Gender

The concept of gender originated in the 1970s in order to differentiate the social and cultural roles, expectations along with the biological differences between men and women from social roles performed by men and women. Ann Oakley, (1972) goes onto explain that "gender is not a fixed concept"; instead it is determined by the creation of social norms and stereotypes, through culture, through the use of verbal and nonverbal signifiers, which then go onto identify the proper, and acceptable behaviour of the Ð''gender'. So therefore gender can be understood as a process, or as a social institution and even as a stratification system (Lorber 2000), or the psychological and the socio-cultural dimensions of being a male and a female. It is about behaviors, beliefs, norms, ideas and myths of being a man or woman. Generally gender is referred to as the way people of different cultures assign roles, responsibilities, status and how they relate to each other based on how they perceive and rationalise the biological differences between men and women (Moor, 1988).

In light of what I have learnt about gender roles, this essay will attempt to analyse why men and women are socialised into particular roles. It will also attempt to address some of the consequences caused due to gender socialisation by using examples to illustrate my answer.

Gender roles are largely socially and culturally constructed. The Gender Role theory suggests that gender roles are a socially provided script for individual behaviours first learned and then enacted. Henslin (1999:76) on the other hand states that "an important part of socialisation is the learning of culturally defined gender roles."

Gender socialisation begins from the very moment we are born. It continues on into our childhood, through to adolescence and then adulthood till the day we die. Men and women have been socialised into particular roles because of the vast amounts of contributing factors that direct men and women into these particular roles. Some of the consequences caused by gender socialisations that consequently limit what both males and females can and cannot do.

Socialisation is the process by which social expectations are taught and learned. Although not everyone is perfectly socialised to conform into the acquired gender expectations, socialisation thus, acts as a powerful force in directing the behaviour of men and women in gender.

"Is it a boy or girl?" (Gleitman, Fridlund, Reisberg, 2000), this is the very beginning of gender socialisation and it continues throughout the life cycle, thus the effects of gender socialisation come into effect immediately. We are born gender free yet there are many influences that contribute to the norm of gender socialisation. From the very beginning we are exposed to gender socialisation. Whether it is the way we are dressed, the way we are expected to behave, the toys we are allowed to play with, the games we play and even the types of media we are exposed to.

As identified by Wearing (1996) there are approximately eight main sources of gender socialisation, these include; society, culture, family, education, peers, media, leisure and work place. Through these eight essential foundations of gender socialisation and the effects that they have in individuals, we can see how gender differences are maintained in contemporary Australian society.

From the very moment we are born the human is Ð''gender-ised', either as being a male or a female. Society tends to draw upon stereotypical things such as if the baby is a male then it will be dressed in blue and if the baby is a girl she will be dressed in pink.

Peers also play a vital part in the shaping of gender. They are the ones who can make sure that a person is Ð''following' the track of how a person is supposed to act in terms of their gender. Peers may not realise it but they have a very strong vantage hand in helping their friends conform to the way they or society wants them to be.

The mass media has been particularly influential in promoting the ideal male and female into adopting the certain traits of what it means to be a male or a female. For example all advertisements are either directly or indirectly targeted at a particular gender/audience, whether it is the male or female gender that is being targeted.

Advertising is one of the biggest influencers of gender socialisation. Everywhere we see there is some sort of advertising taking place in which gender socialisation is the central theme. What we see on television or at the movies, what

we read in the newspapers or in magazines, what we see on

billboards or hear on the radio are all very significant on

how we form a opinion on gender identity and or gender socialisation. Take for example in the video "gender and communication" (Archer, D. 2001), the process through which advertising constructs gender by showing men in classic women's poses. For example the frequent use of male body images of males in the Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Nike advertisements show the ideal male body. These particular advertisements lead the female companion to believe that the ideal male is one of those kinds of men. Society has pre-determined the ideal male and that the male counterpart therefore should conform to fit in within that norm. "A great deal advertising these days seems only to based upon buxom and semi-naked young women, whose sexual assets are expected to sell everything from cars to long distance plans. This is seen in the dodo internet advertisement. On the screen appears a blonde headed female dressed in a bikini in the print of the Australian flag trying to sell an internet deal. In these types of cases the women are seen as mere objects whose value and or worth along with status is measured only in the momentary beauty of their bodies.

Another example is the Myer advertisement, where Jenifer Hawkings is dressed up and is walking aimlessly up and down stairs in an unknown environment lost in her own thoughts, smiling to herself. This goes to show that women are innocent and that their beauty is expressed through the way they dress. The underlying message of the advertisement is that, the ideal female icon or beauty is that of Jenifer and that it true beauty can only be expressed if one dresses up like Jenifer, that is to say females should shop at Myer to conform themselves into looking like the ex-miss universe.

Leisure and other activities are also important in the social construction of masculinity and femininity. The affiliation of sport emphasises largely how males use sport as a way of enforcing their gender, so do women but not to such an extent. Women