Running head: RACE AND GENDER IN RELATION TO ADOLESCENT 1

Race and Gender in Relation to Adolescent

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Race and Gender in Relation to Adolescent

Race, sexuality, and adolescence are aspects that have all significantly influenced one

another. For instance, adolescence is a distinct life period marked by significant physical and

psychological transformations. Adolescence can be characterized by an increased sensitivity to

behavioral and emotional challenges. Hence, this is a difficult time, especially for minority

children, because they must manage their racial identity as well as cultural perspectives while

attempting to navigate extreme and invisible structural inequity and racial prejudice. Because

teenagers routinely engage with the world beyond their family, they are vulnerable to racial

prejudice during the teenage phase. Racially abused children become lonely, experience tension,

and engage in drug and alcohol addiction. Adolescents who face racial prejudice suffer from

mental illnesses and lower educational attainment. As a result, experts have determined that

teenagers are constantly in danger of encountering gender or racial intolerance due to their

differing capabilities and ethnic background.

Gender Discrimination

Gender-related discrimination is a challenge that most adolescents face. Different societal

perceptions have been established as contributory factors that lead to gender discrimination

(Steinberg, 2018). Male adolescents have greater physical capabilities than their female

counterparts. As a result, female adolescents are better suited to handle less difficult jobs than

boys. This view presents an image of a male-dominated civilization (Chmielewski, Tolman &

Kincaid, 2017). According to Chmielewski, Tolman, and Kincaid (2017), female teenagers are

less physically active and more vulnerable to unethical vices like rape and sexual abuse. For

example, boys excel in spatial assignments and mathematical word problems in school. To

prevent competition, girls prefer simpler activities and have fewer aspirations than boys
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(Chmielewski, Tolman & Kincaid, 2017). Girls in interpersonal relationships exhibit more

closeness, self-disclosure, affirmation, and caring, aspects that make them more sensitive to

sadness in the event of a breakup. On the other hand, boys’ affairs are marked by friendly rivalry,

assertive, dangerous behaviors, exhilaration, and the repression of delicate impulses, making

them less prone to depression-related conditions.

Teenagers find themselves socializing with classmates of diverse ethnicities and genders

during the teen period. The danger of someone being racially or gender discretized is relatively

great at this period. When it comes to sexual abuse, teenage males are frequently perceived as the

perpetrators, with early growing homosexual and lesbian teenagers as the primary targets

(Steinberg, 2018). While both genders are often sexually abused, female teenagers are the most

affected (Steinberg, 2018). According to Steinberg (2018) and Chmielewski, Tolman, and

Kincaid (2017), this intimidation can lead to early sexual orientation, sexually transmitted

illnesses, teenage parenthood, delivery problems, substance usage, and poor parenthood. In many

circumstances, Black teenagers are the target of racial prejudice in society. For example,

besides having the necessary credentials, many students are refused admission to elite

institutions where they can engage and mingle with classmates of different ethnicities. Moreover,

even if students get into these institutions, they are deprived of equal opportunities regarding

tools needed to help them with their academics.

Racial Discrimination

While racial prejudice continues to be a major challenge in today’s society, youngsters

grow up experiencing incidents of race prejudice and develop a bad perception of various races.

Girls outperform boys not just in terms of depression aspects but also in linked issues like eating

problems and non-suicidal incidents (Steinberg, 2018). Girls, for example, are more sensitive to
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depressive ideas such as self-blaming causative attribution, low self-image, and unfavorable

social contrast (Chmielewski, Tolman & Kincaid, 2017). Male teenagers, on the other hand, tend

to be more courageous compared to females. Thus, male youngsters are more hostile, but female

teenagers agree less and grin more when seen.

Self-Esteem and Identity

Social identity is an important component of self-concept centered on affiliation with

distinct social groups and gender, particularly among adolescents. Teenagers can build a

profound common identity and a feeling of uniqueness and worth in the cluster they are part of

via procedures including social comparison and access to social rules in choice and behavior

(Steinberg, 2018). In teenagers, the application of such principles to gender and race highlights

the need for self-identification, curiosity, knowledge regarding group behavioral norms, and a

feeling of belongingness and confidence in someone’s group as the foundation for a healthy

racial or ethnic identity (Steinberg, 2018). As a result, a strong gender identity often comprises

identification with both girls and boys, teenage gender esteem, and critical knowledge of the

impact of gender norms and stereotypes in broader society.

