What happens to gender roles and sexuality throughout the life span? - Chapter 12

Transgenders are people that identify with a gender other than their biological gender. But it means different things to different people. It seems just thinking of men and women is non-fitting and way too simplified.

What can I learn about sex and gender?

Biological sex stands for the physical characteristics that define male and female. Gender stands for the features that a society associates with men and women and results in gender roles, gender-role norms and gender stereotypes. While a biological difference is that women menstruate, a gender difference is that women generally earn less. 

Only women can bear and nurse children, resulting in a role of childbearer and nurturer, and this shaped the gender-role norms in many societies. At the heart of this role is communality (orientation that emphasizes connectedness to others and includes emotionality and sensitivity to others traits). The central aspect o fthe masculine gender role is agency (orientation toward individual action and achievement, with traits like dominance and independence). Baron-Cohen says the men's focus on work and achievement stems from the male brain's tendency to systemize (analyze and explore how things work). Through all this, stereotypes have arisen. However in today's young women, traditional feminine gender roles do not seem to resonate and people increasingly have egalitarian views on men and women. 

Research attempts to answer whether there are meaningful behavioral or psychological differences based on sex or gender. In some areas, differences have been identified, but in others there are none. Some researchers now think it's more appropriate to focus on gender similarities and they came up with the gender similarities hypothesis: males and females are similar on most, but not all psychological variables. They are more similar than different. Research shows:

• Most men hold a masculine gender identity and most women a feminine one. 
• Boys and girls engage in different play activities (both through hormone-driven preferences and a society promoting "genderization" of children).
• Females often display greater verbal abilities, but the difference is often small. 
• Males display greater spatial ability, like in mental rotation tasks. 
• There are not many significant gender differences in math performance, but in the cases where there is a difference, males usually do better, they also have a more positive attitude towards it. 
• Girls display greater memory. 
• Males engage in more physical, verbal and serious aggression.
• Boys are more physically active. 
• Females seem more nurturant and empathetic. 
• Females are more prone to develop depression or anxiety or eating disorders. Males are more prone to antisocial behaviors, drug and alcohol abuse and autism. 
• Males use computers more and express greater confidence in these abilities. 

Keep in mind: average levels of a behavior may be different for males and females, but within each sex there is a lot of variability between individuals. 

So as we are more similar, why do stereotypes exist? This is probably because we are biased in perception: we are more likely to notice and remember behaviors that confirm our beliefs than those that are in contrast. Furthermore, the social-role theory says that differences in the roles men and women play in society, do a lot to create and maintain stereotypes. We forget that these roles cause different behaviors, and that it's not nature-driven. So according to the social role theory, if a man took the role of stay at home dad, he would be seen as nurturing too and this is not just a woman's innate trait. However: women in employee roles are not always viewed as equally agentic as men employees. This could be due to continued gender segregation of the workforce. 

Gender norms and stereotypes affect how we perceive ourselves and others and our confidence levels in certain fields. And even though the sexes are similar psychologically, they are steered toward different roles in society. 

What do sex and gender mean to the infant?

At birth there are few differences (except the anatomical ones) between males and females. Males are somewhat more irritable, females a bit more alert. 

Very quickly, the newborns are labeled and treated as boys or girls, and gender stereotyping can start affecting them.  

Research showed male infants attenting more to a truck, and female infants to a doll. At 3/5 months, they can discriminate male and female faces and by the end of the first year, they look longer at a male (or female) face when they hear a male (or female) voice than at a face that does not match the gender: this is cross-modal association of gender-related information. By 24 months they look longer at males and females performing gender-inconsistent activities than consistent ones. By 18 months, they have an understanding that they are either like other males or females, and by 24 months girls seem to understand which activities are associated with males and which are associated with females (boys do this 6 months later). While acquiring their gender identities, they begin to behave differently and like different things. 

Freud was right about infants being sexual beings. They seem to derive pleasure from things like sucking and biting in the oral phase. And they also touch their genitals and experience physical arousal (like orgasms). Their genitals are sensitive, their nervous system allows sexual responses and the infants are curious about it, but they are curious about everything and are not really aware this is sexual. Sometimes they are stopped by their parents and so they start learning how sexuality is perceived from a young age.

What do sex and gender mean to the child?

