GROUP 4
AUSTRIA, HAROLD
AGRAVANTE, MARIE
CAZIN, ALEXANDER VON RYAN
EMELO, RHOY
GARONIA, ELFIE BOC
MELITANTE, MIKA ELLA
MEANING AND NATURE OF GENDER
WHAT IS GENDER?
Is the range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between masculinity and
femininity depending on the context. These characteristics may include biological sex
(i.e. gender roles) or gender identity.
Is the relationship between biological sex and behavior; a theory of gender explains that
relationship. A gendered behavior is one that differs by sex.
In other countries, gender is not always conceived as binary, or strictly linked to
biological sex. As a result, in some cultures there are third, fourth, fifth or some genders.
WHO (World Health Organization) defines gender as:
“Gender refers to the socially constructed characteristics of women and men, such as
norms, roles, and relationships of and between groups of women and men. It varies from
society to society and can be changed.”
WHAT IS BIOLOGICAL SEX?
The biological approach states that the distinction between men and women are due to inherent
and hormonal differences.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEX AND GENDER
SEX is the biological traits that societies use to assign people into the category of being a female
or male.
INTERSEX is born with XX or XY chromosomes. A person may be born appearing
female but may actually have a male anatomy on the inside or a person may be born with
genitals that appear between male or female.
GENDER is an understanding of how society shapes our understanding of those biological
categories. It categorizes femininity and masculinity, differentiated by roles, attitudes and values
and is assigned by culture and society to women.
NATURE versus NURTURE
NATURE NURTURE
WHAT IS IT? It refers to an individual’s It refers to personal
innate qualities (nativism) experiences
EXAMPLE Nature is in your genes. The Nurture refers to your
physical and personality traits childhood, or how you were
determined by your genes stay brought up. Someone could be
the same irrespective of where born with genes to give them a
you were born and raised. normal height, but be
malnourished in childhood,
resulting in stunted growth
and a failure to develop as
expected.
FACTORS Biological and family factors Social and environmental
factors
GENDER IN PSYCHOLOGY
Homosexuality or Gender-Crossing as psychological failure (Gender Dysphoria)
Express discomfort with their own sex
Those words are sometimes used interchangeably, but gender is different than sex; while
sex refers to certain genetic traits assigned at birth, gender is understood by many
researchers to be influenced by a range of societal, environmental and genetic factors
SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER
CISGENDER - describes people whose biological body they were born matches their
personal gender identity.
TRANSGENDER - is where one’s biological sex does not align with their gender
identity. Transgender people will undergo a gender transition that may involve changing
their dress and self-presentation (such as a name change). They may undergo hormone
therapy to facilitate this process but not all transgender people will undertake surgery.
People may choose to be GENDER QUEER, by either drawing on several gender
positions or otherwise not identifying with any specific gender (non-binary) or they may
choose to move across genders (gender fluid) or they may reject gender categories
altogether (a gender).
THIRD GENDER - is often used by social scientists to describe cultures that accept
non-binary gender positions
SEXUALITY - is a sexual attraction, sexual practices and identity.
ASEXUALITY - is a term used when individuals do not feel sexual attraction. Some
asexual people might still form romantic relationships without sexual contact.
Gender and sexual identities are not just personal identities, they are social identities. They arise
from our relationships to other people, and they depend upon social interaction and social
recognition. As such, they influence how we understand ourselves in relation to others.
HOW SOCIETY AFFECTS GENDER
Gender roles expectations are things that a society deems normal and acceptable
behavior, attitudes and desires for a person.
In western countries, gender roles are constantly being challenged. There are stay at
home dads, male receptionist, female doctors and judges.
Culture is the lasting behavior, ideas and attitudes share by the masses of a society. For
example, a tall woman and a shorter man as an uncommon event because males may feel
that their dominance is challenged if he is not visibly able to ‘control’ his female partner.
A man who is timid and is partnered with a loud and fearless woman may be perceived in
our culture as less of a man.
THEORY OF GENDER
GENDER SCHEMA THEORY
formally introduced by Sandra Bem in 1981
a cognitive theory that explains how individuals become gendered in society and how
sex-linked characteristics are maintained and transmitted to other members of a culture.
Bem refers to four categories in which individual may fall.
1. Sex-typed is an individual process and integrate information that is in line with
gender.
2. Cross-sex-typed an individual process and integrate information that is in line with
opposite gender.
3. Androgynous an individual process and integrate traits and information from both
genders.
4. Undifferentiated an individual who do not shows efficient processing of sex-typed
information.
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Summarizes the history of the controversy around sex differences in variability of
intelligence.
The main idea held that the males have a much wider range in test performance in IQ
Test
Such as Quantitative Reasoning, Spatial Visualization, Spelling and general knowledge
than females
DOREEN KIMURA, PSYCHOBIOLOGIST
MALES - found easier to visualize objects geometrically and rotationally
FEMALES - used references to objects when guiding through a route
An outside factor such as early exposure to androgens could influence both biological and
environmental components.
VANDENBERG MENTAL ROTATIONS TEST
FEMALES
Higher ability in reading facial and body cues
Have more advance verbal skills
Tend to have a better spelling capabilities and verbal memory
STRUCTURE OF BRAIN
1. Men’s brain are larger and heavier than women’s by 10-15 %
The study suggest that extra brain weight is the reason for the large sex difference in
spatial ability
2. The women appear to have larger areas of connective fibers between the two hemispheres
(hemispheric asymmetry)
Responsible for sexual orientation/preference
SIMON LEVAY (1991)
He disclosed the information about the S-R-D of the interstitial nuclei of the anterior
hypothalamus, INAH.
Females were found to have smaller areas of INAH in postmortem analysis by Dutch
and American Researchers.
The same differences were found between homosexual and heterosexual men.
