Faculty of social sciences
Department: DEPARTEMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
Module code: GSSS231
Module Title: GENDER STUDIES FOR SOCIAL SCIENCES.
Surname: ELIZABETH
First Name: MAFUKIDZE
Reg no: R1918052E
Lectures name: MR GANDAH.
QUESTION: (a) Discuss any four ways in which the social construction of gender
inequalities takes place at family level. (12 marks)
(b) Suggest any four ways of promoting equality between sexes at family level. (8
marks)
Social construct is a concept that exists not in objective reality, but as a result of human
interaction. It exists because humans agree that it exists. Gender inequality is the social
phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from
distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. According
to social constructionism, people create, rather than discover themselves and other people
through their interactions with them. Theories of personality, then, are an attempt to describe the
many variations of self that result from individuals having interactions with other individuals
(Burr, 2015). At family level social construction influences gender inequality through
religion ,stereotype, gender manipulation and gender roles.
STEREOTYPE
A stereotype is a widely accepted judgment or bias about a person or group — even though it’s
overly simplified and not always accurate. Stereotypes about gender can cause unequal and
unfair treatment because of a person’s gender. This is called sexism. Gender constructions that
prescribe female sexual passivity and ignorance as well as overpowering male sexual desire, at
times said to be provoked by females, make it difficult for women to negotiate safe sex.
Therefore, these particular constructions create a context in which these unequal relations come
to be understood as ‘normal’ and ‘natural’. Parents often implicitly reinforce gender stereotypes,
even when they intend not to. For example, parents can convey messages about gender
appropriate emotions and activities when reading their children storybooks. For instance, they
might label gender-neutral sad characters as girls and angry characters as [Link] can also
promote gender equality by supporting a range of activities for both their sons and daughters.
According to Seguino from the moment babies are born, their assigned sex (male or female)
immediately begins to shape how they should be treated, what opportunities they should receive
or how they should behave according to dominant gender stereotypes in their society. From
infancy, boys are often given more sports equipment, toy cars and tools, while girls are given
more dolls, kitchen appliances and pink [Link] infants often have equal and overlapping
interests in toys and it is the gendered marketing of toys that subsequently influences their
preferences as they age. From the moment babies are born, their assigned sex (male or female)
immediately begins to shape how they should be treated, what opportunities they should receive
or how they should behave according to dominant gender stereotypes in their society. In fact,
studies have shown that an individual’s sense of being either male or female is predominately
determined by the way they are treated by others. Based on their external environment, children
learn very quickly (from as young as 9 months old in some cases) that boys and girls are
different – they have their own colours, toys, abilities and particular interests.
Occupational stereotype is when some people are quick to assume that teachers and nurses are
women, and that pilots, doctors, and engineers are men , for example if Tabeth takes up a better
position at work she is considered as unmarrigiable , in a family setup children will be captured
to know their place as girls and not to compete with men like aunt Tabeth lest they want to
remain unmarried. Men and women are also expected to dress and groom in ways that are
stereotypical to their gender (men wearing pants and short hairstyles, women wearing dresses
and make-up.
In many patriarchal societies there is an idea that boys are preferable to girls. In Zimbabwe
families are more likely to continue having children if they only have daughters versus if they
only have sons indicating that there is a preference to have male children in the family. And in
low-income countries, where millions live below the poverty line, for myriad reasons, when
parents have limited financial resources they tend to favour to send boys to school as boys are
perceived as being more “valuable” and worthy of investing in and the belief that all girls will
eventually get married off. Therefore, investing in a girl’s education reaps little return because a
girl who stays at home and learns how to take care of a family is of more value to a future
husband. Girls and women do not have property rights (Morrison and Ju'tting). Only men are
allowed to own or inherit property, having a son keeps assets in the family and makes sure
parents will have somewhere to live when they get old. If a family needs hard physical labour to
run a farm or make it’s living in some other way, boys are seen as more capable and stronger
than girls
GENDER ROLES AND NORMS.
Gender roles in society means how we’re expected to act, speak, dress, groom, and conduct
ourselves based upon our assigned sex. For example, girls and women are generally expected to
dress in typically feminine ways and be polite, accommodating, and nurturing. Men are generally
expected to be strong, aggressive, and bold. Every society, ethnic group, and culture has gender
role expectations, but they can be very different from group to group. Often women and girls are
confined to fulfilling roles as mothers, wives and caretakers (Eargly and Diekman). Gender
norms position girls as caretakers, which leads to gender inequality in how roles are distributed
at the household level. This also results in a lack of education due to the restriction of outside
[Link] most damaging impact of restrictive gender norms is that they hurt everyone –
people are expected to conform to rigid ideas which limit the spaces and the behaviours they may
wish to participate in because it may not be an acceptable gender norm for their assigned sex.