Stressful Experiences

Adolescents who have experienced bias or discrimination based on race or sexuality have

been proven to have worse mental well-being and adjustment. However, several critical

problems relating to these linkages require detailed investigation. An earlier study, for example,

has almost entirely concentrated on teenagers, such as college students (Coulter et al., 2017). As

a result, nothing is known regarding the consequences of discrimination or bias for younger

demographics. Young teenage susceptibility, in particular, is likely to be steady with their

tendency to encounter multiple levels of sexism and racism, regardless of still-evolving coping
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mechanisms. Another cause of worry is the general inclination to explore discrimination and

prejudice as stress factors among youth, despite being thought of as the most sensitive to its

impacts (Assari et al., 2017). Such an aspect is shown in an emphasis on racial minority youth in

the event of racial stressors and a major issue with teenage girls when addressing unfavorable

gender encounters. Such emphases are aligned with minority and women’s status as

disadvantaged or marginalized groups within broader society. However, it must not be believed

that less sensitive populations are impervious to the detrimental impacts of such pressures. For

instance, a recent adult study established that exposure to race-related trauma could be

a powerful predictor of mental anguish for Whites and Black adolescents (Assari et al., 2017).

This viewpoint would seem vital, particularly in expanding investigations to new age brackets, to

evaluate whether or not non-minorities are vulnerable to adverse impacts of race-related

stressors.

Whenever teenagers endure unfortunate experiences, gender and race group attachments

as ego-extensions might leave them vulnerable to sentiments of guilt and thus disidentification.

According to Assari et al. (2017), stress mechanisms that contribute to a greater sense of self can

also be linked to gender and ethnicity. For instance, an identity established on respecting Black

history and culture might be enhanced by unpleasant interactions with race, such as racism, since

such aspects create possibilities for the reassessment of a personality wherein being Black is

marginalized or discounted (Assari et al., 2017). Similarly, research with college-age and

adolescent groups lends credence to both hypotheses (Coulter et al., 2017). Based on such

concepts, teenage stress encounters related to race and gender might have had a predominantly

positive or negative impact on relevant dimensions of self-identification among adolescence.

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In recap, sexuality, race, and adolescence significantly influence one another. Gender

prejudice persists among young people, with men regarded as more physically capable of

performing specified tasks than girls. Due to their humble character, female youngsters are prone

to despair, sexual abuse, teen parenthood, and drug use. Racial prejudice significantly influences

the psychological health of both male and female teenagers, resulting in drug misuse and early

motherhood. In considerable research on teenagers, significant racial or ethnic identification has

been linked to higher scores on adaptation indices. Comparable to studies in the stress domain, it

is unclear if ethnic or racial identity serves a similar preventive role at the early development

stage. Nevertheless, it appears plausible to predict that the positives would last until the early

teenage years when personality exploration and development stages become more intense.

Another disadvantage of current research, comparable to the stress, is that they almost entirely

concentrate on people of the racial or ethnic minority, such as Black people. Despite this

absence, research has established that a positive racial identity might benefit people of minority

groups and those perceived as White majority members.

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References

Assari, S., Moazen-Zadeh, E., Caldwell, C. H., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2017). Racial

discrimination during adolescence predicts mental health deterioration in adulthood:

Gender differences among Blacks. Frontiers in public health, 104.

Chmielewski, J. F., Tolman, D. L., & Kincaid, H. (2017). Constructing risk and responsibility: A

gender, race, and class analysis of news representations of adolescent sexuality. Feminist

Media Studies, 17(3), 412-425.

Coulter, R. W., Mair, C., Miller, E., Blosnich, J. R., Matthews, D. D., & McCauley, H. L.

(2017). Prevalence of past-year sexual assault victimization among undergraduate

students: Exploring differences by and intersections of gender identity, sexual identity,

and race/ethnicity. Prevention Science, 18(6), 726-736.

Steinberg, L. (2018). Adolescence (12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.