GENDER DEVELOPMENT

Gender Development

Gender Development

Introduction

Gender development is particularly important during adolescence, as gender role identification and adherence to role standards get stronger as adolescents get older. The majority of theories about social influences on gender identity formation focus on how adolescents learn about masculinity and femininity from their families, peers, and social institutions. These theories of gender socialization have found that the media's dissemination of traditional gender roles reinforces traditionally held beliefs that children and adolescents likely also learn from their parents and real-life peers. It should be noted, however, that some research, drawing on evolutionary psychology, considers gender identity from a biological (and genetic) perspective. These studies posit that sex differences result from biological differences between men and women, instead of cultural or social differences.

In recent years, sociological studies began to show that social factors influence gender role development, and that gender identity, rather than being determined genetically, is primarily socially constructed. These studies began to consider a continuum of gender identity that includes an individual's identification as gay or lesbian. According to gender socialization theories, people also learn about gender identities from messages, texts, and symbols in their daily lives that prescribe what is appropriate masculine and feminine behavior. (Ruble & Martin, 1998)

Discussions of the mass media's influence on gender identity often consider the commercial aspects of American media. The production of media is directly linked to the capitalist economy, which ensures that the messages produced in the media are tied to garnering better commercial profits. Scholars have found that the very concept of subordinated femininity is tied to the market's need to keep women in an insecure and subservient role so that they will continue to purchase goods and support the capitalist structure. Similarly, recent investigations into media portrayals of masculinity have found that these portrayals encourage men to purchase products to maintain both physical and mental dominance.

Rhonda Gibson's study of the news media's portrayal of gays and lesbians found that newspapers rarely discussed the everyday lives of sexual minorities; instead, their coverage often focused on popular gay characters in entertainment media. Other scholars who have analyzed the portrayal of sexual minorities in entertainment media found that these characters are rarely included in adolescent programming, although they are becoming more prevalent in adult programming (e.g., Will & Grace and Queer as Folk). In an analysis of the portrayal of a gay teen in Dawson's Creek, Michaela D. E. Meyer argued that depictions of sexual minorities in entertainment programming typically are based on their interactions with heterosexual peers. Portrayals of gays and lesbians like that in Dawson's Creek, Meyer posited, allow the audience to “safely” see homosexuality outside of a context of sexual desire. (Zucker & Bradley, 1995)

Mass communication scholars who have explored the media's role in gender identity development have found that the limited portrayals of gender roles disseminated by the media and other socializing agents help create gender-role stereotypes. Gender-role stereotypes are exaggerations of gender differences that reinforce a false dichotomy between male and female roles while dictating ...