Whos Smarter? Boys or Girls?!

Who’s Smarter? Boys or Girls?! brain image An age old debate that has gone on for years! But answer is there a reason? Is it genetic? Is it down to how much attention we pay or how hard we try? Some people also believe the disparities occur because they believe that boys and girls all learn in different ways. http://www.preaching.com/resources/articles/11677889 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/219053/sfr18-2011v5.xls this link is to a series of tables showing Key Stage 2 results between 2007-2011 that show consistently that girls have a higher achievement rate than boys. There is a lot more Gender disparity in other regions around world, a lot of the results are frightening! http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/gender_data2015/  this link shows the differences in 3 education sectors across 4 different regions around the world. Lots of reports have been written to say that boys are falling behind girls some say this is happening as young as the age of 5! Can this be true? http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/211069/Boys-are-falling-behind-girls-at-school-by-the-age-of-seven A lot of the reports found that money plays a big part in education and the disparities as well and that students from poorer families do not fare as well as the students from richer families.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11705302/Boys-left-behind-girls-at-school-from-just-age-five.html As you can see from the reports in the links girls are consistently ahead of boys when it comes to achievement but why is this? We have already looked at reports as to the differences and that some of these suggest that money plays a part in the differences seen while others suggest that it’s the fact that boys and girls learn differently. A BBC  report http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/learning_development_girls_boys/ found that girls and boys brains are not that different in the way they learn but that boys and girls develop different characteristics and these are what help them learn different skills quicker and can cause the disparities. This report also says that when it gets to students taking their GCSE’s the coursework that is involved helps create the disparity of girls getting higher grades as it claims that they prefer the continuous marking scheme that comes with completing coursework.

Masculinity

When you think of Men and Masculinity what springs to mind? Is it a well groomed smart dressed business man? Or maybe a rugged bearded builder sat drinking tea wolf whistling women as they walk by? Masculinity and the way people think about it and the way men act has changed drastically over the years from men being the ones who go out and earn the family wage and their wives staying at home to look after the children to now women are the ones going out working and men are staying at home to raise the family. There are many different articles and papers that have been written about the changing roles in the UK http://www.open.edu/openlearn/body-mind/proper-men-proper-women-gender-roles-contemporary-uk-society# this link is just to one of them.

This Picture shows a series of words that are commonly associated with masculinity and how men think they should be to be classed as a man.  ‘Strong, Confident & Tough are just a few words linked with being a man.

http://feministing.com/2015/03/19/remembering-why-redefining-masculinity-is-important/

Masculinity has evolved and changed over the years. Men have gone from being the main bread winners and the ones out working to provide for their families to some men now taking on the role of home maker and stay at home parent.

                                                                                                                                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vb4yd3Ljxg

Many men are now starting question the ideals of masculinity and what it means. It is an ever changing and evolving concept that has gone from men drinking beer and doing diy to working out 5 times a week and taking a massive pride in their appearance.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/01/how-to-be-a-man-in-2015

Men are now even taking such pride in their appearances that they are wearing Guyliner, having manicures and carrying Man bags. It has been reported that women find metrosexual men more attractive.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/sex-and-relationships/it-turns-out-women-find-metrosexual-guys-most-desirable/story-iAFMTipa0ssGhVtnReexQP.html

Mr & Mrs - Gender inequality

Mr & Mrs - Gender inequality today!

Gender inequality can stem from a range of places. The male and female genitals and the difference between them being just a biological one! Language is another way in which gender inequality can be found today. One of the biggest taboo words in the English language is the C-word, this word is a description for the vagina and also an emasculating term for a male. It can also be found in other languages to as they have masculine and feminine nouns.