As children, the process of gender typing happens: children become aware they are biological males or females, and also acquire the motives, values and patterns of behavior that society considers appropriate for their sex. Even at 2-3 years of age, children understand gender stereotypes and act in gendered ways. Rigidity about gender stereotypes is highest around ages 4-7 and decreases during school years, which could also have to do with the cootie effect (dislike that young children seem to have for the other sex). Also, the younger children are learning about their roles and may exaggerate them at first. When their gender identities are clearer to them, they get more flexible. 

Children favor same-slex playmates, and this increases in the school years: gender segregation happens, partly because boys' play styles are not compatible with girls' play styles. Also, there is social pressure to form a group with the same sex, which is strongest for boys. 

The bisocial theory of gender-role development states that the anatomical/biological developments in a child influence how people react to it, and these reactions influence how children take on gender roles. In puberty biological forces are at work again and combined with the earlier formed self-concept as male or female, adult gender identity and role is established. 

Androgenized females are girls that were prenatally exposed to excess male hormones which masculinized them and their genitals. High testosterone (also in men) is associated with more violence and delinquency, however in interaction with nurture and the direction of the relation is not established yet. 

Social learning theorists say children learn masculine or feminine identities and their behaviors, through two processes. First, through differential reinforcement children are rewarded for sex-apropriate behavior and punished for non-sex-appropriate behaviors. Second, through observational learning they adopt how same-sex models act. The way a child is treated also depends on the gender composition of siblings. Fathers show more explicit gender stereotypes than mothers. Parents can also affect the abilities/feelings of ability of their children, like self-fulfilling prophecies (when parents assume their daughter can't do math, the daughter eventually can not). Children with less traditional homes often show less gender-typed behavior. Also, boys with sisters and girls with brothers have less gender-typed behavior. Things like media, games and books also influence children in their gender identity.  The social learning theory surely contributes to gender-role development, but there is too little emphasis on the child's own influence.

Cognitive theories place greather emphasis on the children's active involvement. Kohlberg proposed a cognitive theory of gender typing with two major themes:

• Gender-role development depends on stage-like changes in cognitive development. Children must acquire certain understandings about gender before they can be influenced by their social experiences.
• Children engage in self-socialization: they are not passive receivers of social influence, they actively socialize themselves, like gender detectives.

So the difference is: in social learning theory it's "I'm treated like a boy, so I'm a boy", and in cognitive theory it is "I'm a boy, so now I want to find out how I should behave like a boy". 

Kohlberg believes children universally progress through three steps while acquiring gender constancy (understanding that our genders remain the same through life and despite superficial changes in appearance):

1. Basic gender identity comes by age 2-2.5, as children can recognize themselves as male or female.
2. Around age 3, they acquire gender stability: they understand gender identity is stable over time.
3. Between age 5 and 7 children achieve gender consistency: they understand their sex is also stable across different situations. Their gender concept is now complete.

So, as they acquire gender stability, they get rigid in their gender behaviors. E.g. girls get the PFD (pink frilly dress) syndrome and only want to wear pink and boys want to avoid everything pink.

However, research shows children learn many gender-stereotypes and develop preferences for gender-associated things long before they, according to Kohlberg, master gender stability and consistency.  So his theory is not always supported.

So, another cognitive theory came up by Martin and Halverson. They believe children are indeed actively involved. However, they argue that self-socialization begins as soon as children acquire a basic gender identity, around age 2-3. Their schematic-processing model says that children acquire gender schemata: organized sets of beliefs and expectations about the sexes, that influence what information they will attend to and remember. They start off with a simple in-group-out-group schema and then construct an own-sex schema, by attenting to and learning the things that fit their gender. New information will be adjusted in memory so it fits their schemes. 

In conclusion, the different theories all help us understand and are most believeable in interaction.

While aging, children develop understanding of sexual anatomy and how babies are made. They develop from using fantasy to a more realistic understanding, by assimilation and accomodation. 

Preschoolers are very curious about their body and experiment with it. As they go to school, they do not lose their curiosity but handle it more discretely. Age 10 is when many boys and girls experience their first sexual attraction, probably through the maturation of the adrenal glands. Thus, even before puberty, sexual desires can develop. 

