GENDER SOCIALIZATION

BECOMING GENDERED:

Socialization

 The process by which society`s values and norms including those pertaining to gender, are
taught and learned. (Renzetti & Curan, 1992: 57)

Gender Socialization

 Is the process by which individuals learn the cultural behavior of femininity or masculinity that is
associated with the biological sex of female and male, (Linsey, 2016, p65).
Cultures are organized through social institutions that the basic needs of the society are met and
established. Although it is the social institution of the family that sets the standards for the
emergence of gender roles in children, the family itself is shaped by overall cultural values regarding
gender.

Intersectionality

 It is important to understand that gender intersect with race and social class.
 There are different agents of socialization that shape our gender identity.

Agents of Socialization

 These are the people, groups and social institutions that provide the critical information needed
for children to become fully functioning members of society.
1. FAMILY
- the most significant among institutions particularly in the child`s Primary Socialization.
- Our gender is learned first in the family and reinforced by other institutions.
2. PEERS
- With family gender role model as a foundation, peer influence on children`s gender
socialization is even more powerful.
3. SCHOOL
- School`s provide experience that offers technical competence as well as the learning of values
and norms appropriate to the culture.
4. MEDIA
- People today are the most media-saturated and media-engaged in history (Kung-
Shankleman, Towse & Picard, 2007). American teens typically spend up to 50% of their
walking hours engaging some form of media (Mastronardi, 2003).
5. RELIGION
- Our personal values on gender are also greatly shaped by the religious belief and the
religious community we belong.
  In his book, THE MALE EXPERIENCE (1997) James Doyle identified FIVE THEMES OF MACULINITY
in the U.S which include:
- DON’T BE FEMALE – most boys learn they must not think, act, or feel girls/women
> Peer groups pressure males to be tough and aggressive.
> When a young boy wants to hurt another boy, he is likely to call by a name
associated with femininity directly (girlie) or indirectly (sissy)
- BE SUCCESSFUL – boys are required to be successful in sports and other activities.
> Many men today, like Aaron, say that being a good provider – an internalized
requirement that appears to cut across lines of race and economics. (Eagly,
1996; Ranson, 2001 as cited in Wood, 2007)
- BE AGGRESSIVE – the masculine code tells men to fight, defeat others, endure pain
stoically themselves, and win, win, win. Dr. Micheal Miller (2003 as cited in Wood,2007)
says that many men don’t seek help when they are depressed because their gender
identity is tied up with strength, independence, efficiency and self-control. (p.71)
- BE SEXUAL – “men shoul be interested in sex – all the time, any time. They are expected
to have a number of sexual partners; the more partners a man has, the more of a stud
he is (Jahally & Katz, 2001 as cited in Wood, 2007)
- BE SELF-RELIANT – autonomy is central to social views of the manliness.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF “PAGKALALAKI”

 Traits that we commonly attribute to males:

1. Macho (manly)

2. Lalaking-lalaki

3. May katawang pangromansa (hunk)

4. Binyagan (had a sexual experience)

5. Hindi pundido (potent)

6. Dominante (Domineering)

 De Castro (n.d.) differentiates notions of `pagiging Lalaki` and ‘pagkalalaki’ saying that the
former refers to the biological/ physical sex and the process of becoming a man while the latter
is a sociological and a personal concept.
 In the Philippines, some study (Santiago, 1975; Aguiling-Dalisay, et.al. 1995b) would
differentiate ‘tunay na lalaki’ from ‘ganap na lalaki’.
- TUNAY NA LALAKI – (real man) are ‘ma-prinsipyo’ (principled) while GANAP NA LALAKI
(actualized man) refers to a concept of being a ‘family man’
- Lalakinh-lalaki (very manly) describes the kind of comportment that men should have.
FIVE THEMES IN CURRENT VIEWS OF FEMININITY:

1. APPERANCE STILL COUNTS – to be desirable women are urged to be pretty, slim and well dressed.

2. BE SENSITIVE AND CARING – they feel pressure to be nice, deferential and helpful in general,
whereas men are not held to the same requirements (Simmons, 2002 as cited in Wood, 2007)

3. NEGATIVE TREATMENT BY OTHERS – in the United States, sons are preferred, although the
preference is less string than in former eras (Starling-Lyons, 2003)

- In some cultures, the preferences for males is s strong that female fetuses are often
aborted and female infants are sometimes killed after birth (Hedge, 1999a, 199b; Parrot &
Cummings, 2006; Pollit, 2000)

4. BE SUPERMAN – it`s not enough to be just a homemaker and mother or to just have a career –
young women seem to feel they are expected to do it all. (Wood, 2007)

5. THERE IS NO SINGLE MEANING OF FEMININE ANYMORE – definitions of femininity are diverse,

sometimes confusing and conflicting.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF `PAGKABABAE’

 In a lot of literatures, pagkaabae (femininity) is usually defined in relation to masculinity.

 The descriptions are most often than not stereotypical.
 Even as early as the Spanish period, tied with `package’ are concepts such as being delicate,
fragile, emotional, reserved, chaste, etc.
 The burden of the woman is that she serves as the gatekeeper of sexuality (e.g. tukso sa
lalaki)
 Society, through the different agents of socialization organized the individual`s life and
continuously construct gender.
 How we see ourselves is part and parcel a product of our socialization.