Feminists have developed lots of different theories about gender inequality. Radical feminists such as Valerie Bryson (1999) as cited in Haramlambos and Holborn (2008) see’s women as an oppressed group and that men are the oppressors. Some Radical feminists see the family as the biggest oppressor to women in a modern society. Shulamith Firestone (1972) is another radical feminist, she believes that oppression in women has originated from their biology because they have given birth. Firestone having this belief however is unusual as radical feminists usually believe that it is the male biology that is the problem. (Haramlambos & Holborn, 2008, P100-101,104-105)

Gender inequality is instilled in children from birth. With the notion that Little Girls like pink and Little Boys want Blue. It is also instilled by the family as men are usually seen as the husband and main breadwinner within and the family and women as the mothers and homemakers. Children that grow up in this type of environment tend to accept this as the norm and will follow this structure and replicate it within their own family model as they grow older. Some children will deviate from this model and will rebel against the norm and want to play with toys and dress in clothes that are meant to be for the opposite sex. Primary socialisation occurs at home and where gender stereotypes and inequalities can first happen. As we grow and start to attend school and form a social circle we then become secondary socialised. It is within this group we develop our own personalities but if we do not conform to the norms we risk becoming ostracised and outcast from the group therefore instilling even more the gender inequalities that could already have appeared.

https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/gender-stratification-and-inequality-11/gender-and-socialization-86/childhood-socialization-500-2094/

                                      Nature v Nurture

(http://www.trishvankuykcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IMG_3938a_600.jpg)      (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0fqfhK_srZc/hqdefault.jpg)

Nature Vs Nurture

What is it that makes us behave the way we do? Is it imprinted in a persons brain how to behave or is it all to do with the environment in which a person is surrounded? Is it likely that a little girl who is only surrounded by an environment of other women playing homemaker will go on to follow this pattern or will there be something different imprinted in her brain to make her behave differently to the environment she is a part of? Will she follow a biological or social influence to interpret her gender?

Biological sociologists believe that the way we behave as males and females is all down to our brains. For a long time it was believed that male and female brains were extremely different. A new study by scientists at the University of Tel Aviv have analysed over 1400 brain scans to try and discover if in fact Male and Female brains are completely different. The results found that although there are some features that are more predominant in one sex than the other, each person’s brain is a unique jigsaw of the features, there are also some features that are common in both sets of brains. The scientist leading the study Daphna Joel says that “… we show that there are multiple ways to be male and female, there is not one way…” According to Joel the study she has undertaken should make people and society to think far beyond a person’s sex. (www.theguardian.com) Udry in his paper Sociology and Biology: What Biology Do Sociologists Need to Know? (1995) suggests that although Durkheim says behaviour evolves not all sociologists will accept that, he says that this needs to be accepted. Udry also suggests that two decades of studies have shown that very little of sibling similarity and virtually no parent-child similarity is down to the environment and is almost all down to genetics, he goes on to say that there is no link between genetics and behaviour and that it is down to genetic evolution. In his conclusion Udry says that although biology doesn’t always play a part in gender development, it will allow sociologist s to progress further with their theories and that will allow sociologists to come to terms with new ideas, new models and new interpretations of old data. (Udry, 1995 P1267-1278)

Social Constructionists believe that it is the surrounding environment what teaches the difference in male and female roles in society. They believe that we learn through a repetition of acts so in essence people learn from watching their parents. (Butler, 1998) Social constructionists also believe that it is possible to raise a genderless child. This is being done by a Canadian Family. The family have chosen to raise their child as neither a girl or boy and will let them choose a sex when they grow up. The family have revealed the baby’s actual gender to a select few family members and the Drs who delivered the baby. The Family sent out an email after the baby was born to say that they had chosen not to reveal the baby’s sex as a tribute to choice. The family have chosen to do this so as to free their children from the constraints they feel are placed on males and females to undertake certain roles and to allow them to make their own choices about how to dress and how they wish to act and look. (Yahoo Lifestyle, 2011)

These two different approaches look at gender roles in very different ways. Biologists will say it’s all to do with the brain why males and females behave in the way they do and that they are programmed to behave that way, where as social constructionists say that males and females behave in certain ways by watching what happens around them and copying the behaviour of say parents or guardians. So a little boy who sees his dad going out to work every day whilst his mum stays at home to cook clean and raise the children will emulate his father’s behaviour if he follows the social constructionists theory, Biologists would say he is emulating his father’s behaviour because his brain is wired to do that, just as they would say females that follow in their mothers footsteps are doing so because that is how a female brain is wired to think and that they will do this because of genetics. Social constructionists would accept it as a norm that a father would stay at home to raise the children whilst the mother went to work to financially support them but a biologist would say that this is not the norm as men are not genetically wired to raised children.

