Sociology - Gender Identity

Gender identity…read more

Verbal abuse
· E.g Boys use name-calling to put girls down if they dress or behave in a certain
way. Sue Lees found that boys called girls "slags" if they didn't appear to be
sexually available but would call them "drags" if they didn't. Paetcher sees name-
calling as helping to shape gender identity and maintain male power; these
including negative labels like gay, queer or lezzie. Andrew Parker found boys
were likely to be labelled as "gay" if they were seen as being friendly with girls
and female teachers.…read more

Male peer groups
· Male peer groups are often likely to use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity.
Studies carried out by Epstein & Willis show that boys in anti-school subcultures (go against the main
culture (norms & values) of the school) often accuse boys who want to do well of being day or
effeminate (Having qualities or characteristics more often associated with women than men).Mac an
Ghaill found that the working class "macho lads" were dismissive of other working class boys who
worked hard and tried to aspire to do well to achieve the middle-class careers and referred to them as
"dickhead achievers." In comparison to that the middle class "real Englishment" were seen as
succeeding without really trying (though in some cases actually working "on the quiet." Redman &
Mac an Ghaill found that boys "masculinity identity" changes when they begin sixth form because it
represents a shift away from the working-class definition based on toughness to a middle-class based
on intellectual ability.…read more

Teachers & discipline
· Chris Haywood & Mac an Ghaill found that male teachers told boys off for "behaving like girls" and
would tease them if girls did better in tests than they did. Teachers would ignore boys verbal abuse
towards girls and would blame girls for attracting it. Sue Askew & Carol Ross found that male
teachers often had a protective attitude towards female colleagues and would come into their classes
to "rescue" them if the pupils were being disruptive. This simply reinforces that women can't cope
alone.…read more

The male gaze
· Mac an Ghaill identifies the male gaze as: the way male pupils and teachers look girls up
and down, seeing them as sexual objects and making judgments about their appearances.
She sees it as one of the ways boys prove their masculinity to their friends and is often
combined with constant telling and retelling of stories about sexual conquest. Boys who
don't display their heterosexuality in this way run the risk of being labelled.…read more

Double standards
· This exists when we apply one set of moral standards to one group but a different set to
another group. Based within the case of gender identity, Sue Lees that identifies a double
standard of sexual morality in which boys boast about their sexual exploits, but call a girl a
"slag" if she doesn't have a steady boyfriend or if she talks in a specific way. Feminists see
double standards as an example of a patriarchal ideology (idea that is ruled by men) that
justifies male power but devalues women and so along with verbal abuse, the male gaze and
school discipline, double standards can be seen as a form of social control that reinforces
gender inequality by keeping females subordinate to males.…read more