Gendered norms also result in girls and women experiencing violence, harassment and struggling
to receive equal pay and opportunities while boys and men experience higher rates of substance
abuse and completed [Link] women and girls are confined to fulfilling roles as mothers,
wives and caretakers. These differences and assigned roles based on sex, also known as the
“gender binary”, become unquestioned rationale for ssmany ideas about what boys, girls, men
and women can and cannot do. For example, most societies expect females to behave in a
submissive, dependent and emotional way while males are expected to be strong, independent
and stoic.
Beliefs about the value of boys versus girls are commonly reflected in the way parents treat their
children. For example, the gendered division of household work is accepted almost everywhere.
Boys are more likely to have chores like mowing the ploughing or heading cattle, while girls are
given domestic chores like cooking and cleaning. People expect that women will take care of the
children, cook, and clean the home, while men take care of finances, work on the car, and do the
home repairs which is the case in many Zimbabwean families. This segregation of household
labour tells children that they are expected to take on different roles based on their gender.
GENDER MANIPULATION
Gender manipulation is the power to manipulate the genders of oneself/or others and it discusses
which emotions are to be displayed by which sex. The emotionspecific effects on gender shows
differences in emotional expressiveness, which is consistent with traditional norms of emotional
expression ,facial affect and emotional prosody. According to the literature, women are expected
to express prosocial emotions like happiness and internalizing negative emotions like sadness
more frequently and intensely than men, whereas men are typically more associated with
emotions that imply power and dominance like anger (Becker et al., 2007) .For example in a
typical Zimbabwean family if a woman get angry and talks back at her husband she is retarded as
disrespectful and uncultured.
Gender manipulation is often associated with crimes, violence and abuse. As a man shows his
masculinity through anger and fierceness it still fear on his family, When that man beats his wife
which is a crime of domestic violence it is acceptable in the society but if man is beaten by his
wife he is considered weak and not men enough , therefore if a woman is abusive it's most likely
to be kept a secret. Crimes of rape and even murder happen within family and because certain
crimes are committed by a man they are overlooked for example in an extended family setup if
the uncle rapes his little niece , the girl is strongly instructed to keep it secret else she loose her
family or her life. This shows that women are socially constructed to be calm and accepting even
at the expense of their happiness while men are to freely display anger and hardness ( Bonebright
et al.,).
RELIGION
An individual’s religious denomination may influence gender norms and outcomes, implying
that some religions could be more patriarchal than others. However, whether any one organized
religion is more patriarchal than others is an empirical question on which there is as yet no
consensus. Psacharopoulos and Tzannatos (1989) find that Muslims, Hindus, and Catholics have
lower female labor force participation rates than other religions and the non-religious. Islam has
been identified as significantly more patriarchal than other dominant religions on such measures
as education and life expectancy (Baliamoune-Lutz, 2007; Dollar & Gatti, 1999; Fish,2002;
Forsythe & Korzeniewicz, 2000) although some recent empirical evidence challenges that view
(Donno & Russet,2004; Noland, 2005).For example Shurugwi is populated by Muslims, in a
family a woman supposed to keep her head down and covered , they wear long dresses covering
their whole bodies except the nose, their society is constructed in such a way that women have
no say in anything , not even in their family.
The greater the degree of religiosity a person exhibits, the more likely s(he) is to hold gender
inequitable attitudes, for example white garment churches have extremely religious members, the
women are not allowed to even preach in church or have eye contact , in families women
maintain their position under their [Link] to the sociological perspective, common
understanding is that religion depresses women's rights in general and reproductive and abortion
rights in [Link] reinforces and promotes social inequality and social conflict. It helps
convince the poor to accept their lot in life, and it leads to hostility and violence motivated by
religious differences. This perspective focuses on the ways in which individuals interpret their
religious experiences.
Religion is an agent of social control and thus strengthens social order. Religion teaches people
moral behavior and thus helps them learn how to be good members of society. In
Christianity ,the Ten Commandments are perhaps the most famous set of rules for moral
[Link] same commandments are adopted by families but however Christianity is
partriachial in nature so women do not get the same opportunity or position as men in most
churches like Seventh Day Adventist which does not allow female pastors and at home a woman
ought to be under her husband therefore influencing inequality.
