Jonathan Higginbotham

Kaylene T. White
FHS-2450-F15

Word Count: 748

Masculinity vs. Femininity

Question:
What constitutes maleness and femaleness?
Answer:
What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a woman? To identify what
makes us act the way that we act, we first need to identify where our identities stem from.
Gender Identity is defined as How one psychologically perceives oneself as either male or
female. (Crooks & Baur, 2014, pg.112) As the definition goes one perceives gender identity
psychologically, which means that our personalities come from biological and sociological
backgrounds.
In the text Crooks & Baur continues on to explain at during the time of conception many
factors play the role of determining our gender and our sex. It takes 23 pairs of chromosomes to
complete a DNA strand in a human body. In one of the pairs on the DNA strand called the sex
chromosomes lays our future gender identity, in the pair it consists of an XY or an XX
chromosomes which will determine which sex and gender we will be assigned. (Crooks & Baur,
2014, pg. 114) If however one of the chromosomes had an anomaly on the short arm of the gene,
that could be the deciding factor on which course our brain will develop during pregnancy
resulting in it leaning more towards maleness or femaleness.
As I had mentioned before I stated that gender identity stems from two places one being
biological, and the other one being from sociological backgrounds. Social-learning theory
suggests that our identification with either masculine or feminine roles or a combination thereof
(Androgyny) results primarily from the social and cultural models and influences that we are
exposed to during our early development. (Crooks & Baur, 2014, pg. 123)

Jonathan Higginbotham
Kaylene T. White
FHS-2450-F15

Word Count: 748

Now what does that mean? It simply means that however manly or womanly we act is
based upon cultural norms we learn as young children. It all happens from many different places,
parents, friends, school, media, the list could go on and on. In my personal opinion parents are
the biggest contributing factors on the gender identity we chose. From even before birth we are
influenced to act a certain way, preconceived notions on how a child should be raised, toys that
only girls/boys can play with, the paint color of the nursery walls.
So in conclusion what constitutes maleness or femaleness? Well the answer is quite
simple, gender identity obtained through both biological and sociological environments. So how
we were born, raised, and the environment in which we were raised in all have a contributing
factor on who we are and how we act.

Question: How can the expectations and assumptions for each sex differ so greatly from one
society to another?
Answer:
A study was performed by Margaret Mead, in her book Sex and Temperament in Three
Primitive Societies so goes on to states that within the three societies they show completely
different norms regarding sex differentiation than we do. The people of the Mundugumor society
exhibit aggressive behaviors, while the Arapesh society shows the complete opposite traits.
(Crooks & Baur, 2014, pg. 124)
So to answer to the question it really all comes down to the environment in which the individual
is being raised in. Some parents make their children abide by the gender norm that they were
assigned to at the time of birth. With that in mind, many cultures follow different rules when it
some to the separation of sexes.

Jonathan Higginbotham
Kaylene T. White
FHS-2450-F15

Word Count: 748

Question: Do any of the behavioral differences between men and women have a biological
basis?
Answer:
In the text Crooks & Baur explains that during the time of conception many factors play
the role of determining our gender and our sex. It takes 23 pairs of chromosomes to complete a
DNA strand in a human body. In one of the pairs on the DNA strand called the sex
chromosomes lays our future gender identity, in the pair it consists of an XY or an XX
chromosomes which will determine which sex and gender we will be assigned. If however one of
the chromosomes had an anomaly on the short arm of the gene, that could be the deciding factor
on which course our brain will develop during pregnancy resulting in it leaning more towards
maleness or femaleness. (Crooks & Baur, 2014, pg. 114)

Question: How do gender role expectations affect sexual interactions?

Answer:
Gender-role expectations exert a profound impact on our sexuality. (Crooks & Baur,
2014, pg.139) From the way we handle ourselves to the way we see potential partners, men are
supposed to initiators, strong, oversexed while women are supposed to be controlling,
undersexed. All of this we take into account when seeking sexual partners, because on a
primitive level we are all seeking mates one way or another, and seeing gender roles being
practiced is just one of many way physical forms.

Jonathan Higginbotham
Kaylene T. White
FHS-2450-F15

Word Count: 748

Reference List
Crooks, R., & Baur, K. (2014). Our Sexuality (12th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth