Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or psychedelic "trips") and/or an apparent expansion of consciousness. Sometimes, they are called classic hallucinogens, serotonergic hallucinogens, or serotonergic psychedelics, and the term psychedelic is sometimes used more broadly to include various types of hallucinogens or those which are atypical or adjacent to psychedelia such as MDMA or cannabis; this article uses the narrower definition of psychedelics. True psychedelics cause specific psychological, visual, and auditory changes, and oftentimes a substantially altered state of consciousness. Psychedelic states are often compared to meditative, psychodynamic or transcendental types of alterations of the mind. The "classical" psychedelics, the psychedelics with the largest scientific and cultural influence, are mescaline, LSD, psilocybin, and DMT.
In particular, LSD has long been considered the paradigmatic
psychedelic compound to which all other psychedelics are often or
usually compared.
Most psychedelic drugs fall into one of the three families of chemical compounds: tryptamines, phenethylamines, or lysergamides (LSD is considered both a tryptamine and lysergamide). They act via serotonin 2A receptor agonism. When compounds bind to serotonin 5-HT2A receptors,
they modulate the activity of key circuits in the brain involved with
sensory perception and cognition. However, the exact nature of how
psychedelics induce changes in perception and cognition via the 5-HT2A receptor is still unknown, although reduction in default mode network activity and increased functional connectivity
between regions in the brain as a result may be one of the most
relevant pharmacological mechanisms underpinning the psychedelic
experience, particularly ego death. The psychedelic experience is often compared to non-ordinary forms of consciousness such as those experienced in meditation, mystical experiences, and near-death experiences, which also appear to be partially underpinned by altered default mode network activity. The phenomenon of ego death is often described as a key feature of the psychedelic experience.
Many psychedelic drugs are illegal worldwide under the UN conventions, with occasional exceptions for religious use or research contexts. Despite these controls, recreational use of psychedelics is common.
Legal barriers have made the scientific study of psychedelics more
difficult. Research has been conducted, however, and studies show that
psychedelics are physiologically safe and rarely lead to addiction. Studies conducted using psilocybin in a psychotherapeutic setting reveal that psychedelic drugs may assist with treating depression, alcohol addiction, and nicotine addiction.
Although further research is needed, existing results suggest that
psychedelics could be effective treatments for certain forms of
psychopathology. A 2022 survey found that 28% of Americans had used a psychedelic at some point in their life.
Etymology and nomenclature
The term psychedelic was coined by the psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond during written correspondence with author Aldous Huxley and presented to the New York Academy of Sciences by Osmond in 1957. It is irregularly derived from the Greek words ψυχή psychḗ 'soul, mind' and δηλείν dēleín
'to manifest', with the intended meaning "soul manifesting" or
alternatively, "mind manifesting" the implication being that
psychedelics can reveal unused potentials of the human mind. The term was loathed by American ethnobotanistRichard Schultes but championed by American psychologist Timothy Leary.
Aldous Huxley had suggested his own coinage phanerothyme (Greek phaneroein- "to make manifest or visible" and Greek thymos "soul", thus "to reveal the soul") to Osmond in 1956. Recently, the term entheogen
(meaning "that which produces the divine within") has come into use to
denote the use of psychedelic drugs, as well as various other types of
psychoactive substances, in a religious, spiritual, and mystical
context.
In 2004, David E. Nichols wrote the following about the nomenclature used for psychedelic drugs:
Many different names have been
proposed over the years for this drug class. The famous German
toxicologist Louis Lewin used the name phantastica earlier in this
century, and as we shall see later, such a descriptor is not so
farfetched. The most popular names—hallucinogen, psychotomimetic, and
psychedelic ("mind manifesting")—have often been used interchangeably. Hallucinogen
is now, however, the most common designation in the scientific
literature, although it is an inaccurate descriptor of the actual
effects of these drugs. In the lay press, the term psychedelic is
still the most popular and has held sway for nearly four decades. Most
recently, there has been a movement in nonscientific circles to
recognize the ability of these substances to provoke mystical
experiences and evoke feelings of spiritual significance. Thus, the term
entheogen, derived from the Greek word entheos, which
means "god within", was introduced by Ruck et al. and has seen
increasing use. This term suggests that these substances reveal or allow
a connection to the "divine within". Although it seems unlikely that
this name will ever be accepted in formal scientific circles, its use
has dramatically increased in the popular media and on internet sites.
Indeed, in much of the counterculture that uses these substances,
entheogen has replaced psychedelic as the name of choice and we may
expect to see this trend continue.
Robin Carhart-Harris and Guy Goodwin write that the term psychedelic is preferable to hallucinogen for describing classical psychedelics because of the term hallucinogen's "arguably misleading emphasis on these compounds' hallucinogenic properties."
While the term psychedelic is most commonly used to refer only to serotonergic hallucinogens, it is sometimes used for a much broader range of drugs, including empathogen–entactogens, dissociatives, and atypical hallucinogens/psychoactives such as Amanita muscaria, Cannabis sativa, Nymphaea nouchali and Salvia divinorum. Thus, the term serotonergic psychedelic is sometimes used for the narrower class. It is important to check the definition of a given source. This article uses the more common, narrower definition of psychedelic.
2C-B (2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine) is a substituted phenthylamine first synthesised in 1974 by Alexander Shulgin. 2C-B is both a psychedelic and a mild entactogen,
with its psychedelic effects increasing and its entactogenic effects
decreasing with dosage. 2C-B is the most well known compound in the 2C family, their general structure being discovered as a result of modifying the structure of mescaline.
DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is an indole alkaloid found in various species of plants. Traditionally it is consumed by tribes in South America in the form of ayahuasca. A brew is used that consists of DMT-containing plants as well as plants containing MAOIs, specifically harmaline, which allows DMT to be consumed orally without being rendered inactive by monoamine oxidase enzymes in the digestive system.
In the Western world DMT is more commonly consumed via the vaporisation
of freebase DMT. Whereas Ayahuasca typically lasts for several hours,
inhalation has an onset measured in seconds and has effects measured in
minutes, being significantly more intense.
Particularly in vaporised form, DMT has the ability to cause users to
enter a hallucinatory realm fully detached from reality, being typically
characterised by hyperbolic geometry, and described as defying visual or verbal description. Users have also reported encountering and communicating with entitites within this hallucinatory state. DMT is the archetypal substituted tryptamine, being the structural scaffold of psilocybin and - to a lesser extent - the lysergamides.
LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide) is a derivative of lysergic acid, which is obtained from the hydrolysis of ergotamine. Ergotamine is an alkaloid found in the fungus claviceps purpurea, which primarily infects rye. LSD is both the prototypical psychedelic and the prototypical lysergamide. As a lysergamide, LSD contains both a tryptamine and phenethylamine group within its structure. As a result of containing a phenethylamine group LSD agonises dopamine receptors as well as serotonin receptors, making it more energetic in effect in contrast to the more sedating effects of psilocin, which is not a dopamine agonist.
Mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) is a phenethylamine alkaloid found in various species of cacti, the most well known being Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) and San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi). Mescaline has effects comparable to those of LSD and psilocybin, albeit with a greater emphasis on colors and patterns.
A number of frequently mentioned or traditional psychedelics such as Ayahuasca (which contains DMT), San Pedro, Peyote, and Peruvian torch (which all contain mescaline), Psilocybe mushrooms (which contain psilocin/psilocybin) and Tabernanthe iboga (which contains the unique psychedelic ibogaine) all have a long and extensive history of spiritual, shamanic and traditional usage by indigenous peoples in various world regions, particularly in Latin America, but also Gabon, Africa in the case of iboga.
Different countries and/or regions have come to be associated with
traditional or spiritual use of particular psychedelics, such as the
ancient and entheogenic use of psilocybe mushrooms by the native Mazatec people of Oaxaca, Mexico or the use of the ayahuasca brew in the Amazon basin, particularly in Peru for spiritual and physical healing as well as for religious festivals. Peyote has also been used for several thousand years in the Rio Grande Valley in North America by native tribes as an entheogen. In the Andean region of South America, the San Pedro cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi) has a long history of use, possibly as a traditional medicine. Archaeological studies have found evidence of use going back two thousand years, to Moche culture, Nazca culture, and Chavín culture. Although authorities of the Roman Catholic church attempted to suppress its use after the Spanish conquest, this failed, as shown by the Christian element in the common name "San Pedro cactus" – Saint Peter cactus. The name is attributed
to the belief that just as St Peter holds the keys to heaven, the
effects of the cactus allow users "to reach heaven while still on
earth." In 2022, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture declared the traditional use of San Pedro cactus in northern Peru as cultural heritage.
Although people of western culture have tended to use psychedelics for either psychotherapeutic or recreational reasons, most indigenous cultures, particularly in South America have seemingly tended to use psychedelics for more supernatural reasons such as divination.
This can often be related to "healing" or health as well but typically
in the context of finding out what is wrong with the individual; such as
using psychedelic states to "identify" a disease and/or its cause,
locate lost objects, and identify a victim or even perpetrator of sorcery. In some cultures and regions, even psychedelics themselves, such as ayahuasca and the psychedelic lichen of eastern Ecuador (Dictyonema huaorani) that supposedly contains both 5-MeO-DMT and psilocybin, have also been used by witches and sorcerers to conduct their malicious magic, similarly to nightshadedeliriants like brugmansia and latua.
Psychedelic therapy (or psychedelic-assisted therapy) is the proposed use of psychedelic drugs to treat mental disorders.
As of 2021, psychedelic drugs are controlled substances in most
countries and psychedelic therapy is not legally available outside
clinical trials, with some exceptions.
The procedure for psychedelic therapy differs from that of therapies using conventional psychiatric medications.
While conventional medications are usually taken without supervision at
least once daily, in contemporary psychedelic therapy the drug is
administered in a single session (or sometimes up to three sessions) in a
therapeutic context.
The therapeutic team prepares the patient for the experience beforehand
and helps them integrate insights from the drug experience afterwards.
After ingesting the drug, the patient normally wears eyeshades and
listens to music to facilitate focus on the psychedelic experience, with
the therapeutic team interrupting only to provide reassurance if
adverse effects such as anxiety or disorientation arise.
As of 2022, the body of high-quality evidence on psychedelic
therapy remains relatively small and more, larger studies are needed to
reliably show the effectiveness and safety of psychedelic therapy's
various forms and applications. On the basis of favorable early results, ongoing research is examining proposed psychedelic therapies for conditions including major depressive disorder, and anxiety and depression linked to terminal illness. The United States Food and Drug Administration has granted "breakthrough therapy" status, which expedites the assessment of promising drug therapies for potential approval, to psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder.
Psychedelic microdosing is the practice of using sub-threshold doses (microdoses)
of psychedelics in an attempt to improve creativity, boost physical
energy level, emotional balance, increase performance on
problems-solving tasks and to treat anxiety, depression and addiction.
The practice of microdosing has become more widespread in the 21st
century with more people claiming long-term benefits from the practice.
A 2022 study recognized signatures of psilocybin microdosing in natural language
and concluded that low amount of psychedelics have potential for
application, and ecological observation of microdosing schedules.
Pharmacology
While
the method of action of psychedelics is not fully understood, they are
known to show affinities for various 5-HT (serotonin) receptors in
different ways and levels, and may be classified by their activity at
different 5-HT sub-types, particularly 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, and 5-HT2C. It is almost unanimously agreed that psychedelics produce their effect by acting as strong partial agonists at the 5-HT2A receptors.
How this produces the psychedelic experience is unclear, but it is
likely that it acts by increasing excitation in the cortex, possibly by
specifically facilitating input from the thalamus, the major relay for sensory information input to the cortex. Additionally, researchers discovered that many psychedelics are potent psychoplastogens, compounds capable of promoting rapid and sustained neural plasticity.
Phenethylamine is also a trace amine but to a lesser extent acts as a neurotransmitter in the human central nervous system (CNS). Phenethylamine instead regulates monoamine neurotransmission by binding to trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1), which plays a significant role in regulating neurotransmission in dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin neurons in the CNS and inhibiting vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) in monoamine neurons.
When VMAT2 is inhibited monoamine neurotransmitters such as dopamine
cannot be released into the synapse via typical release mechanisms. Mescaline is a naturally occurring psychedelic protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class.
Lysergamides
Amides of lysergic acid are collectively known as lysergamides, and include a number of compounds with potent agonist and/or antagonist activity at various serotonin and dopamine receptors. Lysergamides contain both Tryptamine and Phenethylamine structure although it is class as a complex Tryptamine. LSD
(Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) is one of many lysergamides. A wide range
of lysergamides have emerged in recent years, inspired by existing
scientific literature. Others, have appeared from chemical research. 1P-LSD is a derivative and functional analogue of LSD and a homologue of ALD-52. It modifies the LSD molecule by adding a propionyl group to the nitrogen molecule of LSD's indole.
Although several attempts have been made, starting in the 19th and 20th centuries, to define common phenomenological structures of the effects produced by classic psychedelics, a universally accepted taxonomy does not yet exist.
At lower doses, features of psychedelic experiences include sensory
alterations, such as the warping of surfaces, shape suggestibility,
pareidolia and color variations. Users often report intense colors that
they have not previously experienced, and repetitive geometric shapes or
form constants are common as well. Higher doses often cause intense and fundamental alterations of sensory (notably visual) perception, such as synesthesia or the experience of additional spatial or temporal dimensions. Tryptamines are well documented to cause classic psychedelic states, such as increased empathy,
visual distortions (drifting, morphing, breathing, melting of various
surfaces and objects), auditory hallucinations, ego dissolution or ego death with high enough dose, mystical, transpersonal and spiritual experiences, autonomous "entity" encounters, time distortion, closed eye hallucinations and complete detachment from reality with a high enough dose. Luis Luna describes psychedelic experiences as having a distinctly gnosis-like
quality, and says that they offer "learning experiences that elevate
consciousness and can make a profound contribution to personal development." Czech psychiatrist Stanislav Grof
studied the effects of psychedelics like LSD early in his career and
said of the experience, that it commonly includes "complex revelatoryinsights
into the nature of existence… typically accompanied by a sense of
certainty that this knowledge is ultimately more relevant and 'real'
than the perceptions and beliefs we share in everyday life." Traditionally, the standard model for the subjective
phenomenological effects of psychedelics has typically been based on
LSD, with anything that is considered "psychedelic" evidently being
compared to it and its specific effects.
During a speech on his 100th birthday, the inventor of LSD, Albert Hofmann said of the drug: "It gave me an inner joy, an open mindedness,
a gratefulness, open eyes and an internal sensitivity for the miracles
of creation... I think that in human evolution it has never been as
necessary to have this substance LSD. It is just a tool to turn us into
what we are supposed to be." With certain psychedelics and experiences, a user may also experience an "afterglow" of improved mood or perceived mental state for days or even weeks after ingestion in some cases. In 1898, the English writer and intellectual Havelock Ellis
reported a heightened perceptual sensitivity to "the more delicate
phenomena of light and shade and color" for a prolonged period of time
after his exposure to mescaline.
Good trips are reportedly deeply pleasurable, and typically involve
intense joy or euphoria, a greater appreciation for life, reduced
anxiety, a sense of spiritual enlightenment, and a sense of belonging or
interconnectedness with the universe.
Negative experiences, colloquially known as "bad trips," evoke an array
of dark emotions, such as irrational fear, anxiety, panic, paranoia,
dread, distrustfulness, hopelessness, and even suicidal ideation. While it is impossible to predict when a bad trip will occur, one's mood, surroundings, sleep, hydration, social setting, and other factors can be controlled (colloquially referred to as "set and setting") to minimize the risk of a bad trip. The concept of “set and setting" also generally appears to be more applicable to psychedelics than to other types of hallucinogens such as deliriants, hypnotics and dissociative anesthetics.
Classic psychedelics are considered to be those found in nature
like psilocybin, DMT, mescaline, and LSD which is derived from naturally
occurring ergotamine, and non-classic psychedelics are considered to be
newer analogs and derivatives of pharmacophore lysergamides,
tryptamine, and phenethylamine structures like 2C-B.
Many of these psychedelics cause remarkably similar effects, despite
their different chemical structure. However, many users report that the
three major families have subjectively different qualities in the "feel"
of the experience, which are difficult to describe. Some compounds,
such as 2C-B, have extremely tight "dose curves", meaning the difference
in dose between a non-event and an overwhelming disconnection from
reality can be very slight. There can also be very substantial
differences between the drugs; for instance, 5-MeO-DMT rarely produces
the visual effects typical of other psychedelics.
Despite the contrary perception of much of the public, psychedelic drugs are not addictive and are physiologically safe. As of 2016, there have been no known deaths due to overdose of LSD, psilocybin, or mescaline.
Risks do exist during an unsupervised psychedelic experience, however; Ira Byock wrote in 2018 in the Journal of Palliative Medicine
that psilocybin is safe when administered to a properly screened
patient and supervised by a qualified professional with appropriate set
and setting. However, he called for an "abundance of caution" because in
the absence of these conditions a range of negative reactions is
possible, including "fear, a prolonged sense of dread, or full panic."
He notes that driving or even walking in public can be dangerous during a
psychedelic experience because of impaired hand-eye coordination and fine motor control.
In some cases, individuals taking psychedelics have performed dangerous
or fatal acts because they believed they possessed superhuman powers.
Psilocybin-induced states of mind share features with states experienced in psychosis,
and while a causal relationship between psilocybin and the onset of
psychosis has not been established as of 2011, researchers have called
for investigation of the relationship.
Many of the persistent negative perceptions of psychological risks are
unsupported by the currently available scientific evidence, with the
majority of reported adverse effects not being observed in a regulated
and/or medical context. A population study
on associations between psychedelic use and mental illness published in
2013 found no evidence that psychedelic use was associated with
increased prevalence of any mental illness.
Using psychedelics poses certain risks of re-experiencing of the drug's effects, including flashbacks and hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD).
These non-psychotic effects are poorly studied, but the permanent
symptoms (also called "endless trip") are considered to be rare.
Serotonin syndrome
can be caused by combining psychedelics with other serotonergic drugs,
including certain antidepressants, opioids, CNS stimulants (e.g. MDMA), 5-HT1 agonists (e.g. triptans), herbs and others.
