Upon visiting the toy store for class, I noticed the differences between boys toys and girls toys. And I wondered a lot about what someone would do if they wanted their child to be gender neutral.
My dad just recently became a grandfather, and he hates that my niece is always wearing pink. I wonder if he wishes that she was a grandson or if he understands the possible side effects to "gendered" raising of children?
I think it is very important for all children to have a wide range of toys, because boys toys teach different skills and girls toys teach certain things. In order to have a well rounded and well developed child the need to exercise all types of play.
The article "The Effects of Stereotyped Toys and Gender on Play Assessment in Children Aged 18-47 Months" by Isabelle Cherney supports that girls toys may teach children more meaningful skills then strictly boys toys. Girls toys promote imagination and formation of stories. They also teach nurturing and loving skills. It is extremely important for children to have a wide range of toys.
Do you think it's better for children to be raised in a more neutral way or in a gender specific way?
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Motherly vs. Fatherly Instincts (post 5)
The article made me think about how my sister just recently had a baby. There are many things that tie into this story from the article. I guess I should start from the beginning. I have one older sister. We were raised to be independent and hard workers. My sister works as a seventh grade teacher in Milwaukee, last year was her first year at school. She had also recently started seeing a new guy. Hindsight being twenty, twenty, makes me realize that the months prior to having her daughter she was not acting like herself.
Turns out that my sister was pregnant and she had no idea. I still remember that day in October when she went into the emergency room. She was woke in the middle of the night with cramps and stomach pains so she and her boyfriend went into the emergency. They told her that she was going to have a baby and her appendix was fine.
The article talks about how there may be no fatherly instinct, however in this story my sister boyfriend was the one that kept encouraging her to keep her baby and that everything would be ok. He was the one that was encouraging the family. My sister wasn't really ready to be a mom and told me that she did first consider giving my niece up for adoption. After she was born and my sister got to hold her she knew she could not give her baby up for adoption and her motherly instincts finally kicked in.
My sister never wanted to be a mom, she wanted to have a career. It wasn't until she got to hold and see her baby that she became a mother when a father typically becomes a father. I mean this situation is very extreme both of them had no time to prepare or develop motherly or fatherly instincts. Neither one of them was ready and they are both great parents.
The article "An Odd Break with the Human Heart" by Elizabeth Mitchell talks about the issues of motherly and fatherly instincts, the story that I presented shows that people are not necessarily born with motherly or fatherly instincts. If anything the story shows that maybe the fatherly instinct was stronger than my sisters motherly instinct.
Do you think that there is such as motherly or fatherly instincts?
Turns out that my sister was pregnant and she had no idea. I still remember that day in October when she went into the emergency room. She was woke in the middle of the night with cramps and stomach pains so she and her boyfriend went into the emergency. They told her that she was going to have a baby and her appendix was fine.
The article talks about how there may be no fatherly instinct, however in this story my sister boyfriend was the one that kept encouraging her to keep her baby and that everything would be ok. He was the one that was encouraging the family. My sister wasn't really ready to be a mom and told me that she did first consider giving my niece up for adoption. After she was born and my sister got to hold her she knew she could not give her baby up for adoption and her motherly instincts finally kicked in.
My sister never wanted to be a mom, she wanted to have a career. It wasn't until she got to hold and see her baby that she became a mother when a father typically becomes a father. I mean this situation is very extreme both of them had no time to prepare or develop motherly or fatherly instincts. Neither one of them was ready and they are both great parents.
The article "An Odd Break with the Human Heart" by Elizabeth Mitchell talks about the issues of motherly and fatherly instincts, the story that I presented shows that people are not necessarily born with motherly or fatherly instincts. If anything the story shows that maybe the fatherly instinct was stronger than my sisters motherly instinct.
Do you think that there is such as motherly or fatherly instincts?
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Gender Identity Issues (Post 3)
I have a different type of job then I've ever had before. Most of my work experience is selling women's clothes. I know work in a different type of retail store, it's more like a joke and gift store. We sell all sorts of different things and we target and alternative type of client.
