Sex And Gender From The Annenberg Learner Series

The video Sex and Gender from the Annenberg Learner Series starts off talking about the fascination humans have with gender. Even before birth, we want to know the sex of a baby. We so desperately want to place them in one of two categories: male or female. We need to know so that we can paint their room a certain color or buy them specific gifts according to their gender. As soon as babies are born, the video talks about how we refer to newborns. It claims that we are more likely to call a newborn girl ‘beautiful’, whereas we are more likely to call a newborn boy ‘strong’. This fascination is rather amusing because the only noticeable differences at birth are the reproductive organs. Our minds would like to think differently but the fact remains, there is little difference between newborn girls and boys.

There are many contributing factors to this statement. Girls are not born knowing how to be emotional and dainty. While boys are not born knowing how to be unemotional and tough. We grow up learning how to become those things. A great example from the video was the fact that all babies cry. However, as babies grow, depending on their sex they are taught whether or not it is okay to cry. Girls are taught that it is okay to cry and to be emotional. Whereas, boys are taught to not cry and to suppress their feelings. This is mostly because of the societal views between girls and boys. The social expectations that society has of men and women are as follows. Men are seen to be “independent, aggressive, and dominant” (Annenberg Learner, 2001) and women are seen to be “gentle, emotional, and dependent” (Annenberg Learner, 2001). This is seen on television, commercials, in books, and sometimes even at