Psychedelic substances which may have therapeutic uses include psilocybin, LSD, and mescaline. During the 1950s and 1960s, lack of informed consent in some scientific trials on psychedelics led to significant, long-lasting harm to some participants.
Since then, research regarding the effectiveness of psychedelic therapy
has been conducted under strict ethical guidelines, with fully informed
consent and a pre-screening to avoid people with psychosis taking part.
Although the history behind these substances has hindered research into
their potential medicinal value, scientists are now able to conduct
studies and renew research that was halted in the 1970s. Some research
has shown that these substances have helped people with such mental
disorders as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcoholism, depression, and cluster headaches.
It has long been known that psychedelics promote neurite growth and neuroplasticity and are potent psychoplastogens. There is evidence that psychedelics induce molecular and cellular
adaptations related to neuroplasticity and that these could potentially
underlie therapeutic benefits.
Psychedelics have also been shown to have potent anti-inflammatory
activity and therapeutic effects in animal models of inflammatory
diseases including asthma, and cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Many psychedelics are classified under Schedule I of the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 as drugs with the greatest potential to cause harm and no acceptable medical uses. In addition, many countries have analogue laws; for example, in the United States, the Federal Analogue Act
of 1986 automatically forbids any drugs sharing similar chemical
structures or chemical formulas to illicit or prohibited substances if
sold for human consumption.
U.S. states such as Oregon and Colorado have also instituted decriminalization and legalization measures of psychedelics and states like New Hampshire and others are attempting to do the same.
J.D. Tuccille argues that increasing rates of use of psychedelics in
defiance of the law are likely to result in more widespread legalization
and decriminalization of the substances in the United States (as has
happened with alcohol and cannabis).
A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role
encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally
considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on
that person's sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity, although there are exceptions and variations.
The specifics regarding these gendered expectations may vary
among cultures, while other characteristics may be common throughout a
range of cultures. In addition, gender roles (and perceived gender
roles) vary based on a person's race or ethnicity.
Gender roles influence a wide range of human behavior,
often including the clothing a person chooses to wear, the profession a
person pursues, manner of approach to things, the personal
relationships a person enters, and how they behave within those
relationships. Although gender roles have evolved and expanded, they
traditionally keep women in the "private" sphere, and men in the
"public" sphere.
Various groups, most notably feminist movements, have led efforts to change aspects of prevailing gender roles that they believe are oppressive, inaccurate, and sexist.
A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role
encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally
considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on
that person's sex
Sociologists tend to use the term "gender role" instead of "sex role",
because the sociocultural understanding of gender is distinguished from
biological conceptions of sex.
Gender roles are culturally specific, and while most cultures distinguish only two (boy/man and girl/woman), others recognize more. Some non-Western societies have three genders: men, women, and a third gender. Buginese society has identified five genders. Androgyny has sometimes also been proposed as a third gender. An androgyne or androgynous
person is someone with qualities pertaining to both the male and female
gender. Some individuals identify with no gender at all.
Many transgender people identify simply as men or women, and do not constitute a separate third gender. Biological differences between (some) trans women
and cisgender women have historically been treated as relevant in
certain contexts, especially those where biological traits may yield an
unfair advantage, such as sport.
Gender role is not the same thing as gender identity,
which refers to the internal sense of one's own gender, whether or not
it aligns with categories offered by societal norms. The point at which
these internalized gender identities become externalized into a set of expectations is the genesis of a gender role.
Most children learn to categorize themselves by gender by the age of three.
From birth, in the course of gender socialization, children learn
gender stereotypes and roles from their parents and environment.
Traditionally, boys learn to manipulate their physical and social
environment through physical strength or dexterity, while girls learn to
present themselves as objects to be viewed.
Social constructionists argue that differences between male and female
behavior are better attributable to gender-segregated children's
activities than to any essential, natural, physiological, or genetic
predisposition.
As an aspect of role theory,
gender role theory "treats these differing distributions of women and
men into roles as the primary origin of sex-differentiated social
behavior, [and posits that] their impact on behavior is mediated by
psychological and social processes." According to Gilbert Herdt, gender roles arose from correspondent inference, meaning that general labor division was extended to gender roles.
Social constructionists consider gender roles to be hierarchical and patriarchal. The term patriarchy, according to researcher Andrew Cherlin, defines "a social order based on the domination of women by men, especially in agricultural societies".
According to Eagly et al., the consequences of gender roles and
stereotypes are sex-typed social behavior because roles and stereotypes
are both socially-shared descriptive norms and prescriptive norms.
Judith Butler, in works such as Gender Trouble and Undoing Gender,
contends that being female is not "natural" and that it appears natural
only through repeated performances of gender; these performances, in
turn, reproduce and define the traditional categories of sex and/or
gender.
Major theorists
Talcott Parsons
Working in the United States in 1955, Talcott Parsons developed a model of the nuclear family,
which at that place and time was the prevalent family structure. The
model compared a traditional contemporaneous view of gender roles with a
more liberal view. The Parsons model was used to contrast and
illustrate extreme positions on gender roles.
Model A described a total separation of male and female roles, while
Model B described the complete dissolution of gender roles.
In case of conflict, man has the last say, for example in choosing
the place to live, choice of school for children, and buying decisions.
Neither partner dominates; solutions do not always follow the principle of finding a concerted decision; status quo is maintained if disagreement occurs.
Child care and education
Woman takes care of the largest part of these functions; she educates children and cares for them in every way.
Man and woman share these functions equally.
The model is consciously a simplification; individuals' actual
behavior usually lies somewhere between these poles. According to the interactionist approach, gender roles are not fixed but are constantly renegotiated between individuals.
Geert Hofstede
Geert Hofstede,
a Dutch researcher and social psychologist who dedicated himself to the
study of culture, sees culture as "broad patterns of thinking, feeling
and acting" in a society In Hofstede's view, most human cultures can themselves be classified as either masculine or feminine.
Masculine culture clearly distinguishes between gender roles, directing
men to "be assertive, tough, and focused on material success," and
women to "be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of
life."
Feminine cultures tolerate overlapping gender roles, and instruct that
"both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned
with the quality of life."
Hofstede's Feminine and Masculine Culture Dimensions states:
Masculine cultures expect men to be assertive, ambitious
and competitive, to strive for material success, and to respect whatever
is big, strong, and fast. Masculine cultures expect women to serve and
care for the non-material quality of life, for children and for the
weak. Feminine cultures, on the other hand, define relatively
overlapping social roles for the sexes, in which, in particular, men
need not be ambitious or competitive but may go for a different quality
of life than material success; men may respect whatever is small, weak,
and slow.
In feminine cultures, modesty and relationships are important characteristics.
This differs from masculine cultures, where self-enhancement leads to
self-esteem. Masculine cultures are individualistic and feminine
cultures are more collective because of the significance of personal
relationships.
'The dominant values in a masculine society are achievement and
success; the dominant values in a feminine society are caring for others
and quality of life'.
John Money
"In the 1950s, John Money and his colleagues took up the study of intersex
individuals, who, Money realized, 'would provide invaluable material
for the comparative study for bodily form and physiology, rearing, and psychosexual orientation'."
"Money and his colleagues used their own studies to state in the
extreme what these days seems extraordinary for its complete denial of
the notion of natural inclination."
They concluded that gonads, hormones, and chromosomes did not automatically determine a child's gender role. Among the many terms Money coined was gender role,
which he defined in a seminal 1955 paper as "all those things that a
person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status
of boy or man, girl or woman."
In recent years, the majority of Money's theories regarding the
importance of socialization in the determination of gender have come
under intense criticism, especially in connection with the inaccurate
reporting of success in the "John/Joan" case, later revealed to be David Reimer.
Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman developed an interactionist
perspective on gender beyond its construction of "roles". For them,
gender is "the product of social doings of some sort undertaken by men
and women whose competence as members of society is hostage to its
production."
This approach is described by Elisabeth K. Kelan as an
"ethnomethodological approach" which analyzes "micro interactions to
reveal how the objective and given nature of the world is accomplished,"
suggesting that gender does not exist until it is empirically perceived
and performed through interactions.
West and Zimmerman argued that the use of "role" to describe gender
expectations conceals the production of gender through everyday
activities. Furthermore, they stated that roles are situated identities,
such as "nurse" and "student", which are developed as the situation
demands, while gender is a master identity with no specific site or
organizational context. For them, "conceptualizing gender as a role
makes it difficult to assess its influence on other roles and reduces
its explanatory usefulness in discussions of power and inequality".
West and Zimmerman consider gender an individual production that
reflects and constructs interactional and institutional gender
expectations.
Historically, gender roles have been largely attributed to biological
differences in men and women. Although research indicates that biology
plays a role in gendered behavior, the extent of its effects on gender
roles is less clear.
One hypothesis attributes differences in gender roles to evolution. The sociobiological view argues that men's fitness
is increased by being aggressive, allowing them to compete with other
men for access to females, as well as by being sexually promiscuous and
trying to father as many children as possible. Women are benefited by
bonding with infants and caring for children.
Sociobiologists argue that these roles are evolutionary and led to the
establishment of traditional gender roles, with women in the domestic
sphere and men dominant in every other area.
Another hypothesis attributes differences in gender roles to prenatal exposure to hormones. Early research examining the effect of biology on gender roles by John Money and Anke Ehrhardt primarily focused on girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), resulting in higher-than-normal prenatal exposure to androgens. Their research found that girls with CAH exhibited tomboy-like behavior, were less interested in dolls, and were less likely to make-believe as parents. A number of methodological problems with the studies have been identified.
Sociologist Linda L. Lindsey critiqued the notion that gender
roles are a result of prenatal hormone exposure, saying that while
hormones may explain sex differences like sexual orientation and gender
identity, they "cannot account for gender differences in other roles
such as nurturing, love, and criminal behavior". By contrast, some research indicates that both neurobiological and social risk factors can interact in a way that predisposes one to engaging in criminal behavior (including juvenile delinquency).
With regard to gender stereotypes,
the societal roles and differences in power between men and women are
much more strongly indicated than is a biological component.
Culture
Ideas of appropriate gendered behavior vary among cultures and era,
although some aspects receive more widespread attention than others. In
the World Values Survey,
responders were asked if they thought that wage work should be
restricted to only men in the case of shortage in jobs: in Iceland the
proportion that agreed with the proposition was 3.6%; while in Egypt it
was 94.9%.
Attitudes have also varied historically. For example, in Europe,
during the Middle Ages, women were commonly associated with roles
related to medicine and healing. Because of the rise of witch-hunts across Europe and the institutionalization of medicine, these roles became exclusively associated with men. In the last few decades, these roles have become largely gender-neutral in Western society.
Vern Bullough stated that homosexual communities are generally more tolerant of switching gender roles. For instance, someone with a masculine voice, a five o'clock shadow (or a fuller beard), an Adam's apple,
wearing a woman's dress and high heels, carrying a purse would most
likely draw ridicule or other unfriendly attention in ordinary social
contexts.
Because the dominant class sees this form of gender expression as
unacceptable, inappropriate, or perhaps threatening, these individuals
are significantly more likely to experience discrimination and
harassment both in their personal lives and from their employers,
according to a 2011 report from the Center for American Progress.
Gender roles may be a means through which one expresses one's gender identity, but they may also be employed as a means of exerting social control, and individuals may experience negative social consequences for violating them.
Different religious and cultural groups within one country may have
different norms that they attempt to "police" within their own groups,
including gender norms.
The roles of women in Christianity can vary considerably today (as
they have varied historically since the first century New Testament
church). This is especially true in marriage and in formal ministry
positions within certain Christian denominations, churches, and parachurch organizations.
Many leadership roles in the organized church have been restricted to males. In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, only men may serve as priests or deacons, and in senior leadership positions such as pope, patriarch, and bishop. Women may serve as abbesses. Most mainstream Protestant
denominations are beginning to relax their longstanding constraints on
ordaining women to be ministers, though some large groups are tightening
their constraints in reaction. Charismatic and Pentecostal churches have embraced the ordination of women since their founding.
Christian traditions that officially recognize "saints", persons of exceptional holiness of life having attained the beatific vision (heaven), include female saints. Most prominent is Mary, mother of Jesus who is highly revered throughout Christianity, particularly in the Catholic and Orthodox churches where she is considered the "Theotokos",
i.e. "Mother of God". Women prominent in Christianity have included
contemporaries of Jesus, subsequent theologians, abbesses, mystics, doctors of the church,
founders of religious orders, military leaders, monarchs and martyrs,
evidencing the variety of roles played by women within the life of
Christianity. Paul the Apostle
held women in high regard and worthy of prominent positions in the
church, though he was careful not to encourage disregard for the New Testament household codes, also known as New Testament Domestic Codes or Haustafelen, of Greco-Roman law in the first century.
According to Dhami and Sheikh, gender roles in Muslim countries are centered on the importance of the family unit, which is viewed as the basis of a balanced and healthy society. Islamic views on gender roles and family are traditionally conservative.
Many Muslim-majority countries, most prominently Saudi Arabia, have interpretations of religious doctrine regarding gender roles embedded in their laws. In the United Arab Emirates, non-Muslim Western women can wear crop tops, whereas Muslim women are expected to dress much more modestly when in public. In some Muslim countries, these differences are sometimes even codified in law.
In some Muslim-majority countries, even non-Muslim women are expected to follow Muslim female gender norms and Islamic law
to a certain extent, such as by covering their hair. (Women visiting
from other countries sometimes object to this norm and sometimes decide
to comply on pragmatic grounds, in the interest of their own safety. For
example, in Egypt, women who do not dress "modestly" may be perceived
as akin to prostitutes.)
Islamic prophet Muhammad described the high status of mothers in both of the major hadith collections (Bukhari and Muslim). One famous account is:
"A man asked the Prophet: 'Whom should I honor most?' The
Prophet replied: 'Your mother'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man.
The Prophet replied: 'Your mother'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man.
The Prophet replied: 'Your mother!'. 'And who comes next?' asked the
man. The Prophet replied: 'Your father'"
The Qur'an prescribes that the status of a woman should be nearly as high as that of a man.
How gender roles are honored is largely cultural. While some
cultures encourage men and women to take on the same roles, others
promote a more traditional, less dominant role for the women.
Hindu deities are more ambiguously gendered than the deities of other
world religions. This informs female and males relations, and informs
how the differences between males and females are understood.
However, in a religious cosmology like Hinduism, which prominently features female and androgynous deities, some gender transgression is allowed. This group is known as the hijras,
and has a long tradition of performing in important rituals, such as
the birth of sons and weddings. Despite this allowance for
transgression, Hindu cultural traditions portray women in contradictory
ways. Women's fertility is given great value, but female sexuality is
depicted as potentially dangerous and destructive.
The institution of marriage influences gender roles, inequality, and change.
In the United States, gender roles are communicated by the media,
social interaction, and language. Through these platforms society has
influenced individuals to fulfill from a young age the stereotypical
gender roles in a heterosexual marriage. Roles traditionally distributed
according to biological sex are increasingly negotiated by spouses on
an equal footing.
Communication of gender roles in the United States
In
the U.S., marriage roles are generally decided based on gender. For
approximately the past seven decades, heterosexual marriage roles have
been defined for men and women based on society's expectations and the influence of the media.
Men and women are typically associated with certain social roles,
dependent upon the personality traits associated with those roles. Traditionally, the role of the homemaker is associated with a woman and the role of a breadwinner is associated with a male.
In the U.S., single men are outnumbered by single women at a ratio of 100 single women to 86 single men,
though never-married men over the age of 15 outnumber women by a 5:4
ratio (33.9% to 27.3%) according to the 2006 U.S. Census American
Community Survey. The results are varied between age groups, with 118
single men per 100 single women in their 20s, versus 33 single men to
100 single women over 65.
The numbers also vary between countries. For example, China has
many more young men than young women, and this disparity is expected to
increase. In regions with recent conflict, such as Chechnya, women greatly outnumber men.
In a cross-cultural study by David Buss,
men and women were asked to rank the importance of certain traits in a
long-term partner. Both men and women ranked "kindness" and
"intelligence" as the two most important factors. Men valued beauty and
youth more highly than women, while women valued financial and social
status more highly than men.
Media
In today's
society, media saturates nearly every aspect of one's life. It seems
inevitable for society to be influenced by the media and what it is
portraying.
Roles are gendered, meaning that both males and females are viewed and
treated differently according to biological sex, and because gendered
roles are learned, the media has a direct impact on individuals.
Thinking about the way in which couples act on romantic television shows
or movies and the way women are portrayed as passive in magazine ads,
reveals a lot about how gender roles are viewed in society and in
heterosexual marriages.
Traditional gendered roles view the man as a "pro-creator, a protector,
and a provider," and the woman as "pretty and polite but not too
aggressive, not too outspoken and not too smart."
Media aids in society conforming to these traditional gendered views.
People learn through imitation and social-interaction both in the
physical world and through the media; television, magazines,
advertisements, newspapers, the Internet, etc. Michael Messner
argues that "gendered interactions, structure, and cultural meanings
are intertwined, in both mutually reinforcing and contradictory ways."
Television's influence on society, specifically the influence of
television advertisements, is shown in studies such as that of Jörg
Matthes, Michael Prieler, and Karoline Adam. Their study into television
advertising has shown that women are much more likely to be shown in a
setting in the home compared to men. The study also shows that women are
shown much less in work-like settings. This underrepresentation in
television advertising is seen in many countries around the world, but
is very present in developed countries. In another study in the Journal of Social Psychology,
many television advertisements in countries around the world are seen
targeting women at different times of the day than men. Advertisements
for products directed towards female viewers are shown during the day on
weekdays, while products for men are shown during weekends. The same
article shows that a study on adults and television media has also seen
that the more television adults watch, the more likely they are to
believe or support the gender roles that are illustrated. The support of
the presented gender stereotypes can lead to a negative view of
feminism or sexual aggression.
It has been presented in a journal article by Emerald Group Publishing Limited that adolescent girls have been affected by the stereotypical view of women in media.
Girls feel pressured and stressed to achieve a particular appearance,
and there have been negative consequences for the young girls if they
fail to achieve this look. These consequences have ranged from anxiety
to eating disorders.
In an experiment described in this journal article, young girls
described pictures of women in advertisements as unrealistic and fake;
the women were dressed in revealing clothing which sexualised them and
exposed their thin figures, which were gazed upon by the public,
creating an issue with stereotyping in the media.
It has also been presented that children are affected by gender
roles in the media. Children's preferences in television characters are
most likely to be to characters of the same gender. Because children
favor characters of the same gender, the characteristics of the
character are also looked to by children.
Another journal article by Emerald Group Publishing Limited examined
the underrepresentation of women in children's television shows between
1930 and 1960. While studies between 1960 and 1990 showed an increase in
the representation of women in television, studies conducted between
1990 and 2005, a time when women were considered to be equal to men by
some, show no change in the representation of women in children's
television shows. Women, being underrepresented in children's television
shows, are also often portrayed as married or in a relationship, while
men are more likely to be single. This reoccurring theme in relationship
status can be reflected in the ideals of children that only see this
type of representation.
Social Interaction
Gendered
roles in heterosexual marriages are learned through imitation. People
learn what society views as appropriate gender behaviors from imitating
the repetition of actions by one's role-model or parent of the same
biological sex.
Imitation in the physical world that impacts one's gendered roles often
comes from role-modeling parents, peers, teachers, and other
significant figures in one's life. In a marriage, oftentimes each
person's gendered roles are determined by his or her parents. If the
wife grew up imitating the actions of traditional parents, and the
husband non-traditional parents, their views on marital roles would be
different.
One way people can acquire these stereotypical roles through a reward
and punishment system. When a little girl imitates her mother by
performing the traditional domestic duties she is often rewarded by
being told she is doing a good job. Nontraditionally, if a little boy
was performing the same tasks he would more likely be punished due to
acting feminine. Because society holds these expected roles for men and women within a marriage, it creates a mold for children to follow.
Changing gender roles in marriage
Over the years, gender roles have continued to change and have a significant impact on the institution of marriage.
Traditionally, men and women had completely opposing roles, men were
seen as the provider for the family and women were seen as the
caretakers of both the home and the family.
However, in today's society the division of roles is starting to blur.
More and more individuals are adapting non-traditional gender roles into
their marriages in order to share responsibilities. This view on gender
roles seeks out equality between sexes. In today's society, it is more
likely that a husband and wife are both providers for their family. More
and more women are entering the workforce while more men are
contributing to household duties.
After around the year 1980, divorce rates in the United States stabilized.
Scholars in the area of sociology explain that this stabilization was
due to several factors including, but not limited to, the shift in
gender roles. The attitude concerning the shift in gender roles can be
classified into two perspectives: traditional and egalitarian.
Traditional attitudes uphold designated responsibilities for the sexes -
wives raise the children and keep the home nice, and husbands are the
breadwinners. Egalitarian attitudes uphold responsibilities being
carried out equally by both sexes - wives and husbands are both
breadwinners and they both take part in raising the children and keeping
the home nice. Over the past 40 years, attitudes in marriages have become more egalitarian.
Two studies carried out in the early 2000s have shown strong
correlation between egalitarian attitudes and happiness and satisfaction
in marriage, which scholars believe lead to stabilization in divorce
rates. The results of a 2006 study performed by Gayle Kaufman, a
professor of sociology, indicated that those who hold egalitarian
attitudes report significantly higher levels of marital happiness than
those with more traditional attitudes.
Another study executed by Will Marshall in 2008 had results showing
that relationships with better quality involve people with more
egalitarian beliefs.
It has been assumed by Danielle J. Lindemann, a sociologist who studies
gender, sexuality, the family, and culture, that the shift in gender
roles and egalitarian attitudes have resulted in marriage stability due
to tasks being carried out by both partners, such as working late-nights
and picking up ill children from school.
Although the gap in gender roles still exists, roles have become less
gendered and more equal in marriages compared to how they were
traditionally.
Throughout history spouses have been charged with certain societal functions.
With the rise of the New World came the expected roles that each spouse
was to carry out specifically. Husbands were typically working farmers -
the providers. Wives were caregivers for children and the home.
However, the roles are now changing, and even reversing.
Societies can change such that the gender roles rapidly change.
The 21st century has seen a shift in gender roles due to multiple
factors such as new family structures, education, media, and several
others. A 2003 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that
about 1/3 of wives may earn more than their husbands.
With the importance of education emphasized nationwide, and the
access of college degrees (online, for example), women have begun
furthering their educations. Women have also started to get more
involved in recreation activities such as sports, which in the past were
regarded to be for men.
Family dynamic structures are changing, and the number of single-mother
or single-father households is increasing. Fathers are also becoming
more involved with raising their children, instead of the responsibility
resting solely with the mother.
According to the Pew Research Center, the number of stay-at-home
fathers in the US nearly doubled in the period from 1989 to 2012, from
1.1 million to 2.0 million. This trend appears to be mirrored in a number of countries including the UK, Canada and Sweden.
However, Pew also found that, at least in the US, public opinion in
general appears to show a substantial bias toward favoring a mother as a
care-taker versus a father, regardless of any shift in actual roles
each plays.
Gender equality
allows gender roles to become less distinct and according to Donnalyn
Pompper, is the reason "men no longer own breadwinning identities and,
like women, their bodies are objectified in mass media images." The LGBT rights movement has played a role increasing pro-gay attitudes, which according to Brian McNair, are expressed by many metrosexual men.
Besides North America and Europe, there are other regions whose
gender roles are also changing. In Asia, Hong Kong is very close to the
USA because the female surgeons in these societies are focused heavily
on home life, whereas Japan is focused more on work life. After a female
surgeon gives birth in Hong Kong, she wants to cut her work schedule
down, but keeps working full time (60–80 hours per week).
Similar to Hong Kong, Japanese surgeons still work long hours, but they
try to rearrange their schedules so they can be at home more (end up
working less than 60 hours).
Although all three places have women working advanced jobs, the female
surgeons in the US and Hong Kong feel more gender equality at home where
they have equal, if not more control of their families, and Japanese
surgeons feel the men are still in control.
A big change was seen in Hong Kong because the wives used to deal
with unhappy marriage. Now, Chinese wives have been divorcing their
husbands when they feel unhappy with their marriages, and are stable
financially. This makes the wife seem more in control of her own life,
instead of letting her husband control her.
Other places, such as Singapore and Taipei are also seeing changes in
gender roles. In many societies, but especially Singapore and Taipei,
women have more jobs that have a leadership position (i.e. A doctor or
manager), and fewer jobs as a regular worker (i.e. A clerk or
salesperson).
The males in Singapore also have more leadership roles, but they have
more lower level jobs too. In the past, the women would get the lower
level jobs, and the men would get all the leadership positions.
There is an increase of male unemployment in Singapore, Taipei, and
Hong Kong, so the women are having to work more in order to support
their families. In the past, the males were usually the ones supporting the family.
In India, the women are married young, and are expected to run the household, even if they did not finish school. It is seen as shameful if a woman has to work outside of the house in order to help support the family.
Many women are starting jewelry businesses inside their houses and have
their own bank accounts because of it. Middle aged women are now able
to work without being shameful because they are no longer childbearing.
Gender stereotype differences in cultures: East and West
According to Professor Lei Chang, gender attitudes within the domains
of work and domestic roles, can be measured using a cross-cultural
gender role attitudes test. Psychological processes of the East have
historically been analysed using Western models (or instruments)
that have been translated, which potentially, is a more far-reaching
process than linguistic translation. Some North American instruments for
assessing gender role attitudes include:
Attitudes Towards Women Scale,
Sex-Role Egalitarian Scale, and
Sex-Role Ideology Scale.
Through such tests, it is known that American southerners exhibit
less egalitarian gender views than their northern counterparts,
demonstrating that gender views are inevitably affected by an
individual's culture. This also may differ among compatriots whose
'cultures' are a few hundred miles apart.
Although existing studies have generally focused on gender views
or attitudes that are work-related, there has so far not been a study on
specific domestic roles. Supporting Hofstede's 1980 findings, that
"high masculinity cultures are associated with low percentages of women
holding professional and technical employment", test values for
work-related egalitarianism were lower for Chinese than for Americans.
This is supported by the proportion of women that held professional
jobs in China (far less than that of America), the data clearly
indicating the limitations on opportunities open to women in
contemporary Eastern society. In contrast, there was no difference
between the viewpoint of Chinese and Americans regarding domestic gender
roles.
A study by Richard Bagozzi, Nancy Wong and Youjae Yi, examines
the interaction between culture and gender that produces distinct
patterns of association between positive and negative emotions. The United States was considered a more 'independence-based culture', while China was considered 'interdependence-based'.
In the US people tend to experience emotions in terms of opposition
whereas in China, they do so in dialectical terms (i.e., those of
logical argumentation and contradictory forces). The study continued
with sets of psychological tests among university students in Beijing
and in Michigan. The fundamental goals of the research were to show that
"gender differences in emotions are adaptive for the differing roles
that males and females play in the culture". The evidence for
differences in gender role was found during the socialization
in work experiment, proving that "women are socialized to be more
expressive of their feelings and to show this to a greater extent in
facial expressions and gestures, as well as by verbal means".
The study extended to the biological characteristics of both gender
groups — for a higher association between PA and NA hormones in memory
for women, the cultural patterns became more evident for women than for
men.