I find that I encounter more people with blurred gendered lines. Like I find myself wondering should I call these people girls or guys. After learning about gender and genre identity I feel like it can be very insulting to call someone who doesn't identify as a woman a woman or the same with a man.
One time I told a group of women "have a nice day ladies" and one of them told me she is a man. I could tell he was not born a man but I apologized and have since not added and gender terms when greeting customers at work.
The book by David Gauntlett, "Media, Gender and Identity," brings up two different points to support or help explain why there may be confusion between if someone is a man or a woman. First is the idea that "some psychologists believe that chromosomal and hormonal differences are the main cause of differences between male and female behavior. They typically point to evidence from situations where people have grown up with different hormone levels and emerge as more 'masculine' or 'feminine', but the implication of such findings are rarely clear cut (p. 38)." And "other psychologists argue that socialization is much more important - gender roles are learned during development, and reinforced throughout everyday life. There is a lot of evidence to support this case, and it is often conceded that 'most investigators agree that cultural influences and socialization processes are the main determinants of an individual's gender role identity and roles' (p. 38)." Both of these are valid responses to gender identity issues, it is either something in the persons biology and hormone level or it is how they are socialized or what they are programmed to do, maybe they are just rebelling against traditional programming. Or perhaps it is a combination of the two answers, I'm sure everyone's story is a little different.
Who else has had an experience when they had a hard time figuring out someone else's gender identity? Also why are the only terms that we have to refer to people gendered terms? How else could I generally talk to groups of customers instead of calling them guys or ladies?
I find that I encounter more people with blurred gendered lines. Like I find myself wondering should I call these people girls or guys. After learning about gender and genre identity I feel like it can be very insulting to call someone who doesn't identify as a woman a woman or the same with a man.
One time I told a group of women "have a nice day ladies" and one of them told me she is a man. I could tell he was not born a man but I apologized and have since not added and gender terms when greeting customers at work.
The book by David Gauntlett, "Media, Gender and Identity," brings up two different points to support or help explain why there may be confusion between if someone is a man or a woman. First is the idea that "some psychologists believe that chromosomal and hormonal differences are the main cause of differences between male and female behavior. They typically point to evidence from situations where people have grown up with different hormone levels and emerge as more 'masculine' or 'feminine', but the implication of such findings are rarely clear cut (p. 38)." And "other psychologists argue that socialization is much more important - gender roles are learned during development, and reinforced throughout everyday life. There is a lot of evidence to support this case, and it is often conceded that 'most investigators agree that cultural influences and socialization processes are the main determinants of an individual's gender role identity and roles' (p. 38)." Both of these are valid responses to gender identity issues, it is either something in the persons biology and hormone level or it is how they are socialized or what they are programmed to do, maybe they are just rebelling against traditional programming. Or perhaps it is a combination of the two answers, I'm sure everyone's story is a little different.
Who else has had an experience when they had a hard time figuring out someone else's gender identity? Also why are the only terms that we have to refer to people gendered terms? How else could I generally talk to groups of customers instead of calling them guys or ladies?
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Typical gender roles switched (Post 2)
When I think about gender issues in my own life, I personally tend to take on the traditional "male" role. I tend to lack any showing of emotions, I avoid most problems, I am also extremely focused on my job.
I can think of one specific instance, while living with my boyfriend. Typically he would be the one to clean the house, make dinner, and do all the laundry. These are seen predominately as tasks that women complete. In my case, I do not know how to cook almost anything, and I don't really have the time or the motivation to learn. He will try to cook new dishes and even watches shows on the Food Network. One time I had to run to the store to pick up essentials and bought a laundry soap that he didn't like and we got into an argument about it, I took the soap back to exchange it just to end the argument.
Another example of a gender switch in my life, is the fact that I work anywhere between forty and sixty hours a week, I was responsible for a large portion of the bills of the house and made sure that they were all paid on time. My boyfriend only works part time about twenty hours a week. Typically men work more and women stay home.
