Chapter 10. Sex and Gender "We're Having a Baby!"
10.1
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. Select the Read Text Message button to read Jordan’s message.
10.2
Jordan and Taylor are waiting to find out the sex of their baby. 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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10.3
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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10.4
Vocabulary plays a large role in culturally establishing gender roles. For example, what comes to mind when you think of the color “blue”? How about “pink”? Did you think of male babies for blue and female babies for pink? Do words like tender, aggressive, skirt, and tough make you think of one gender or another? All of these words tend to be associated with gender schemas, psychological or mental guidelines that dictate how to be masculine or feminine, and they correspond to our ideas of gender stereotypes. Why pink for a baby girl? Why is “aggressive” behavior “masculine”? Why is “tender” associated with feminine?
These ideas are deeply ingrained into our psychological mind-frame from a very early age. Think of gender stereotypes that you may have been exposed to as a child. As much as parents or guardians attempt to be “gender neutral,” society sends strong messages about how boys and girls should behave.
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10.5
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q6XWQJflWtVkaFwYK6NEneWW7Y2E1zzqMCTXSg==Now, let’s look at some photos. Place each photo into either the masculine or feminine column.
Move items by dragging them to the correct location.
10.7
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 . Why? In part, it is because these roles go against our societal norms and gender schemas.
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.
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10.8
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, H. (2012) STEM Field and the Gender Gap: Where are the Women? Forbes. Retrieved from STEM Fields And The Gender Gap: Where Are The Women? 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). Retrieved from Data About Men Teachers | MenTeach - Recruiting male teachers for education
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10.9
Now watch this video about gender stereotypes:
Teachers and schoolkids are in the classroom. Music is playing on the background. School bell is ringing.
TEACHER 1: This afternoon we're going to draw people doing different jobs. And the first job we're going to draw is a firefighter.
TEACHER 2: Have a think in your head what a firefighter looks like.
Schoolkids are drawing a firefighter. They show their pictures.
TEACHER 3: What's your firefighter called?
GIRL 1: Mine's called Firefighter Gary.
BOY 1: Firefighter dad, firefighter son.
GIRL 2: He's big and strong.
GIRL 4: He's got a big helmet on.
TEACHER 2: That's brilliant, isn't it?
TEACHER 1: Next we're going to draw a surgeon.
Schoolkids show their drawings of a surgeon.
TEACHER 2: Have you thought of a name for your surgeon?
BOY 1: Jim Bob.
TEACHER 2: Jim Bob.
BOY 2: He's a brain surgeon.
GIRL 1: I think he would wear a stethoscope.
BOY 3: He gave you medicine.
TEACHER 2: That's his ambulance.
TEACHER 1: OK, next we're going to draw a fighter pilot.
Schoolkids show their drawings of a fighter pilot.
BOY 1: This is his jet plane. He rescues people.
GIRL 1: He likes to do stunts in the air and stuff.
TEACHER 1: OK, now who would like to meet these people for real?
SCHOOLKIDS (in unison): Yeah. Wow.
A firefighter, a surgeon, and a fighter pilot enter the classroom. The firefighter removes the helmet. The firefighter, the surgeon, and the fighter pilot are women.
GIRL 1: They're dressed up.
TOWNSEND: My name's Townsend, and I'm a surgeon in the NHS.
LAUREN: My name's Lauren, and I'm a pilot in the Royal Air Force.
LUCY: My name's Lucy. I'm a firefighter in the London Fire Brigade.
There is a text on the screen that states that gender stereotypes are defined between 5 and 7 years of age.
TOWNSEND: So who wants to learn how to do an operation?
Women offer schoolkids to wear their uniforms.
TOWNSEND: And try my stethoscope?
LAUREN: We'll put this in here. There you go. Now you're a proper fighter pilot.
TOWNSEND: Stick it into your ears. Can you hear that? That's really good.
There is a text on the screen that states that 61 pictures were drawn as men. 5 were drawn as women.
Video prepared by Education and Employers Taskforce and MullenLowe London.
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10.10
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Jordan and Taylor's baby was just born. Select the Birth Announcement button below to find out if they had a boy or a girl.
