Just like race, people are usually unfamiliar with the notion that gender is socially constructed too. In other words, each culture assigns characteristics and abilities to men and women that are often perceived to be purely derived from their biology. When we grow up with these messages, we are often shaped by these invisible forces to fit into our appropriate “gender box”. Obviously, these descriptors change over time as we see men and women achieve many things today that were once thought to be opposed to their nature. Let’s look at gender norms ask, have gender expectations changed over time?
The purpose of this assignment is to investigate the social construction of gender and evaluate whether gender norms have changed over time.
Make sure you review Chapters 12 as well as the Power Point notes and videos prior to completing this essay.
Step 1: Collect data by conducting an interview
After reading about the difference between sex and gender in Chapter 12, make arrangements with someone that you know who is at least 30 years older than you and interview them regarding their childhood recollections of gender expectations. Please note that in the era of Covid, you do not need to interview someone in person for this assignment. You can interview them over the phone or virtually through Zoom, Facetime, etc… Likewise, your interviewee does not need to be a stranger. You can interview someone that you live with, are related to, work with, etc…
Ask them to come up with lists of gender expectations from their youth – one list of characteristics for boys/men and one list of characteristics for girls/women. These lists do not need to represent how your informant behaved – rather, they are the expectations of what men and women (boys and girls) were SUPPOSED be like in the context of our culture at that time. For example: Women stayed at home with the kids. Men were breadwinners. Women were emotional. Men were physically strong. Then, ask them how obligated they felt to uphold these gender norms and if they recall a time when they went against the gender expectations. What were the sanctions, if any, for deviating from those norms? Lastly, ask them what they view as the biggest change with gender expectations from when they were growing up compared to now
Step 2: Write the essay
While incorporating our course concepts (see note* below for more details), write a one-page essay that addresses the following objectives:
1. First, describe the age and gender of your informant as well as the time period that they grew up in.
2. Describe your informant’s list of gender expectations – for their own gender and for others.
3. Was your informant personally compelled to uphold these gender norms? How strong did those expectations feel? Did they ever break the gender norms? Describe what the sanctions would be for non-conformity.
4. Now, compare your informant’s experience with gender expectations to your own upbringing (your socialization). How prevalent are these 30+ year expectations to you? Do you find similarities? Differences? Have you felt, at any point, that these expectations have applied to you? Have you ever felt compelled to uphold them?
5. Conclude by talking about what has/hasn’t changed with regard to gender expectations.
Note: Feel free to go “beyond the binary” as you explore gender then and now.
*Important Note About Incorporating Course Concepts: Because I use these assignments to evaluate your learning of our course materials, it is imperative that you include at least 5 terms or concepts from the chapters associated with this assignment. You can incorporate them anywhere within the paper. Define, explain, apply these terms in a way that demonstrates your understanding of the chapter material. Be sure to include in-text citations each time that you refer to the textbook.
Sources: Our textbook (Ch 12) and your informant
