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Gender Socialization Essay

1325 Words6 Pages

2.5 Socialization
Socialization is a term widely used by sociologists, social psychologists and educationalists to refer to the lifelong process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating in his or her own society. Therefore, socialization is the means by which social and cultural continuity is achieved (Clausen, 1968). In other words, socialization is the process of learning about the culture one is born into. Children are born without any culture. With the help of their parents, teachers and others in their social environment they become cultural and socially capable members. The general process of acquiring culture is referred to as socialization. During socialization, children learn the language of the culture they are born into as well as the roles they are going to play in life. For instance, girls learn how to be daughters, sisters, friends, wives, and mothers. In addition, they learn about the occupational roles that their society offers for them.
Gender socialization is a more focused form of the term, which defines how children of different sexes are socialised into their gender roles (Giddens, 1993) and taught what it means to be male or female (Coundry and Coundry, 1976). Gender socialization …show more content…

It is the family‘s responsibility to teach children cultural values and attitudes about themselves and others. Children learn continuously from the environment that adults create (Macionis & Gerber, 2011). Religion, language, legal systems, peer groups and media also have a great effect on the socialization process. Most of these aspects are also taught at schools. Schools are the places where children interact with other members of society which makes education and schooling the second most important agent of gender

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