beyond the biological components, in this activity you will examine the role society and culture play in creating a child’s idea of feminine and masculine.

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Beau Lark/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images

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Based on both subtle and overt societal and cultural messages that bombard children on a daily basis, sort these phrases in one of two categories: masculine or feminine. Make your choice based on the category in which these sentences fit best.

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Now, let’s look at some photos. Place each photo into either the masculine or feminine column.

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Hero Images/AGE Fotostock

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Marla Rutherford/Getty Images

DanielBendjy/Getty Images

RyanJLane/Getty Images

Sergei Butorin/Getty Images

DGLimages/Shutterstock

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Did you have to think twice before categorizing these photos? These pictures represent contrasts to typical notions of masculinity and femininity. The individuals in the photos you sorted did not meet our society’s and culture’s expectations of gender roles. We have specific gender schemas for careers. For example, most individuals think “male” when someone says “construction worker.” When someone says “nurse,” many people think “female.” Sadly, most people who do not follow stereotypical gender roles (usually called “nontraditional gender roles”) report more stress, lower levels of social support, sexual harassment, and questions about their sexuality (Sifferlin, 2015). Why? In part, it is because these roles go against our societal norms and gender schemas.

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In certain careers, there are tremendous shortages of men or women. In science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers, men far outnumber women. For example, only 22% of environmental scientists and 17% of chemical engineers are women (Huhman, 2012). Where are the male nurses? 91% of registered nurses are women. Men make up less than 3% of preschool and kindergarten teachers and less than 20% of elementary and middle-school teachers (Data About Male Teachers, 2007).

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Do you believe that your gender affects your thoughts, feelings, attitudes and behaviors? How would you describe yourself in terms of masculinity and femininity? Let’s measure the extent to which you may display both masculine and feminine traits. The Bem Androgyny Scale measures the extent to which you express masculine and feminine traits. Please complete the scale. For each personality trait, rate yourself from 1 “never true” to 7 “always true”.

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What does all this androgyny research actually mean? Multiple studies performed by Bem and other researchers have shown that androgynous individuals are likely to function at a higher level of flexibility and more easily adapt compared to more gender-typed individuals. This happens, in part, because androgynous individuals possess traits of both genders. People with androgynous traits tend to express more appropriate traits in different situations (e.g., act masculine when it is called for and act feminine when it is called for). In addition, studies have shown that androgynous individuals have higher self-esteem and greater psychological health (Bem 1975; Wulff & Steitz, 1999).

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Now watch this video about gender stereotypes:

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Jordan and Taylor’s baby was just born. You will find out the baby’s biological sex as soon as you click on the birth announcement.

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Bem, S.L. (1975).The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42(2), 155–162.

Blakemore, J. E. O., Berenbaum, S. A., and Liben, L. S., (2009). Gender Development. New York: Psychology Press.
York: Psychology Press.

Data About Male Teachers (2007). Retrieved from
http://www.menteach.org/resources/data_about_men_teachersl

Huhman, H. (2012) STEM Field and the Gender Gap: Where are the Women? Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/06/20/stem-fields-and-the-gender-gap-where-are-the-women/#2e4e83a033a9

Women in STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (2016) Retrieved from https://www.careerwise.mnscu.edu/careers/womenstem.html).

Sifferlin, A. (2015). Women earn 24% less than men on average, UN Report Finds. Time.com, N,pg Witt, S. D. (1997). Parental influence on children’s socialization to gender roles. Adolescence, 32,(126), 253–259.

Witt, S. D. (1997). Parental influence on children’s socialization to gender roles. Adolescence, 32,(126), 253–259.

Wulff, M. B., and Steitz, J. A. (1999). A path model of the relationship between career indecision, androgyny, self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 88, 935–940.