There are many other things that I can think of in which I play the role of the man. And I'm sure everyone else has had at least one time when they were involved with a switch of the typical gender rules.
From this reflection, I wonder how this shift in the way my boyfriend and I act affects him. I feel empowered and independent knowing that I can support myself. We have talked about it before, and he says he doesn't mind cooking and cleaning because he's better at it then I am, but I wonder if it has any affect on how masculine he feels.
It also makes me think about the idea of power. In a typical sense he would not be seen as powerful since he would be doing the woman's work. But Foucault's definition of power will work better to explain this situation. My boyfriend may play different roles when he is around different people or in a different setting, but in our relationship he is the one that cooks and cleans. Foucault's definition of power from the book "Media, Gender and Identity" is that "power is exercised within interactions. Power flows through relationships or networks of relationships (p. 128)." In our relationship it is important for him to cook and clean just like it is important for me to work. If I couldn't work the power in the relationship would shift and maybe he would work and I would have to clean. He also may be super masculine and fill in the typical male role in other relationships in his life.
I can think of one specific instance, while living with my boyfriend. Typically he would be the one to clean the house, make dinner, and do all the laundry. These are seen predominately as tasks that women complete. In my case, I do not know how to cook almost anything, and I don't really have the time or the motivation to learn. He will try to cook new dishes and even watches shows on the Food Network. One time I had to run to the store to pick up essentials and bought a laundry soap that he didn't like and we got into an argument about it, I took the soap back to exchange it just to end the argument.
Another example of a gender switch in my life, is the fact that I work anywhere between forty and sixty hours a week, I was responsible for a large portion of the bills of the house and made sure that they were all paid on time. My boyfriend only works part time about twenty hours a week. Typically men work more and women stay home.
There are many other things that I can think of in which I play the role of the man. And I'm sure everyone else has had at least one time when they were involved with a switch of the typical gender rules.
From this reflection, I wonder how this shift in the way my boyfriend and I act affects him. I feel empowered and independent knowing that I can support myself. We have talked about it before, and he says he doesn't mind cooking and cleaning because he's better at it then I am, but I wonder if it has any affect on how masculine he feels.
It also makes me think about the idea of power. In a typical sense he would not be seen as powerful since he would be doing the woman's work. But Foucault's definition of power will work better to explain this situation. My boyfriend may play different roles when he is around different people or in a different setting, but in our relationship he is the one that cooks and cleans. Foucault's definition of power from the book "Media, Gender and Identity" is that "power is exercised within interactions. Power flows through relationships or networks of relationships (p. 128)." In our relationship it is important for him to cook and clean just like it is important for me to work. If I couldn't work the power in the relationship would shift and maybe he would work and I would have to clean. He also may be super masculine and fill in the typical male role in other relationships in his life.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Genderbread (Post 1)
Here's the link for it
http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2012/03/the-genderbread-person-v2-0/
This image was presented to me in a different class but I think it really helps to explain the ideas of sex and gender. Gender and sex need to be thought of as continuums. At certain points in life on certain days you may be at a different point then the day before. It also helps to show that everyone is different and may identify differently on certain scales. This image was very eye opening for me and the first image that I have seen that has included all of the different elements of gender and sex.
It is important to remember this image in the context of this class to understand that gender and identity may be communicated differently throughout different points in a persons life. It also begins to support that parts of gender are socially constructed and certain parts are biological. Your sex or body parts are biology, but the ideas of attraction, expression, and identity are socially constructed.
Since identity is mostly constructed. It is important to understand where the construction of identity comes from. A big factor in the construction of identity is media. The book by David Gauntlett called "Media, Gender and Identity," states, "the media shows us situations and relationships from other people's points of view - indeed, it is part of the eternal fascination of drama that we can see "how the world works" in lives other than our own (p. 2).". The media gives us the ideas of how we are supposed to be what it means to be a man or a woman or straight or gay.
What other factors contribute to identity development? Should more attention be paid to how the media effects identity construction?
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