How Gender Roles are Created in America

         “Could you…hand me some scissors?” This is what a young teen asks on the television show, Grey’s Anatomy, when her doctor tells her that she is a hermaphrodite, a person born with both male and female parts. Having tried suicide before and not feeling as though she fits in, is how many intersexed individuals feel when then are assigned gender roles that they do not feel suits them. This brave patient proceeds to cut off her hair and assume a male identity, going from a she to a he. Gender roles are a complex system of ideals created from societal view and an individual’s disposition towards them. The physical make-up of the person directly correlates to how they are perceived and what roles are placed upon the person. After gender is established the person is socialized into a certain role. These ideas are imprinted into the person through family and the media. Once the person has established what these roles are, they psychologically react towards these roles, whether accepting them or denying them. These are the many key aspects that influence a person’s gender role. Of the three factors that create gender roles, biology is the first thing that starts this complex process.
         When a baby is born what is the first thing that is asked? “Is it a boy or a girl?”
This is where gender roles begin to form. From this moment on the child will be taught the ins and outs of a male or female role, but even before this a child is introduced to gender altering terms. During fetal life, the amount present or absence of testosterone and other androgens determines the fetus’s sexuality-physically, mentally, and emotionally. There are key times during development when the fetus will go towards male or female depending on these levels. These windows of opportunity may be open for only a few days and if the needed levels of testosterone are not present a basic female orientation develops, regardless of testosterone levels before or after this critical period and the resulting sexual imprint. The first crucial period is a conception when the presence of the SRY gene (sex-determining Region of the Y chromosome) will determine the physical gender. The SRY gene is normally found on the short arm of the Y chromosome but can detach making for a XY female (the Y missing the SRY gene), who is  normally XX, or an XX male ( the SRY attached to the X) who is normally XY. The SRY gene causes the fetus to release Testes Determining Factor which turns the undifferentiated gonads into testes. Once the testes are formed they release androgens which turn the fetus into a male. If the Testes Determining Factor is not released, then the fetus develops as a female (Bushong). But what happens when the fetus does not fit into just male or female like the young hermaphrodite in Grey’s Anatomy?
         Besides there being the male XY and female XX, there is also XYY, XXY, and XO. The Y chromosome is essential for male attributes, because the Y chromosome is responsible for the development of testes. This responsibility comes from the Testes Producing Factor on the Y chromosome. Once the testes are developed by the 6th week, they start producing androgens which account for aggression and other male secondary sex characteristics (Norman 129).  Boys with XYY syndrome often are more physically active than other males because of this extra Y. Boys with XYY syndrome have a tendency to have delayed mental maturation and an ncreased tendency for learning problems in school (“XYY Syndrome“). Another genetic variation in gender is XXY. Persons who have XXY, or Klinefelter’s syndrome, are definitely male because of the Y chromosome but they exhibit a variety of deviations from normal males with an XY pair . These males show some breast development, small testes, sparse body hair, and some mental deficiency, such as lower intelligence then normal XY males. The more X’s the more pronounced these symptoms are. While these are all genetic variations of males, XO, or Turner’s syndrome, affects females. This condition affects the development of both sexual and other bodily characteristics. Some physical characteristics of XO individuals is a short stature, a webbed neck, underdeveloped ovaries, and an immature uterus as well as some cardiovascular defects (Norman 121). Now, how then does society start to impose these roles onto children?
         America is a gender confused society. On one hand Americans ask boys to be sensitive and expressive. While on the other, they demand conformity with the America’s outdated ideas of masculinity. The result of this: a “boy code” a stoic, uncommunicative, invulnerable stance that doesn’t allow boys to be warm, empathetic humans that they are (Barovick 46). On the flip side, America requires girls to remain submissive and act out different behaviors from single to married, housewife and career woman. Learning when to apply these rules and when to bend them is socialization (Kasschau 206). The first people to begin to socialize the child are the parents. From when the child is first born and gender is determined, parents treats sons and daughters differently. They usually begin by dressing their infants in gender specific colors and fabrics. Examples of this are: pink, frilly, and soft for girls and blue, rough, and with trucks or sports for boys. Parents also encourage their sons and daughters to participate in sex-typed activities such as doll playing and house for girls and playing with trucks and sports activities for boys, and expect different behavior from boys than girls. By the age of 2-3 children are aware of sex roles differences (Witt, “Parental Influence”), but are not aware of their gender until ages 4-5! An experiment by child psychologist Lisa Serbin showed that one and a half year olds to two year olds had not a clue to which gender they belonged to, even when  the psychologist used the simplest nonverbal prompts. Kids this age just cannot reliably assign themselves or others to the correct gender (Sax 19+). Children internalize these parental messages regarding sex-typed behavior from a young age. Often these messages are subtle, such as telling girls to not get dirty or not to play so rough, or boys not to play with dolls or not to cry (Witt, “Parental Influence”). Another major source for gender roles in children is television.
         According to some studies on preschoolers and television viewing, preschoolers spend an average of thirty hours a week watching television. By the time they are sixteen they have spent more time watching T.V then going to school. And by the time they have graduated high school they have witnessed over 13,000 violent deaths and have been influenced socially and have an attitude on race and gender. Of the various facets which shape gender-typed behaviors, models and imitation are extremely influential. Research has shown that children who view violent programming will behave more aggressively with peers. This is because young children will imitate and repeat behaviors they see ontelevision. Another way television helps to shape a child’s gender role is the way they stereotypically define gender. There are three main positive developmental outcomes for young children. These include; autonomy, initiative, and a sense of industriousness.  Children who witness female characters on television programs who are passive, indecisive and subordinate to men and have these behaviors reinforced outside within their environment, come to understand that these are appropriate ways for females to behave. This makes female children less likely to develop autonomy, initiative, and industriousness when they rarely see this modeled around them. Similarly on the other side, male characters are shown in leadership roles and exhibit assertive, decisive behavior and children learn this is the appropriate way for males to act. Furthermore, sexism is another way television establishes gender roles. An example of this is the T.V show, The Muppets. A majority of The Muppets are male or have a male voice. Even Miss Piggy, a female character, is voiced by a male. This is a similar situation for many other children’s shows (Witt, “Television”). Biology and socialization are not the only things in an individual’s life that determines their gender role.
         Humans are a strange species. They have no instincts to speak of. Instead they have tendencies. Tendencies that are environmentally defined. In most societies people wear clothes- that’s a tendency. But they are not born with clothes on and they don’t grow them. They wear them because that is simply what is done in their world. Gender roles are like clothing; there is nothing built into humans that makes them masculine or feminine-it’s all just put on. Humans can't eat, talk, walk, have sex or even love unless they learn to every step of the way. If people didn’t learn about love, they would never fall in love. If they didn’t learn about sexual intercourse they would feel wouldn’t feel desire for another person, and even if they did they wouldn’t know how to express it (Hunt, 25). Gender roles are just in people’s heads, and because of this their psychology determines how they are going to react to these roles. People can either accept these roles, or refuse to follow them. Sometimes people follow these roles so closely it is a danger to themselves. There is evidence showing that traditional sex typing is unhealthy. High femininity in females equals high anxiety, low self-esteem and low self-acceptance. The same is said with high masculinity in males. Sides effects of this high masculinity include: high anxiety, high neuroticism, and low self-acceptance. Greater intellectual development is found in feminine boys and masculine girls, the opposite is said for sex typed people (Leone and O’Neill 32). In the middle of this sex-type spectrum is androgyny. Androgyny isn’t a loss of masculinity or femininity for men or woman, but a gain, for each, of traits and abilities they used to lack. And each is better off for having them. Both men and women can benefit in everyday situations by adopting certain ways of behaving that were not typical to their gender before. To be partly androgynous is to have more inner resources for dealing with life (Hunt 137). Lastly, on the far end of the gender role scale is to completely disregard these roles. This is typically found within individuals who feel they are not of the right gender. There are three dimensions of the brain. These three parts are not only independent of each other but of one’s physical gender as well. A person can have a male body, male brain sex and identity, but have a female brain gender. Which most writers and artists do. Such a person would look, act and feel male but have a female’s sensitivity to emotions, words and sensations. Female brained individuals are naturally socialized, prefer cooperation, group discussions, and compromise but are rigid rule followers. Male brained individuals need to be forced into a social conscience, see everything as winning or losing, are territorial, competitive and very aware of their “pecking order”. They either avoid rules, ignore them, or use them against others (Bushong). Another way psychology is a facet of gender role creation is the problem of learned helplessness.
         Here’s an experiment: imagine taking a mouse and giving it a really fun environment to explore filled with lots of different stimuli. It can do whatever it wants in this environment. Now, picture another mouse. For this one it is not treated so nicely. It is held tight and squeezed several sessions a day, day after day, with no nice environment. Now, if the two mice were to be put in a bathtub of water the mouse that had lived in the nice environment will swim out , but the mouse that was held and squeezed will drown without an intervention (Sax 45). Isn’t this the same thing parents do to their children? The parent will let the boy run around, climb trees and inevitably hurt himself, but confine the girl to not display this kind of behavior. This is what limits women . Women do not gain this sense of risk whereas men do.(Leone and O’Neill 31).  Girls who are allowed to gain this sense are ultimately better off. They take the risks that men do, one such risk is asking for promotions. A normal woman would not ask, even if she was entitled to a promotion, whereas a normal man would, whether or not he was qualified for the promotion (Sax 51).
         Gender roles have changed and keep changing as time goes on. No longer do men only attend school. Women are no longer confined to becoming housewives. Men can cook and women can have careers. Gender roles are like a Polaroid photo. Where the photo is fresh and still blurry. Gender roles are not a strict set of rules, but bendable branching tree, they are open for interpretation. How a society interprets this photo and how a person sees the photo is the establishment of gender roles. When the photo is first taken, it is like biology. Whereas the gender of the person is not always limited to just male or female but a degree of each. Then, while the photo starts to clear up, as socialization occurs, there is an image of what’s to come. This image is cleared up by parental and media influence. Lastly, there is the final image. Where psychology is shown. The person can accept these roles, deny them, or live in the median of androgyny. In Grey’s Anatomy, the young hermaphrodite, has found her niche the background picture of gender roles, so she can live the life she’s longed  in the gender roles she was fit to play.










                                           Works Cited
Barovick, Harriet. "Is It More Than Boys Just Being Boys?" Time 20 July 1998: 46-48. 
Bushong, Carl W. "What is Gender and Who is Transgendered?" Transgender Care. 23          Jan. 2007 <http://www.transgendercare.com/guidance/what_is_gender.htm>. 
Hunt, Morton. What is a Man? What is a Woman? New York: Farrar/Straus/Giroux,          1979. 18+. 
Kasschau, Richard A. Understanding Psychology. Peoria: McGraw-Hill, 1995. 206. 
Leone, Bruno, and M. O’Neill. Male/Female Roles Opposing Viewpoints. St. Paul:          Greenhaven P, 1983. 32. 
Rothwell, Norman V. Understanding Genetics. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1979.          121-130 
Sax, Leonard. Why Gender Matters. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 2005. 19+. 
Witt, Susan D. "The Influence of Television on Gender Role Socialization." 2000. 4 Feb.          2007          <http://sociomedia.ibelgique.com/the%20influence%20of%20television%20on%2          0children.htm>. 
---."Parental Influence on Children's Socialization to Gender Roles." 1997. 1 Feb. 2007          <http://gozips.uakron.edu/~susan8/parinf.htm>. 
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