Victims of sexual abuse can develop later psychological problems like anxiety and depression. They sometimes display more or problematic sexual behavior and can have posttraumatic stress disorder. They recover better if they have high-quality relationships with relatives or friends. 

What do sex and gender mean to the adolescent?

Adolescents again get a more rigid way of thinking about gender-identities and  can judge cross-sex behavior. A larger process of gender intensification is at work, meaning gender differences are magnified by hormonal changes and increased social pressure. They feel they appeal to the other sex more if they conform to traditional gender norms. Later in adolescence they get more flexible again, as they get comfortable with their identity.

Though it's so different for everyone, a general (and sometimes very difficult) process of adopting a transgender identity has been established:

• Pre-coming out. Confusion emerges when children feel they do not fit into the "usual" categories. 
• Coming out. 
• Exploration. A phase of learning, experimenting and testing yourself and thinking a lot.
• Intimacy. Intimate relationships are longed for and tried out.
• Identity integration. Public and private selves now integrate, and the individual lives comfortably as truly him or herself. 

Sexuality gets way more important in adolescence, and adolescents experiment and think about what they feel and want sexually. They get aware of their sexual orientation. Most adolescents establish a heterosexual orientation without much effort (commitment with passive exploration). For individuals with same-sex orientation, the process can be quite difficult. While coming out can be challenging it has positive effects on wellbeing. Genetics are partly responsible for sexual orientation, but environment is equally important. Homosexual adults were more likely to recall childhood gender noncomformity (CGN): not adhering to the typical expected gender-role norms, but it varied a lot per individual. Hormonal influences during the prenatal period seem to influence sexual orientation. A possibility is that biological factors may predispose an individual to be homosexual, and these influence the kinds of experiences of the person, and this in turn shapes the sexual orientation. But it's not really sure yet what environmental factors influence sexual orientation.

Casual sax is not the norm among teenagers who prefer a romantic committed relationship for sex-having. However, there's much variability among people. Women with higher rates of casual sex are more likely to experience depression, while men with more casual sex actually have low levels of depression. This may be due to the double standard surrounding this. Adolescents can also be confused about sexual norms because they get a lot of mixed signals about it. 

Sexual behaviors have changed as well, with the rate of sexual activity climbing in the 1960s and climbing through the 1980s, before leveling off and declining somewhat from the mid-1990s on. However, there is way more oral sex nowadays than earlier: this is viewed safer, less intimate as intercourse (while this was the opposite in the previous generations) and is often not even really viewed as "sex". 

Parents who are concerned about their children involving in sexual behaviors early, should look out for problem behaviors in childhood, provide an emotionally responsive home, and talk to their children about how their appearance (looking more mature) influences how others perceive and treat them and the consequences of sex. Social influences by peers and culture also influences (beliefs on) sexual behavior. 

What do sex and gender mean to the adult?

As people face the challenges and changes of adult life, their gender identities and sexual behaviors or attitudes can also change. 

The parental imperative stands for the hypothesis that gender roles and traits in adulthood are shaped by the requirement that mothers and fathers adopt different roles to successfully raise children. They get more traditional in their roles. Guttman says that after the children are grown, men get more passive and take less interest in community affairs. They focus more on family relationships and become more sensitive and emotionally expressive. Women become more active and assertive and become stronger forces in their communities. 

Psychological androgyny means that a person has quite similar levels of agentic traits and communal traits. This can play out negatively or positively, and can slightly cause trouble with psychological adjustment, even though it is viewed as something desirable. An undifferentiated individual lacks both kinds of attributes. 

Adults sexual lifestyles vary a lot, but most people get married. There's a slight drop in quantity and quality of sex over the course of marriage. Gender differences around sex are small among younger adults but become larger with age. Throughout life, people stay sexual human beings, even though there are physiological changes in sexual capacity and decrease of sex hormones: more influential for men. But these biological changes cannot fully explain changes in sexual behavior. It may have to do more with feeling less able to do it, through e.g. diseases or impairments, and thinking it might be crazy to still do it, probably due to social attitudes. They can get more self-conscious with age, especially women, as there is a double standard for aging that rates aging in women more negatively than in men. And of course, in elderly there is sometimes lack of a willing partner. There could also be an "use it or lose it"-principle: not doing it can result in less sexual capacity.