Environmental Determinants Of Gender In The Media

Introduction The way a person develops gendered self-differentiation in society has always intrigued researchers. An important aspect to take into account is realizing the differences between sex and gender. Sex refers to the biological makeup of an individual, classifying them as male or female due to the genitalia in which they posses. Gender is referred to as the social construct of being male or female, basically the role in which one conforms to. Society today upholds a gender binary, ostracizing any individual who does not identify as either male or female relevant to their genitalia. The development of gender is not yet to be defined because of the many intersections that come into play contradicting existing theories of gender development.

From the food we eat to the clothes we wear, the media takes accountability for a significant amount of responsibility. Mischel (1966) highlighted the importance of environmental determinants of gender development such as, (rewards and models) and suggested that behaviors precede cognitions (e.g., “I have been rewarded for doing boy things, I must be a boy”). Hartley et al. tested this notion of environmental determinants, and studied the actions made by teenagers such as drinking and engaging in sexual activity receiving influence from the media. They found that the common portrayals in the media of sexual relationships tend to influence the construction of the gendered appropriate sexual behavior (Hartley et al., 2014). Evidently, they concluded that in doing gender socially, the media still has an influence on their perception of appropriated gender behavior, which is mediated through peer relationships. Viewing gender as a social construct brought about the concept of “doing gender.” West and Zimmerman believe that “doing gender” is neither a role in society or a trait that is inherited from a person’s biological make up. This idea focuses on how a human being interacts rather than internal factors such as nature or environmental factors solely being nurture. Hartley et al. took that approach and asked whether the media has an effect on the interactions that pertain to one’s

Understanding the psychoanalytic perspective’s belief in significant life stages, and the social learning theory’s belief that individuals learn from observation works to consider all aspects of how gender emerges. After, I decided to view the more contemporary theories of how gender emerges, such as viewing gender as a construct. By other factors into the developmental role, the media became the main focus. I was able to compare and contrast the opposing ideas that media does have an effect on gender development from the belief that media does not have an effect on gender development. The contribution of differentiating perspectives allows for individuals to gain a well-rounded knowledge of theories. In turn, it allowed for me to create my own believe on whether the media has an influence or does