Social Learning and Gender Essay

Submitted By asayers0817
Words: 885
Pages: 4

1.Was there a gender division in the answers for your family growing up? If so, what was it? Why? How do you think that this gender division influenced your understanding of gender roles in the family? How do you think the gender divisions of parental behavior in general affect everyone’s understanding of gender roles in the family? How do the behaviors you observed illustrate or contradict the theories of gender in Chapter 5 (psychodynamic, social learning, cognitive)?
There was a gender division in my family as I was growing up, just as I assume there was with any other family in my area. The main divisions there were was, the different chores my dad or my mom would do. For example if the car would break down my dad would fix it not my mom. My thinking behind my dad doing this rather than my mom, was she was not strong enough. My dad is stronger than my mom and has worked on cars since he was a child, whereas my mom did not. I think that it is appropriate for men to work on cars rather than women mainly because men tend to be stronger than women in most cases. Making all the bolts tight and being able to get things undone and carrying heavy things, it makes more sense for a man to do it. Same goes for the yard work that requires the use of power tools, I think that they are strenuous on one’s body. So having a man who again tends to have more endurance is more capable of these things. I think that a lot of the reason women do more of the house work because, in a relationship it is common for partners to help each other out. While the man is doing the harder work it only makes sense for the women to help and do the housework, cook etc. which are less physically demanding.
In the text it states that; “social learning theory emphasizes the influence of the social environment, including the media. Biological sex differences furnish the basis for gender identity, but social leaning theorists content that a great many other characteristics and behaviors that have no relation to sex have been tied to gender.”(Brannon, P.113) I think that this statement is a good example as to why the same norms and traditions continue thought history in the roles of gender. I can say as a girl I watched what I mom would do, I’d want to be like her and do what she did. I think I did this because I knew she was a girl and I was a girl so these things would eventually be expected of me. Also while growing up as a little girl, I don’t think it is necessarily a good idea to have me working with the power tools. So it only made sense for me to help out around the house doing easier and safer things such as dusting, laundry and doing dishes. So after doing this as a child it became more routine for me to do these types of things. So I think some of the things your parents have you do and not do as a child stick with you more, so it does continue the idea of gender roles.

2.Was/is there a gender division in the answers for your current family or most recent relationship? If so, what is it? Why? How do you think that this gender division