So although the two approaches are very different they both suggests that to form a functioning society all males and females must have some sort of role to play and these gender categories depend on peoples day to day behaviour to enable them to be reinforced. The structurally important categories of male and female could not exist as they do if people do not continue to behave in ‘male’ and ‘female’ ways. People can follow these behaviours, that follow and replicate the current social structure but some people may choose to flip this social structure round and go against the norm and swap gender roles within their social circle.

Glossary of Sociological Terms

Sex - 

Females or males considered as a group. One's identity as either female or male. The sum of the characteristics that distinguish organisms on the basis of their reproductive   function, either of the two categories, male or female, into which organisms are placed on this basis (Biology) (www.thefreedictionary.com).
Two divisions, male and female, into which most organisms are grouped. Sex is  usually determined by anatomy, the makeup of the chromosomes, and the type and amountof hormones produced (www.oxforddictionaries.com).

Gender - 

The state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones). The members of one or other sex. ​The state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones). The members of one or other sex (www.thefreedictionary.com).  The physical and/or social condition of being male or female. All males, or all females, considered as one group. The grammatical arrangement of nouns, pronouns and adjectives into masculine, feminine, and neuter types in some languages (www.oxforddictionaries.com).

Gender Roles -

The overt expression of attitudes that indicate to others the degree of your maleness or    femaleness; "your gender role is the public expression of your gender identity". (www.thefreedictionary.com).

A gender role is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviours are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex. The role or behaviour learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms (www.oxforddictionaries.com).

Masculinity - 

Relating to men or boys; male. (www.thefreedictionary.com). Characterized by or possessing qualities traditionally attributed to men, such as aggressiveness.Grammar Relating or belonging to the gender of words or forms that refer chiefly to males or to things grammatically classified as male. (www.oxforddictionaries.com).

Femininity - 

The trait of behaving in ways considered typical for women. Attributes, behaviours & roles typically associated with women & girls. Traits that are traditionally associated with femininity are gentleness,empathy & sensitivity. Although these traits aren't just found in women. Effeminate is a term that can be seen as derogatory term because some people see females as a lesser sex and is used towards people who are not of the female sex but show traits that are typically female (www.oxforddictionaries.com). There are also many occupational sterotypes linked with femininity such as midwife, teacher, receptionist, cook, housekeeper, nurse. (www.thefreedictionary.com)

Gender Identity - 

Your identity as it is experienced with regard to your individuality as male or female;  awareness normally begins in infancy and is reinforced during adolescence (www.thefreedictionary.com). . A person’s perception of having a particular gender, which may or may not correspond with their birth sex (www.oxforddictionaries.com). Internal sense of self as male, female, both or neither (gender identity), (https://www.genderspectrum.org/quick-links/understanding-gender/).

Sexuality - 

The quality of being sexual, especially sexual orientation and behaviour (www.thefreedictionary.com). Capacity for sexual feelings, a person’s sexual orientation or preference (www.oxforddictionaries.com). Sexuality is a massively diverse, and deeply personal thing. Understanding our  own sexuality is about the sexual feelings and attractions we feel towards other people, not just about who we have sex with. There are different types of sexuality, and it can take a huge amount of time to figure out what fits right with you. There are a few common labels people use to identify their sexuality. Your sexuality is not just defined by who you have sex with – it’s about how you feel and how you choose to identity yourself. (http://au.reachout.com/what-is-sexuality). 

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