Gender communication is viewed as a form of intercultural
communication; and gender is both an influence on and a product of
communication.
Communication plays a large role in the process in which people
become male or female because each gender is taught different linguistic
practices. Gender is dictated by society through expectations of
behavior and appearances, and then is shared from one person to another,
by the process of communication. Gender does not create communication, communication creates gender.
For example, females are often more expressive and intuitive in
their communication, but males tend to be instrumental and competitive.
In addition, there are differences in accepted communication behaviors
for males and females. To improve communication between genders, people
who identify as either male or female must understand the differences
between each gender.
As found by Cara Tigue (McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada)
the importance of powerful vocal delivery for women in leadership could not be underestimated, as famously described in accounts of Margaret Thatcher's years in power.
Nonverbal communication
Hall published an observational study on nonverbal gender differences and discussed the cultural reasons for these differences.
In her study, she noted women smile and laugh more and have a better
understanding of nonverbal cues. She believed women were encouraged to
be more emotionally expressive in their language, causing them to be
more developed in nonverbal communication.
Men, on the other hand, were taught to be less expressive, to
suppress their emotions, and to be less nonverbally active in
communication and more sporadic in their use of nonverbal cues. Most
studies researching nonverbal communication described women as being
more expressively and judgmentally accurate in nonverbal communication
when it was linked to emotional expression; other nonverbal expressions
were similar or the same for both genders.
McQuiston and Morris also noted a major difference in men and
women's nonverbal communication. They found that men tend to show body
language linked to dominance, like eye contact and interpersonal
distance, more than women.
Communication and gender cultures
According to author Julia Wood, there are distinct communication 'cultures' for women and men in the US.
She believes that in addition to female and male communication
cultures, there are also specific communication cultures for African
Americans, older people, Native Americans,
gay men, lesbians, and people with disabilities. According to Wood, it
is generally thought that biological sex is behind the distinct ways of
communicating, but in her opinion the root of these differences is
gender.
Maltz and Broker's research suggested that the games children play may contribute to socializing children into masculine and feminine gender roles:
for example, girls being encouraged to play "house" may promote
stereotypically feminine traits, and may promote interpersonal
relationships as playing house does not necessarily have fixed rules or
objectives; boys tended to play more competitive and adversarial team
sports with structured, predetermined goals and a range of confined
strategies.
Communication and sexual desire
Metts, et al. explain that sexual desire
is linked to emotions and communicative expression. Communication is
central in expressing sexual desire and "complicated emotional states",
and is also the "mechanism for negotiating the relationship implications
of sexual activity and emotional meanings".
Gender differences appear to exist in communicating sexual
desire, for example, masculine people are generally perceived to be more
interested in sex than feminine people, and research suggests that
masculine people are more likely than feminine people to express sexual
interest.
This may be greatly affected by masculine people being less inhibited by social norms for expressing their desire, being more aware of their sexual desire or succumbing to the expectations of their cultures.
When feminine people employ tactics to show their sexual desire, they
are typically more indirect in nature. On the other hand, it is known
masculinity is associated with aggressive behavior in almost all
mammals, and most likely explains at least part of the fact that
masculine people are more likely to express their sexual interest. This
is known as the Challenge hypothesis.
Various studies show different communication strategies with a
feminine person refusing a masculine person's sexual interest. Some
research, like that of Murnen,
show that when feminine people offer refusals, the refusals are verbal
and typically direct. When masculine people do not comply with this
refusal, feminine people offer stronger and more direct refusals.
However, research from Perper and Weis
showed that rejection includes acts of avoidance, creating
distractions, making excuses, departure, hinting, arguments to delay,
etc. These differences in refusal communication techniques are just one
example of the importance of communicative competence for both masculine
and feminine gender cultures.
A 1992 study tested gender stereotypes and labeling within young children in the United States. Fagot et al.
divided this into two different studies; the first investigated how
children identified the differences between gender labels of boys and
girls, the second study looked at both gender labeling and stereotyping
in the relationship of mother and child.
Within the first study, 23 children between the ages of two and
seven underwent a series of gender labeling and gender stereotyping
tests: the children viewed either pictures of males and females or
objects such as a hammer or a broom, then identified or labeled those to
a certain gender. The results of these tests showed that children under
three years could make gender-stereotypic associations.
The second study looked at gender labeling and stereotyping in
the relationship of mother and child using three separate methods. The
first consisted of identifying gender labeling and stereotyping,
essentially the same method as the first study. The second consisted of
behavioral observations, which looked at ten-minute play sessions with
mother and child using gender-specific toys.
The third study used a series of questionnaires such as an "Attitude Toward Women Scale", "Personal Attributes Questionnaire", and "Schaefer and Edgerton Scale" which looked at the family values of the mother.
The results of these studies showed the same as the first study with regards to labeling and stereotyping.
They also identified in the second method that the mothers'
positive reactions and responses to same-sex or opposite-sex toys played
a role in how children identified them. Within the third method the
results found that the mothers of the children who passed the "Gender
Labeling Test" had more traditional family values. These two studies,
conducted by Beverly I. Fagot, Mar D. Leinbach and Cherie O'Boyle,
showed that gender stereotyping and labeling is acquired at a very young
age, and that social interactions and associations play a large role in
how genders are identified.
Virginia Woolf,
in the 1920s, made the point: "It is obvious that the values of women
differ very often from the values which have been made by the other sex.
Yet it is the masculine values that prevail", remade sixty years later by psychologist Carol Gilligan
who used it to show that psychological tests of maturity have generally
been based on masculine parameters, and so tended to show that women
were less 'mature'. Gilligan countered this in her ground-breaking work,
In a Different Voice, holding that maturity in women is shown in terms of different, but equally important, human values.
Gender stereotypes are extremely common in society. One of the reasons this may be is simply because it is easier on the brain to stereotype (see Heuristics).
The brain has limited perceptual and memory systems, so it
categorizes information into fewer and simpler units which allows for
more efficient information processing.
Gender stereotypes appear to have an effect at an early age. In one
study, the effects of gender stereotypes on children's mathematical
abilities were tested. In this study of American children between the
ages of six and ten, it was found that the children, as early as the second grade,
demonstrated the gender stereotype that mathematics is a 'boy's
subject'. This may show that the mathematical self-belief is influenced
before the age in which there are discernible differences in
mathematical achievement.
According to the 1972 study by Jean Lipman-Blumen, women who grew
up following traditional gender-roles from childhood were less likely
to want to be highly educated while women brought up with the view that
men and women are equal were more likely to want higher education. This
result indicates that gender roles that have been passed down
traditionally can influence stereotypes about gender.
In a later study, Deaux and her colleagues (1984) found that most people think women are morenurturant, but less self-assertive than men, and that this belief is indicated universally, but that this awareness is related to women's role. To put it another way, women do not have an inherently nurturant personality, rather that a nurturing personality is acquired by whoever happens to be doing the housework.
A study of gender stereotypes by Jacobs (1991) found that
parents' stereotypes interact with the sex of their child to directly
influence the parents' beliefs about the child's abilities. In turn,
parents' beliefs about their child directly influence their child's
self-perceptions, and both the parents' stereotypes and the child's
self-perceptions influence the child's performance.
Stereotype threat involves the risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group.
In the case of gender it is the implicit belief in gender stereotype
that women perform worse than men in mathematics, which is proposed to
lead to lower performance by women.
A review article of stereotype threat research (2012) relating to
the relationship between gender and mathematical abilities concluded
"that although stereotype threat may affect some women, the existing
state of knowledge does not support the current level of enthusiasm for
this [as a] mechanism underlying the gender gap in mathematics".
In 2018, Jolien A. van Breen and colleagues conducted research into subliminal
gender stereotyping. Researchers took participants through a fictional
"Moral Choice Dilemma Task", which presented eight scenarios "in which
sacrificing one person can save several others of unspecified gender. In
four scenarios, participants are asked to sacrifice a man to save
several others (of unspecified gender), and in four other scenarios they
are asked to sacrifice a woman." The results showed that women who
identified as feminists were more willing to 'sacrifice' men than women
who did not identify as feminists.
"If a person wanted to counteract that and 'level the playing field',
that can be done either by boosting women or by downgrading men", said
van Breen. "So I think that this effect on evaluations of men arises
because our participants are trying to achieve an underlying aim:
counteracting gender stereotypes."
In the workplace
Gender stereotypes can disadvantage women during the hiring process. It is one explanation for the lack of women in key organizational positions.
Management and similar leader positions are often perceived to be
"masculine" in type, meaning they are assumed to require aggressiveness,
competitiveness, strength and independence. These traits do not line up
with the perceived traditional female gender role stereotype. (This is often referred to as the "lack of fit" model which describes the dynamics of the gender bias.)
Therefore, the perception that women do not possess these "masculine"
qualities, limits their ability to be hired or promoted into managerial
positions.
One's performance at work is also evaluated based on one's
gender. If a female and a male worker show the same performance, the
implications of that performance vary depending on the person's gender
and on who observes the performance; if a man performs exceedingly well
he is perceived as driven or goal-oriented and generally seen in a
positive light while a woman showing a similar performance is often
described using adjectives with negative connotations.
Female performance is therefore not evaluated neutrally or unbiased and
stereotyped in ways to deem their equivalent levels and quality of work
as instead of lesser value.
A study in 2001 found that if a woman does act according to
female stereotypes, she is likely to receive backlash for not being
competent enough; if she does not act according to the stereotypes
connected to her gender and behaves more masculine, it is likely to cause backlash through third-party punishment or further job discrimination. This puts women in the workforce in a precarious, "double bind" situation. A proposed step to protect women is the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, as it would prohibit gender-based discrimination regardless of if a woman is acting according to female gender stereotypes, or in defiance of them.
Consequently, that gender stereotype filter leads to a lack of
fair evaluation and, in turn, to fewer women occupying higher paying
positions. Gender stereotypes contain women at certain, lower levels;
getting trapped within the glass ceiling. While the number of women in the workforce occupying management positions is slowly increasing, women currently fill only 2.5% of the higher managerial positions in the United States. The fact that most women are being allocated to occupations that pay less, is often cited as a contributor to the existing gender pay gap.
In relation to white women, women of color are disproportionally affected by the negative influence their gender has on their chances in the labor market. In 2005, women held only 14.7% of Fortune 500 board seats with 79% of them being white and 21% being women of color. This difference is understood through intersectionality, a term describing the multiple and intersecting oppressions and individual might experience. Activists during second-wave feminism have also used the term "horizontal oppressions" to describe this phenomenon.
It has also been suggested that women of color in addition to the glass
ceiling, face a "concrete wall" or a "sticky floor" to better visualize
the barriers.
Liberal feminist
theory states that due to these systemic factors of oppression and
discrimination, women are often deprived of equal work experiences
because they are not provided equal opportunities on the basis of legal
rights. Liberal feminists further propose that an end needs to be put to
discrimination based on gender through legal means, leading to equality
and major economic redistributions.
While activists have tried calling on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide an equal hiring and promotional process, that practice has had limited success.
The pay gap between men and women is slowly closing. Women make
approximately 21% less than her male counterpart according to the
Department of Labor.
This number varies by age, race, and other perceived attributes of
hiring agents. A proposed step towards solving the problem of the gender
pay gap and the unequal work opportunities is the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment which would constitutionally guarantee equal rights for women. This is hoped to end gender-based discrimination and provide equal opportunities for women.
Economic and social consequences
Traditional gender roles assume women will serve as the primary caregivers for children and the elderly, regardless of whether they also work outside of the home. Sociology scholar Arlie Hochschild delves into this phenomenon in her book, The Second Shift.
This "second shift" refers to the unpaid work women take on in the
private sphere—housework, cooking, cleaning, and caring for the family
unit. Economically, this restricts a women's ability to advance in her career due to her added (unpaid) responsibilities at home. The OECD found "Around the world, women spend two to ten times more time on unpaid care work than men." In 2020 alone, women provided over $689 billion in unpaid labor to the U.S. economy.
Lee and Fang found, "Compared with Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asian
Americans took more extensive caregiving responsibilities."
Across all demographics, women are more likely to live in poverty compared to men.
This is largely due to the gender wage gap between men and women—the
Institute for Women's Policy Research found, "Equal pay for working
women would increase their annual average earnings from $41,402 to
$48,326, adding $541 billion in wage and salary income to the U.S.
economy." The gender wage gap is largely racial—in the U.S., American Indian and
Alaska Native (AIAN) women, Black women, and Latina women
disproportionally experience poverty and larger wage gaps compared with
White and Asian women.
Women are also more likely to live in poverty if they are single
mothers and solely responsible for providing for their children. Poverty
among single working mothers would fall 40% or more if women earned
equal wages to men.
Gender stereotypes and roles can also be supported implicitly. Implicit stereotypes
are the unconscious influence of attitudes a person may or may not even
be aware that he or she holds. Gender stereotypes can also be held in
this manner.
One example of an implicit gender stereotype is that males are
seen as better at mathematics than females. It has been found that men
have stronger positive associations with mathematics than women, while
women have stronger negative associations with mathematics and the more
strongly a woman associates herself with the female gender identity, the
more negative her association with mathematics.
These associations have been disputed for their biological
connection to gender and have been attributed to social forces that
perpetuate stereotypes such as aforementioned stereotype that men are
better at mathematics than women.
This particular stereotype has been found in American children as early as second grade.
The same test found that the strength of a Singaporean child's
mathematics-gender stereotype and gender identity predicted the child's
association between individuals and mathematical ability.
It has been shown that this stereotype also reflects mathematical
performance: a study was done on the worldwide scale and it was found
that the strength of this mathematics-gender stereotype in varying
countries correlates with 8th graders' scores on the TIMSS,
a standardized math and science achievement test that is given
worldwide. The results were controlled for general gender inequality and
yet were still significant.
Gender inequality online
An
example of gender stereotypes assumes those of the male gender are more
'tech savvy' and happier working online, however, a study done by
Hargittai & Shafer,
shows that many women also typically have lower self-perceived
abilities when it comes to use of the World Wide Web and online
navigation skills. Because this stereotype is so well known many women
assume they lack such technical skills when in reality, the gap in
technological skill level between men and women is significantly less
than many women assume.
In the journal article written by Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz video
games have been guilty of using sexualised female characters, who wear
revealing clothing with an 'ideal' figure. It has been shown, female
gamers can experience lower self-efficacy
when playing a game with a sexualized female character. Women have been
stereotyped in online games and have shown to be quite sexist in their
appearances. It has been shown these kind of character appearances have
influenced peoples' beliefs about gender capabilities by assigning
certain qualities to the male and female characters in different games.
The concept of gender inequality is often perceived as something
that is non-existent within the online community, because of the
anonymity possible online. Remote or home-working greatly reduces the
volume of information one individual gives another compared to
face-to-face encounters,
providing fewer opportunities for unequal treatment but it seems
real-world notions of power and privilege are being duplicated: people
who choose to take up different identities (avatars) in the online world
are (still) routinely discriminated against, evident in online gaming
where users are able to create their own characters. This freedom
allows the user to create characters and identities with a different
appearance than their own in reality, essentially allowing them to
create a new identity, confirming that regardless of actual gender those
who are perceived as female are treated differently.
In marked contrast to the traditional male-dominated stereotype a
study shows that 52% of the gaming audience is made up of women and a
minority of gaming characters are women. Only 12% of game designers in Britain and 3% of all programmers are women.
Despite the growing number of women who partake in online
communities, and the anonymous space provided by the Internet, issues
such as gender inequality, the issue has simply been transplanted into
the online world.
Even though the number of women running for elected office
has increased over the last decades, they still only make up 20% of
U.S. senators, 19.4% of U.S. congressional representatives and 24% of
statewide executives.
Additionally, many of these political campaigns appear to focus on the
aggressiveness of the female candidate which is often still perceived as
a masculine trait.
Therefore, female candidates are running based on gender-opposing
stereotypes because that predicts higher likelihood of success than
appearing to be a stereotypical woman.
Elections of increasing numbers of women into office serves as a
basis for many scholars to claim that voters are not biased towards a
candidate's gender. However, it has been shown that female politicians
are perceived as only being superior when it comes to handling women's rights and poverty, whereas male politicians are perceived to be better at dealing with crime and foreign affairs. That view lines up with the most common gender stereotypes.
It has also been predicted that gender highly matters only for
female candidates that have not been politically established. These
predictions apply further to established candidates, stating that gender
would not be a defining factor for their campaigns or the focal point
of media coverage. This has been refuted by multiple scholars, often
based on Hillary Clinton's multiple campaigns for the office of President of the United States.
Additionally, when voters have little information about a female
candidate, they are likely to view her as being a stereotypical woman
which they often take as a basis for not electing her because they
consider typical male qualities as being crucial for someone holding a
political office.
Throughout the 20th century, women in the United States saw a
dramatic shift in social and professional aspirations and norms.
Following the Women's Suffrage Movement of the late-nineteenth century, which resulted in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment allowing women to vote, and in combination with conflicts in Europe, WWI and WWII,
women found themselves shifted into the industrial workforce. During
this time, women were expected to take up industrial jobs and support
the troops abroad through the means of domestic industry. Moving from
"homemakers" and "caregivers", women were now factory workers and
"breadwinners" for the family.
However, after the war, men returned home to the United States
and women, again, saw a shift in social and professional dynamics. With
the reuniting of the nuclear family, the ideals of American Suburbia boomed. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, middle-class
families moved in droves from urban living into newly developed
single-family homes on former farmland just outside major cities. Thus
established what many modern critics describe as the "private sphere". Though frequently sold and idealized as "perfect living", many women had difficulty adjusting to the new "private sphere". Writer Betty Friedan described this discontent as "the feminine mystique".
The "mystique" was derived from women equipped with the knowledge,
skills, and aspirations of the workforce, the "public sphere", who felt
compelled whether socially or morally to devote themselves to the home
and family.
One major concern of feminism, is that women occupy lower-ranking job positions than men, and do most of the housework.
A recent (October 2009) report from the Center for American Progress,
"The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything" tells us that
women now make up 48% of the US workforce and "mothers are breadwinners
or co-breadwinners in a majority of families" (63.3%, see figure 2, page
19 of the Executive Summary of The Shriver Report).
