Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Dialecticals
So there's this concept in Sociological Theory called a dialectical. In this theory, society and the individual interact with each other, which explains why stereotypes and social norms are perpetuated. Society sets these norms (whether they're gender roles, class norms, etc.) that dictate what it takes to participate within society. The individual then internalizes these norms and acts accordingly. When a group of individuals collectively all act based on the same norms, those norms are perpetuated. This is how children become socialized. Lexi's example of the couple of young girls talking versus the couple of young boys talking is a perfect example of how children are socialized. Girls are subliminally taught at a very young age to be gentle and emotionally open, hence sitting facing each other and having a discussion that way. Boys are subliminally taught to be more physically relaxed but reserved with their feelings, hence the sitting side by side while talking. This same concept of a dialectical explains a lot of how we perceive female and male friendships to be different. Thoughts?
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I largely agree with the idea being presented because we all seem to recognize these differences intuitively. There seems to be little if any doubt that society weight in heavily on how we believe men and women should act, but I wonder if some of these characteristics don't find their roots established a little deeper in the biological history of men and women? There is evidence that the brains of men and women are wired differently which largely influence the way men and women may interpret the same input in totally different ways. Is it possible that the openness and gentle traits of women come naturally to them, whereas the reserved and physical aspects of men are natural as well?
ReplyDeleteIn this debate, I think that it is a combination of both nature and nuture. As Nick said, there are biological factors in our DNA that cause our brains to be wired differently. In the "nurture" aspect, the way we are socialized causes adult female friendship to be different from adult male friendship. What I think is interesting is that most girls are socialized very similarly when they are young, as they interact with other girls in pre-school or at daycare. So then why are there different types of friendship among women? The first thing I thought of, is that older siblings of the young child have a huge impact. I think young girls who have older brothers have a much different personality than girls who grew up with older sisters. Those with older brothers grew up playing with action figures, watching superhero movies, etc, so they are more likely to develop more friendships with females like them or even males. Whereas, the girls with older sisters grew up going to the mall, playing with barbies, etc, so their friendships resemble more of what Lucia discussed.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Nick's comment: There is an article that I read for my sociology course that discusses the socialization of gender norms of pre-schoolers.Karin A. Martin’s report, Becoming a Gendered Body: Practices of Preschoolers, focuses on a “hidden curriculum” that “creates bodily differences between the genders (and) also makes these physical differences appear and feel natural” (Martin 1998: 494). In essence, Martin argues that the cultural discourse of education socializes preschoolers to accept narrow gender norms. This curriculum is not only hidden from the student, it is also hidden from the teacher because the teacher has been socialized in the same way. Martin identifies different “sets of practices” that form these gender norms: managing dress up, encouraging relaxed versus formal behaviors, disciplining voice control, and instructing what children do with their bodies. While there might be evidence that men and women are biologically "wired" differently, there are more concrete social discourses that males and females are subjected to.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to Payal's comment: I know that it's a specific instance but I, myself, have an older sister and a younger sister. My older sister is and always has been "girly" for lack of a better word. I, on the opposite hand, am very obviously, not "girly". Meanwhile, my younger sister is "girlier" that both me and my older sister.
I definitely agree with everything said here. I think society plays a huge role early on in developing gender roles subliminally. For example, if you walk into a toy school there is a clear distinction between toys for boys and toys for girls. Boys generally have cars and sport equipment while girls tend to have dolls and fake ovens. In addition, the colors are different: girls have pink and purple while boys have all the other colors. Clearly adults treat kids of different gender in different ways, thus creating differences among other areas such as friendships.
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