<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >

Summary

Children become aware of gender roles in their earliest years, and they come to understand and perform these roles through socialization, which occurs through four major agents: family, education, peer groups, and mass media. Socialization into narrowly prescribed gender roles results in the stratification of males and females. Each sociological perspective offers a valuable view for understanding how and why gender inequality occurs in our society.

Short answer

In what way do parents treat sons and daughters differently? How do sons and daughter typically respond to this treatment?

Got questions? Get instant answers now!

What can be done to lessen the effects of gender stratification in the workplace? How does gender stratification harm both men and women?

Got questions? Get instant answers now!

Further research

For more gender-related statistics see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at (External Link) and browse through to pictures like “gender and education” and “gender and health.”

References

Campbell, Patricia and Jennifer Storo. 1994. "Girls Are … Boys Are … : Myths, Stereotypes&Gender Differences.” Office of Educational Research and Improvement U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved February 13, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Coltrane, Scott and Michele Adams. 2008. Gender and Families Lanham, MD: Rowman&Littlefield.

Cooley, Charles Horton. 1902. Human Nature and the Social Order . New York: Scribner’s.

Davis, Donald M. 1993. “TV Is a Blonde, Blonde World.” American Demographics, Special Issue: Women Change Places 15(5):34–41.

Etaugh, Clair and Judith Bridges. 2004. Women’s Lives: a Topical Approach . Boston, MA: Allyn&Bacon.

Farrington, K. and W. Chertok. 1993. “Social Conflict Theories of the Family.” Pp. 357–381 in Sourcebook of Family Theories and Methods: A Contextual Approach , edited by P.G. Boss, W.J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W.R. Schumm and S.K. Steinmetz. New York: Plenum.

Hawke, Lucy A. 2008. “Gender Roles Within American Marriage: Are They Really Changing?” ESSAI 5:70-74. Retrieved February 22, 2012 ( (External Link)&context=essai ).

Hochschild, Arlie R. and Anne Machung. 1989. The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home . New York: Viking.

Imbornoni, Ann-Marie. 2009. “Women’s Rights Movement in the United States.” Retrieved January 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Kane, Eileen. 1996. “Gender, Culture, and Learning.” Washington, DC: Academy for Educational Development.

Kilbourne, Jean. 2000. Can’t Buy Me Love: How Advertising Changed the Way We Think and Feel . New York: Touchstone Publishing.

Kimmel, Michael. 2000. The Gendered Society . Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Lips, Hillary M. 2004. “The Gender Gap in Possible Selves: Divergence of Academic Self-Views among High School and University Students. Sex Roles 50(5/6):357–371.

Mead, George Herbert. 1967 [1934]. Mind, Self, and Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Murdock, George Peter and Douglas R. White. 1969. “Standard Cross-Cultural Sample.” Ethnology 9:329–369.

National Institute of Mental Health. 1999. Unpublished Epidemiological Catchment Area Analyses.

Oxford American Dictionary . 2010. 3rd ed. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press.

Pincus, Fred. 2000. “Discrimination Comes in Many Forms: Individual, Institutional, and Structural.” Pp. 31-35 in Readings for Diversity and Social Justice . New York, NY: Routledge.

Raffaelli, Marcela and Lenna L. Ontai. 2004. “Gender Socialization in Latino/a Families: Results from Two Retrospective Studies.” Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 50(5/6):287–299.

Ready, Diane. 2001. “‘Spice Girls,’ ‘Nice Girls,’ ‘Girlies,’ and ‘Tomboys’: Gender Discourses, Girls’ Cultures and Femininities in the Primary Classroom.” Gender and Education 13(2):153-167.

Risman, Barbara and Danette Johnson-Sumerford. 1998. “Doing It Fairly: A Study of Postgender Marriages.” Journal of Marriage and Family (60)1:23–40.

Sadker, David and Myra Sadker. 1994. Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls . Toronto, ON: Simon&Schuster.

Sanday, Peggy Reeves. 2004. Women at the Center: Life in a Modern Matriarchy . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Seem, Susan Rachael and Diane M. Clark. 2006. “ Healthy Women, Healthy Men, and Healthy Adults: An Evaluation of Gender Role Stereotypes in the Twenty-first Century .” Sex Roles 55(3-4):247–258.

Smith, Stacy. 2008. “Gender Stereotypes: An Analysis of Popular Films and TV.” Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Retrieved on January 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Staples, Robert and Leanor Boulin Johnson. 2004.  Black Families at the Crossroads: Challenges and Prospects . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

Thorne, Barrie. 1993. Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

UNICEF. 2007. “Early Gender Socialization.” August 29. Retrieved January 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009.” Retrieved January 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

U.S. Census Bureau. 2011. “American Time Use Survey Summary.” June 22. Retrieved January 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

West, Candace and Don Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender and Society 1(2):125–151.

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, Introduction to sociology. OpenStax CNX. Jun 12, 2012 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11407/1.7
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'Introduction to sociology' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask