The study focuses mainly on how people think about gender stereotypes and how they lead to strong gender norms. It module covers gender and associated concepts such as sex, gender roles, gender identification, sexual preference, and sexism. The discussion also includes an evaluation of the differences between males and females and how these fundamental differences between men and women compare to societal traditional gender roles. There are considerably fewer true differences between men and women than one might think, particularly when compared to the enormous amount of sexist stereotypes. Finally, the session discusses some drawbacks of relying on and expecting differences between men and women, such as gender discrimination, gender discrimination, and ambivalent sexism. The paper explains how you can use psychology to understand sex and gender, how social norms within a culture can create stigmas towards sex and gender and religion’s role on gender.
Psychology and Gender
It’s essential to determine gender before we go into detail about that. The terms gender and sex are often used interchangeably, regardless of their unique connotations. In this context, sex refers to a biological male or female category determined by physiological differences in genetic makeup and reproductive anatomy and function. Gender, on the other hand, refers to masculine and femininity’s cultural, sociological, and psychological implications. “Man” and “female” are distinct sex classifications (a baby is considered as either a female or a male), but “feminine” and “masculinity” are gender determining trends (everybody has particular degree traits and qualities on masculine and feminine). There seem to be several correlated concepts that are commonly misunderstood in sex and gender terms. Gender roles refer to the behaviors, beliefs, and personal characteristics classified as feminine or masculine in a given community. Gender stereotypes, or people’s perception of men and women’s content, interests, and behaviors, commonly describe gender roles. Gender identification refers to a psychological notion of a person being male or female. Sexual orientation is the direction of a people’s feelings and sexual attraction toward people of the same sex, the opposite sex, or even both sexes. While we would not go into depth about any of these subcategories it is important to remember that sex, gender, gender identification, and sexual preference are not entirely interchangeable (Gaspodini & Falcke, 2018 pg. 28). An individual can be born female yet identify as male and be attracted to women, or have any mixture of identities and orientations.
Social norms and culture
A shift in the organizational system of power relations is forced to alter gender norms. People conform to the culture of their society or the standards of a certain group’s gender, which are often confusing. People would follow their reference group’s social standards, which are generally well defined. The duties of mothers, wives, and caretakers are typically assigned to women and girls. Gender expectations assign girls to the caregiver’s responsibility, resulting in gender gaps in family duties. There is a poor education due to the shortage of outside choices. Gender norms are extensively studied based on how they affect an individual’s private attitudes. Gender norms are created and reinforced by human situations, and those who benefit from people’s conformity reinforce them. Social standards are self-maintaining equilibriums that are often not beneficial to all. Culture strongly influences men’s and women’s perceptions of themselves in their gender norms. Women are frequently portrayed as promiscuous or fragile in advertising, films, and television programs, providing a message which may influence how women perceive their bodies and capabilities. Expectations about the attributes and actions suitable for women and men and their interactions — in other words, gender — are influenced by culture. Sexual identity (like ethnicity or race) is an organizing factor for societies because of the sociocultural meanings attributed to being male or female. People in a constantly changing world have difficulty communicating since we are of different ethnic groups, races, religions, or citizenship. Culture, gender, religion, and socioeconomic class always influence communication. “Cross-cultural discourse” has been the word used to describe this.
Religion’s role in sex and gender
Religion could be used for several reasons. It gives purpose and meaning to people’s daily lives, enhances social unity and stability, functions as a social engineering agent, improves psychological and physical well-being, and may inspire men to work for community development. Gender frequently shapes religious connotations of location and materiality. According to researchers who have examined women’s involvement in successfully delivering religious organizations, most women join authoritarian faiths to accomplish their goals. On either hand, the importance of religion in everyday life has been used to increase females’ attitudes towards gender equality and reduce the adverse effects of religious service participation. Gender and education substantially mitigate the impact of certain religious features; for instance, with enhanced service attendance, females (receiving a higher) backing for gender parity decreases more sharply than men. Essentially, this research reveals that religious indoctrination is multidimensional and gendered and that some men and women are prone to and able to reject patriarchal religious views. Researchers argue that religious indoctrination is gendered, with women being so much more likely than men to decide gender parity and religion. Social cognition transformational leadership can help other people finally be free from hierarchical religious interpretations. As a result, they examine how religious new interpretations are affected by gender inequalities. It suggests that the relationship between people’s religion and their advocacy for gender equality differs depending on their gender and academic attainment, which they study analytically (Szymanski & Carretta, 2020 pg. 1066).
Concept of social stigmas
Social stigma arises when a perceived personality, the physiological, or psychological condition affects other men’s perception of them or their conduct towards them. People who have epilepsy may be skeptical of them. Stigma and discrimination might exacerbate symptoms and make it even more difficult to get treatment (Brouwers, 2020 pg. 5). Self-stigma harms recovery among individuals who have now been diagnosed with severe mental diseases, as per a recent analysis of relevant literature. Suppose anyone regards you negatively due to a major particular trait or attribute (mental illness, skin color, disability, or cultural background). Once a person treats others unfairly due to a mental condition, this is called discrimination (Pearson & Rose, 2021 pg. 57). Some could stigmatize someone due to various illnesses and not who they are as a person. Instead of a person who has psychosis,’ it is referred to as ‘psychotic. Someone suffering from mental health problems may be affected by stigma and discrimination from society, increasing their difficulties and making a recovery more difficult. It may cause an individual to be reluctant to seek help out of fear of being stigmatized.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a person can use psychology to understand sex and gender. Culture strongly influences men’s and women’s perceptions of themselves in their gender norms. The social norms in any cultural practice can create stigmas of sex and gender. Women are frequently portrayed as promiscuous or fragile in advertising, films, and television programs, providing a message which may influence how women perceive their bodies and capabilities. Religion also plays a crucial role in social sex and gender, and its impact is much more crucial in enhancing gender equality. According to researchers who have examined women’s involvement in successfully delivering religious organizations, most women join authoritarian faiths to accomplish their goals. On either hand, the importance of religion in everyday life has been used to increase females’ attitudes towards gender equality and reduce the adverse effects of religious service participation.
References
Brouwers, E. P. (2020). Social stigma is an underestimated contributing factor to unemployment in people with mental illness or mental health issues: position paper and future directions. BMC psychology, 8(1), 1-7.
Gaspodini, I. B., & Falcke, D. (2018). Sexual and gender diversity in clinical practice in psychology. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto), 28.
Pearson, A., & Rose, K. (2021). A conceptual analysis of autistic masking: Understanding the narrative of stigma and the illusion of choice. Autism in Adulthood, 3(1), 52-60.
Szymanski, D. M., & Carretta, R. F. (2020). Religious-based sexual stigma and psychological health: Roles of internalization, religious struggle, and religiosity. Journal of Homosexuality, 67(8), 1062-1080.
write