What is gender development Gavi Ansara MSc Ph

What is ‘gender development’? Gavi Ansara, MSc, Ph. D Candidate Academic Tutor, University of Surrey Visiting Lecturer, WISP, University of Warsaw

Questions about ‘gender development’ • What do we think we know? • What do we actually know? • What are the implications of our ideas?

Sigmund Freud • Three essays on theory of sexuality • 1 st edition in 1905, 6 th edition in 1925

Sigmund Freud (1856 -1939) • Austrian neurologist • Founder of Psychoanalysis • Gender identity and role development acquired during phallic stage • Libido based in genitals from phallic stage • Girls and boys start to become distinct

Sigmund Freud • Oedipal Complex • Castration Anxiety • Penis Envy

Carl Jung (1875 -1961) • Swiss psychiatrist who was initially influenced by Freud (~1900 -1913) • Founder of Analytical or Jungian psychology • Proposed the neo-Freudian term ‘Electra Complex’ for girls (1913)

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927 -1987) • Stage theory influenced by Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory • Children make cognitive judgements about gender • Children use gender as an organising principle for social rules • These social rules determine children’s behaviour

Lawrence Kohlberg (1966) • Gender identity: ‘children can correctly identify their sex’ (~ 2 yrs) • Gender stability: ‘children know that gender remains the same over time’ (~ 4 yrs) • Gender constancy: ‘children know gender is not changed by appearance’ (~ 7 yrs)

Albert Bandura (1925 -present) • Social learning theory (1986) • Gender identity and role are a set of behaviours learned from a child’s environment • Gender behaviours are learned through observational learning

Albert Bandura (1986) • Bandura’s social learning theory applied to gender development: • Imitation • Modelling • Reinforcement • Identification

Sandra Bem (1944 -present) • Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) (versions from ~1971 -1981) • Gender schema theory (1981) explanation for gender stereotypes • The Lenses of Gender (1993)

Sandra Bem (1981) • Gender schema theory merges cognitivedevelopmental and sociallearning approaches • Schemas: internal cognitive networks shaped by socialisation • Schemas associated with ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ guide and organise our perceptions

Sandra Bem • BSRI (1972)

Sandra Bem (1993) • Enculturated Lens Theory (1993) • Lenses that influence everyday experiences of gender: • Biological essentialism • Androcentrism • Gender polarisation

What do you think you see?

What you’re actually viewing Magdalena Ventura breastfeeding her baby beside her husband Felici in José de Ribera’s La Mujer Barbuda (1631)

Opposites Binary Biological Visible Fixed Universal Essential Salient ? What we actually know What we think we know What is ‘gender development’?

Are women and men ‘opposites’?

Are women and men ‘opposites’? Lactating man, “Emblematic Figures”, Giulio Romano, 1499 -1546

Is gender binary?

Is gender binary? Film still from The Last Bissu (INDON, Globions, 2005)

Are ‘gender differences’ biological?

Are ‘gender differences’ biological? Mr B Wijeratne breastfeeding his 18 month old daughter after his wife died, Sri Lanka

Is gender fixed?

Is gender fixed? Wairarapa MP Georgina Beyer, New Zealand

Is gender universal?

Is gender universal? Gélédé dancers, Yorubaland, Nigeria

Are there essential ‘truths’ about gender?

Universal or essential ‘truths’ about gender? • There are more than two possible genders • Some people have multiple genders, while others do not identify as any gender • There are diverse ways to determine gender • In societies that assign gender, the state often ignores people’s own gender

Universal or essential ‘truths’ about gender? • There are few universal gender differences and many more gender similarities • Gender does not map neatly onto biology and can change throughout the life span • Ideas about gender have political significance and affect people’s everyday lives

What are the implications?

Do we know our past? Aeta hunter (Okinawa Soba, 2009)

Do we understand our present? Olympic gold medalist weightlifter Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (AP, 2008)

Who has the right to gender? Charlotte Karlsdotter in front of Swedish Parliament (Image copyright Volcano & Dahl, 2008)

What is gender equality? South African world athletic champion Caster Semenya (Images from Wikimedia Commons)

What are our possibilities? Proud father Thomas Beatie during his second pregnancy, pictured with his wife Nancy and their daughter Susan (Mirror. co. uk, 2009)

? So what do we know about ‘gender development’?

What do we know? “It’s okay to be different because it just matters who you are. It doesn’t matter if you’re different than anybody else. It just matters if you’re having a good time and you like who you are. ” -Jazz

What do we know? "Courage is the road to freedom. I woke up in complete freedom today. The sky is wide open. " -Balian Buschbaum World record-holding German pole vaulter Balian Buschbaum

What do we know?

What do you think?

What do you think? • Gender identity: ‘children can correctly identify their sex’ (~ 2 yrs) • Gender stability: ‘children know that gender remains the same over time’ (~ 4 yrs) • Gender constancy: ‘children know gender is not changed by appearance’ (~ 7 yrs)

What do you think? Gender development: • Imitation • Modelling • Reinforcement • Identification

What do you think?

Opposites Binary Biological Visible Fixed Universal Essential Salient ? What we actually know What we think we know What is ‘gender development’?

Discussion Questions 1) What do Ansara and Hegarty's (2011) findings suggest about research claims about gender development? 2) Which problems do Ansara and Hegarty identify in existing literature on gender development?

Discussion Questions 3) What are Ansara and Hegarty's suggestions for addressing these problems? 4) How do Ansara and Hegarty's findings affect your evaluation of theories, methods, and practices related to gender development?

Thank you!