09-26-2005, 11:47 AM | #1 |
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Gender Roles
Ok, I got in a big fight with my psychology professor because he said that boys and girls are taught at a young age to like masculine and feminine things based purely on their social situations and that it has nothing to do with biological or genetic makeup. I argued that our biological makeup has an influence on it all because it is what pushes society to teach us in that way. For example, boys like GI Joes and guns because it is part of our mental imprint to be more aggressive, or if you want to look at it in early human evolution standards, to be the hunters and providers, so boys tend to like those things, not simply because their parents told them to like them. And their parents, more specifically their fathers, sort of influence them to like them because they went through the same development stage and have an interest in similar things.
He told me I was just wrong and I told him he sucked. What do you think? |
09-26-2005, 11:51 AM | #2 |
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I'd say it is very complex and a lot of factors tend to play a role into what we (as groups) think and like, both sociological and biological. I do not think, though that it is very relevant to compare with how things were when humans were hunters and gatherers.
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09-26-2005, 11:51 AM | #3 |
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You're just wrong.
Don't you dare take me seriously.
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09-26-2005, 11:53 AM | #4 | |
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I'm not so sure it has to do with a lot of factors. Because it happens at such a young age, how many sources of influence do we have other than those who take care of us and what we're born with? |
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09-26-2005, 11:56 AM | #5 | |
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Just a thought.
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09-26-2005, 11:56 AM | #6 |
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You're both right.
And both suck.
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09-26-2005, 11:59 AM | #7 | |
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09-26-2005, 12:00 PM | #8 |
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There are lots of people in your environment even at a young age, and you go to different places and you do lots of things all of which eventually alter the way the young budding mind will think. And influences might not always go the way one would think, with the child eventually rebelling against the said influence, for example.
It is wrong to trivialise the question, but I happen to think that a lot (not all, but a lot) of the gender differences can be explained by social factors. Another point is that by always talking about genders and supposed gender differences you cement said differences.
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09-26-2005, 12:03 PM | #9 |
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I think you need to study more and eventually get a PhD. I think it's a little of both. Each sex is born with a biological predisposition to go with one role or the other. BUT, it can be steered (i.e. manipulated) by social conditioning - pink for girls, blue for for boys; Barbie for girls, G.I. Joe for boys; Home Economics class for girls, and sports for boys. Conversely, studies have shown that roles can be 'switched' for each gender also by social conditioning. There are as well other various factors - culture, religion, socio-economics, technological and industrial, etc.
And there are variances in how this works. There are some primitive tribes where the women dominate the men in some ways. There's also research done showing that male sons of Lesbian parents tend to be more nurturing and less aggressive than boys raised by 'traditional' heterosexual parents. And how are effeminate men explained? And aggressive women who play sports to compete? There are also instances of males wanting to become female through sex change operation, and vice versa. Keep in mind, too, that most of the world no longer lives in a primitive 'hunter gatherer' phase, hasn't for centuries, and that humans are still evolving and becoming even more complex, thus the cultures and societies we live in are also evolving, often to the point where gender roles have finally become a matter of choice. It looks to be far more complicated than your 'mental imprint' suggests. There are many other influencing factors involved, especially today, with gender roles themselves becoming more of a choice based on a bunch of factors. Last edited by Trep; 09-26-2005 at 12:10 PM. |
09-26-2005, 12:05 PM | #10 |
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I happen to think hormonal (testosterone and estrogen) influences during gestation shape our behaviors strongly. Possibly some of these can be affected, like any genetic expression, through environmental stimuli (parents exposing a girl to GI Joes e.g.).
Here is one article - An Evolutionary Perspective of Sex-Typed Toy Preferences: Pink, Blue, and the Brain that discusses the gender and toy preference. |
09-26-2005, 12:07 PM | #11 |
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Identical twin boys were born some years ago and because of an accident you REALLY don't want to know the details of, one was raised as girl for his entire life. It totally didn't take, and he wasn't at all interested in anything frilly or feminine at any time, but wanted to do all the rough-and-tumble things his brother did.
I'll go with nature over nurture, but both play a role. ScottMate
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09-26-2005, 12:10 PM | #12 | |
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09-26-2005, 12:11 PM | #13 | |
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09-26-2005, 12:12 PM | #14 |
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I'm now wishing that I hadn't thrown away the old copy of New Scientist I had that had an article looking at intersex children and whether or not parents should determine their gender. Unfortunately, New Scientist requires a subscription to read it online ...
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09-26-2005, 12:12 PM | #15 | |
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09-26-2005, 12:16 PM | #16 | |
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He also said we should unlearn all of the gender specific stuff we were taught as children and that we'd live happier if we did that. I think that's impossible to do, but I can only afford one fight per day. |
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09-26-2005, 12:19 PM | #17 | |
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09-26-2005, 12:21 PM | #18 | |
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09-26-2005, 12:22 PM | #19 | |
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Give this clueless individual the answers he wants on the exams, pass the course, and laugh like Hell every time you think about this professor in the future. ScottMate
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09-26-2005, 12:23 PM | #20 | |
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...so I guess I don't really have a point.
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