CONCLUSION
Gender is the way one thinks and acts based on learned roles and social [Link] birth,
children learn about gender-appropriate attitudes and behaviours through gender socialisation.
They learn to “do” gender through internalising gender norms and roles as they interact with
people around [Link] are primary agents of gender socialisation, and often provide
children’s first sources of information and learning about [Link] begin to understand
and act out gender roles and stereotypes at an early [Link] degree to which they internalise and
adopt stereotyped attitudes and behaviours can have long term effects on their attitudes,
behaviours and [Link] who support rigid gender roles and relations are more likely to
endorse attitudes that justify, excuse, minimise or trivialise violence against women, or blame or
hold women at least partially responsible for the violence against [Link] , religion,
gender manipulation and gender roles in are social construction that influence gender inequality
in families.
B)SUGGEST ANY FOUR WAYS PROMOTING EQUALITY BETWEEN SEXES AT
FAMILY LEVEL
Parents first need to become more aware of rigid gender stereotypes and consciously question
their existence, necessity and impact. These widespread ideas about what it means to be a
woman, girl, man or boy can be tackled at home by working with parents to help identify and
counter dominant gender norms. When men and women are equal partners in the household,
children tend to benefit. This can be achieved through emancipation, education , role modeling
and interaction.
Parents teach children their place in the world
INTERACTION
Interaction is when parents and children or a family take time to talk , play games , ask
questions and [Link] both parents influence their children’s perceptions of gender, fathers
in particular are more likely to reinforce common gender stereotypes, preferring to encourage
gendered toys, sports and rough play with their sons versus their daughters. According to
Fernandez et al Interactive techniques, like role-playing, storytelling and games can help teach
children about gender [Link] example, parents and children can play a printable card game
or similar activity to match female and male characters doing the same profession. In spending
time together families get to know each other and understand how certain actions or words affect
them (Esteve Volart).
ROLE MODELING
Role modeling is when parents show lead their children by example .Fathers who take on an
active role in childcare and domestic labour positively influence their children by showing that
the adult male role can be nurturing. In addition, the way fathers treat their wives can have a
long-term impact on their sons and daughters’ personality and life choices. A mother can show
respect to her husband with any show of intimidation, she can also have desirable qualities like
mowing the lawn showing that women are also strong(Kadarm). Both parents can cook ,wash
and clean [Link] positive role modelling helps boys become better husbands, fathers,
brothers and friends to girls and women(Inglegart and Norries). At the same time, it positively
impacts the self-esteem of young girls and reinforces that both genders are equal.
EMANCIPATION
Emancipation generally means, to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability.
More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or
equality. Mothers who work and take on a financial provider role in the family also help break
down stereotypes for their children especially their daughters and challenge ideas about the
conventional female role(Sen A and Sen G).The educating girls and women and giving them the
tools to ensure that they have a strong economic and social foundation, has positive societal
implications: education leads to lower fertility levels, delayed age of marriage, better health for
young women and their children, increased societal and political participation, and greater
societal productivity (Desai, 2010; Plan, 2015). Specifically, education both formal education of
girls and women, but also informal / formal education of boys and men has been proven to
expand options and reduce violence and harmful practices such as child marriage and adolescent
pregnancy
EDUCATION
As a family find time to discuss issues that concern equality and discrimination. As a child or a
parent , in this computer era what you assume a family member knows may be unknown to
thenm and what you think you know maybe wrong , so one has to be in a position to share and
receive information without taking offense(Heineck). Adding a human rights perspective to the
decision making process is a crucial task. Educated family members on stereotypes , human
rights , current affairs , legislation because it is important for a person to know the laws of their
country (Klasen and Lammand). For example a person commenting a woman's body especially
referring to sensitive parts like the breasts is a crime , bullying , keeping children who are of age
to go to school at home , child labor, having intercourse with your partner without their consent
are all crimes and most which people tend to overlook.
However it is impossible for parents alone to comprehensively change gender relations.
However, when accompanied by other community interventions and external world, for instance
in schools , peers ,caretakers , media and in the workplace, equality is more attainable. Early
childhood is a prime opportunity to create effective [Link] parents to promote more
diverse concepts of gender with their young children may reduce rigid gender stereotypes tied to
attitudes that support violence, and create a more gender equitable community in the long term.
In conclusion, parents who are conscious of prevailing gender norms within their society have an
important opportunity to challenge gender roles, break stereotypes and educate their children.
Without a doubt, the most significant influence on gender role development occurs within the
family setting, with parents modelling and passing on to their children their own beliefs about
gender.
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