Another recent article in The New York Times indicates that young women today are closing the pay gap. Luisita Lopez Torregrosa
has noted, "Women are ahead of men in education (last year, 55 percent
of U.S. college graduates were female). And a study shows that in most
U.S. cities, single, childless women under 30 are making an average of 8
percent more money than their male counterparts, with Atlanta and Miami
in the lead at 20 percent."
Feminist theory generally defines gender as a social construct
that includes ideologies governing feminine/masculine (female/male)
appearances, actions, and behaviors.
An example of these gender roles would be that males were supposed to
be the educated breadwinners of the family, and occupiers of the public
sphere whereas, the female's duty was to be a homemaker, take care of
her husband and children, and occupy the private sphere. According to
contemporary gender role ideology, gender roles are continuously
changing. This can be seen in Londa Schiebinger's Has Feminism Changed Science,
in which she states, "Gendered characteristics - typically masculine or
feminine behaviors, interests, or values-are not innate, nor are they
arbitrary. They are formed by historical circumstances. They can also
change with historical circumstances."
One example of the contemporary definition of gender was depicted in Sally Shuttleworth's Female Circulation
in which the, "abasement of the woman, reducing her from an active
participant in the labor market to the passive bodily existence to be
controlled by male expertise is indicative of the ways in which the
ideological deployment of gender roles operated to facilitate and
sustain the changing structure of familial and market relations in
Victorian England."
In other words, this shows what it meant to grow up into the roles
(gender roles) of a female in Victorian England, which transitioned from
being a homemaker to being a working woman and then back to being
passive and inferior to males. In conclusion, gender roles in the
contemporary sex gender model are socially constructed, always changing,
and do not really exist since they are ideologies that society
constructs in order for various benefits at various times in history.
The men's rights movement (MRM) is a part of the larger men's movement. It branched off from the men's liberation movement
in the early-1970s. The men's rights movement is made up of a variety
of groups and individuals who are concerned about what they consider to
be issues of male disadvantage, discrimination and oppression. The movement focuses on issues in numerous areas of society (including family law, parenting, reproduction, domestic violence) and government services (including education, compulsory military service, social safety nets, and health policies) that they believe discriminate against men.
Scholars consider the men's rights movement or parts of the movement to be a backlash to feminism. The men's rights movement denies that men are privileged relative to women.
The movement is divided into two camps: those who consider men and
women to be harmed equally by sexism, and those who view society as
endorsing the degradation of men and upholding female privilege.
Men's rights groups have called for male-focused governmental
structures to address issues specific to men and boys including
education, health, work and marriage.
Men's rights groups in India have called for the creation of a Men's
Welfare Ministry and a National Commission for Men, as well as the
abolition of the National Commission for Women. In the United Kingdom, the creation of a Minister for Men analogous to the existing Minister for Women, have been proposed by David Amess, MP and Lord Northbourne, but were rejected by the government of Tony Blair. In the United States, Warren Farrell
heads a commission focused on the creation of a "White House Council on
Boys and Men" as a counterpart to the "White House Council on Women and
Girls" which was formed in March 2009.
Related to this is the Father's Rights Movement, whose members
seek social and political reforms that affect fathers and their
children.
These individuals contest that societal institutions such as family
courts, and laws relating to child custody and child support payments,
are gender biased in favor of mothers as the default caregiver. They
therefore are systemically discriminatory against males regardless of
their actual caregiving ability, because males are typically seen as the
bread-winner, and females as the care-giver.
Transgender is the state of one's gender identity or gender expression not matching one's assigned sex. Transgender is independent of sexual orientation; transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, etc.; some may consider conventional sexual orientation labels inadequate or inapplicable to them. The definition of transgender includes:
"Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex."
"People who were assigned a sex, usually at birth and based on their
genitals, but who feel that this is a false or incomplete description
of themselves."
"Non-identification with, or non-presentation as, the sex (and assumed gender) one was assigned at birth."
While people self-identify as transgender, the transgender identity
umbrella includes sometimes-overlapping categories. These include transsexual; transvestite or cross-dresser; genderqueer; androgyne; and bigender. Usually not included are transvestic fetishists (because it is considered to be a paraphilia rather than gender identification), and drag kings and drag queens, who are performers who cross-dress for the purpose of entertaining. In an interview, celebrity drag queen RuPaul talked about society's ambivalence to the differences in the people who embody these terms. "A friend of mine recently did the Oprah
show about transgender youth", said RuPaul. "It was obvious that we, as
a culture, have a hard time trying to understand the difference between
a drag queen, transsexual, and a transgender, yet we find it very easy
to know the difference between the American baseball league and the National baseball league, when they are both so similar."
Sexual orientation is defined by the interplay between a person's emotional and physical attraction toward others.
Generally, sexual orientation is broken into the three categories:
heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual. By basic definition, the term
heterosexual is typically used in reference to someone who is attracted
to people of the opposite sex, the term homosexual is used to classify
people who are attracted to those of the same sex, and the term bisexual
is used to identify those who are attracted to both the same and
opposite sexes.
Sexual orientation can be variously defined based on sexual identity,
sexual behavior and sexual attraction. People can fall anywhere on a
spectrum from strictly heterosexual to strictly homosexual.
Scientists do not know the exact cause of sexual orientation, but they theorize that it is caused by a complex interplay of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences, and do not view it as a choice. Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, scientists favor biologically based theories.
There is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial, biological
causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males.
There is no substantive evidence which suggests parenting or early
childhood experiences play a role with regard to sexual orientation.
An active conflict over the cultural acceptability of non-heterosexuality rages worldwide.The belief or assumption that heterosexual relationships and acts are "normal" is described as heterosexism or in queer theory, heteronormativity.
Gender identity and sexual orientation are two separate aspects of
individual identity, although they are often mistaken in the media.
Perhaps it is an attempt to reconcile this conflict that leads to
a common assumption that one same-sex partner assumes a pseudo-male
gender role and the other assumes a pseudo-female role. For a gay male
relationship, this might lead to the assumption that the "wife" handled
domestic chores, was the receptive sexual partner, adopted effeminate
mannerisms, and perhaps even dressed in women's clothing.
This assumption is flawed because homosexual couples tend to have more
equal roles, and the effeminate behavior of some gay men is usually not
adopted consciously, and is often more subtle.
Cohabitating same-sex partners are typically egalitarian when they assign domestic chores.
Sometimes these couples assign traditional female responsibilities to
one partner and traditional male responsibilities to the other. Same-sex
domestic partners
challenge traditional gender roles in their division of household
responsibilities, and gender roles within homosexual relationships are
flexible.
For instance, cleaning and cooking, traditionally regarded by many as
both female responsibilities, might be assigned to different people.
Carrington observed the daily home lives of 52 gay and lesbian couples
and found that the length of the work week and level of earning power
substantially affected the assignment of housework, regardless of gender
or sexuality.
In many cultures, gender roles, especially for men,
simultaneously act as an indicator for heterosexuality, and as a
boundary of acceptable behavior for straight people. Therefore,
lesbians, gay men and bisexual people may be viewed as exempt from some
or all components of gender roles or as having different "rules" they
are expected to follow by society.
These modified "rules" for lesbian, gay and bisexual people may
also be oppressive. Morgan examines the plight of homosexuals seeking asylum
from homophobic persecution who have been turned away by US customs for
"not being gay enough"; not conforming sufficiently to standard
(Western) conceptions of the gender roles occupied by gays and lesbians.
Conversely, heterosexual men and women who are not perceived as
being sufficiently masculine or feminine, respectively, may be assumed
to be, or suspected to be, homosexual, and persecuted for their
perceived homosexuality.
A number of studies conducted since the mid-90s have found direct
correlation between a female criminal's ability to conform to gender
role stereotypes and the severity of her sentencing, particularly among female murderers.
"In terms of the social realities of justice in America, the
experiences of diverse groups of people in society have contributed to
the shaping of the types of criminals and victims that we have had. Like
Andersen and Hill Collins (1998: 4) in their discussion of what they
refer to as a 'matrix of domination,' we too conceive that class, race,
and gender represent "multiple, interlocking levels of domination that
stem from the societal configurations of these structural relationships.
These patterned actions, in turn, affecting individual consciousness,
group interaction, and individual and group access to institutional
power and privileges.'"
"Patterns of offending by men and by women are notable both for their
similarities and for their differences. Both men and women are more
heavily involved in minor property and substance abuse offenses than in
serious crimes like robbery or murder. However, men offend at much
higher rates than women for all crime categories except prostitution.
This gender gap in crime is greatest for serious crime and least for
mild forms of lawbreaking such as minor property crimes."
Gender roles in family violence
The 'Family Violence Framework' applies gender dynamics to family violence. "Families are constructed around relationships that involve obligations and responsibilities, but also status and power".
According to Hattery and Smith, when "masculinity and femininity are
constructed…to generate these rigid and narrow gender roles, it
contributes to a culture of violence against women"
"People with more resources are more likely to be abusive towards those
without resources", meaning that the stronger member of the
relationship abuses the weaker partner or family member.
However, the fight for power and equality remains – "Intimate partner
violence in same-sex couples reveals that the rates are similar to those
in the heterosexual community".