(UNIT V)

GENDER & BEHAVIOR

Ashfaq Ahmad Sahil
Lecturer INS (KMU)
Objectives
At the end of this unit learners will be able to:
• Demonstrate understanding about
stereotypes attached to gender
differences.
• Discuss impacts of adhering to traditional
gender roles on behavior.
• Discuss changing gender roles.
Definition of Gender and
Stereotypes
Gender : Attitudes, feelings, and behaviors
that a given culture associates with a person’s
biological sex
Stereotypes : Belief about social group in terms
of the traits or characteristics that they are
believed to share, stereotype are cognitive
framework that influence the processing of social
information..
 Gender
•Stereotype
Gender stereotype is beliefs about the personal
attributes of females and males.
• Personal attributes basically means traits that
make up your personality, which define who you
are as a person.

• For example these could be personal attributes to

describe someone: outgoing, extrovert, open.
 Type of Gender
•Stereotypes
Female stereotype- The stereotype begin since a baby-
If baby was girl their tendency are more to girlish thing like
wear pink clothes, toys like a Barbie doll.
• Parents are the most contributive factor for this
stereotyping.
• Some example of stereotype about woman:
• Women are not as strong as men
• Women are supposed to have "clean jobs" such as
secretaries, teachers, and librarians
• Women are nurses, not doctors
• Woman are saying more gentle and kind heart
person.
Type of Gender
Stereotypes
• Male stereotype- . From the beginning, since they were
small boys are taught to be tough, to be protective, and to
defend themselves.
• Their outfits usually in blue color which symbolic to a men
• Their toys were like trucks,car,robot, a tough game.
• Mostly boys were aggressive in their playing than girls.
• Some example of stereotype:
• Men do not do housework and they are not responsible
for taking care of children
• Men do "dirty jobs" such as construction and
mechanics;
• They are not secretaries, teachers, or cosmetologists
• Men do not cook, sew, or do crafts
Cont.……
• Wrongful gender stereotyping is a frequent cause
of discrimination against women and a
contributing factor in violations of a vast array of
rights such as the right to health, adequate
standard of living, education, marriage and family
relations, work, freedom of expression, freedom
of movement, political participation and
representation, effective remedy, and freedom
from gender-based violence.
 Gender
•Roles
“The degree to which a person adopts the gender-specific
behaviors ascribed by his or her culture”

• “Gender roles can be define as the behavior and attitude

expected of male and female members of the society
by that society”

• Men have greater body mass and strength and are better
equipped for hunting, warfare, and land clearing.

• Women do tasks that are compatible with pregnancy ,

breast feeding, and childcare.
Gender roles can be divided into three
main categories for analytical purposes
• Productive role
• Work done in the production of goods and services for
income or subsistence ( e.g. employment and self-
employment).
• Reproductive role
• Work that is done to care for the house hold and
it members such as child bearing, childcare,
cooking, washing, cleaning, water and fuel
collection.
• Community role
• Refers to work done collectively by community members
such as the organization of social or religious events;
participation in community committees; and involvement
in local political activities.
Impacts of traditional gender roles
on behaviour
• “It is a lifelong process whereby people learn the
values, attitudes, motivations, and behavior
considered appropriate to each sex by their
culture,”

• Gender role socialization takes place from earliest

childhood through adolescence and throughout all social
interactions in which we participate

• At an early age, children develop stereotypical

conceptions of both genders, and begin to use these
conceptions to organize their knowledge and behavior
Where Do
Gender Role

socialization
Come
From?
Gender role
Socialization
• Family
• Education
• Peer Group
• Media
• Social interaction
Changing Gender
Roles
• A dramatic transformation has taken place,
changing men and women’s lives, creating a
more balanced view of roles and responsibilities
that generations will continue to sculpt.
• The change in gender roles today is significantly
different to how gender roles past were
perceived.
• Our roles are considered as much more of an
equal balance, sharing responsibilities and
expectations.
THE GENDER ROLES
TODAY
• EMPLOYMENT: Most couples will now have a full-time
job and will share financial responsibilities for their home.
In the past, a full-time job and financial responsibility were
expected in the role for men. Now that couples can both
work, there will be less pressure on finances.

• THE HOME: Both men and women now equally share

responsibilities in caring for their home. Gender roles past
would have expected the woman to carry out the daily
household chores, the cooking and the cleaning, whereas
now the jobs at home are very much shared.
Cont.…..
• CHILDCARE: The pressures of supporting a family and
perhaps paying for childcare has changed the role for
women, from the one most associated with the past, a full-
time stay at home mother. Now most women work full-
time or at least part-time, so that they can contribute
towards the family’s finances.

• ROLE REVERSAL: In some families we are seeing a

complete role reversal from the past where the woman is
going out to work full-time and the man stays at home to
look after the children and carry out the household
chores.