The gender-binary cycle: the perpetual relations between a biological-essentialist view of gender, gender ideology, and gender-labelling and sorting

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1822) ◽  
pp. 20200141
Author(s):  
Tamar Saguy ◽  
Michal Reifen-Tagar ◽  
Daphna Joel

Gender inequality is one of the most pressing issues of our time. A core factor that feeds gender inequality is people's gender ideology—a set of beliefs about the proper order of society in terms of the roles women and men should fill. We argue that gender ideology is shaped, in large parts, by the way people make sense of gender differences. Specifically, people often think of gender differences as expressions of a predetermined biology, and of men and women as different ‘kinds’. We describe work suggesting that thinking of gender differences in this biological-essentialist way perpetuates a non-egalitarian gender ideology. We then review research that refutes the hypothesis that men and women are different ‘kinds’ in terms of brain function, hormone levels and personality characteristics. Next, we describe how the organization of the environment in a gender-binary manner, together with cognitive processes of categorization drive a biological-essentialist view of gender differences. We then describe the self-perpetuating relations, which we term the gender-binary cycle , between a biological-essentialist view of gender differences, a non-egalitarian gender ideology and a binary organization of the environment along gender lines. Finally, we consider means of intervention at different points in this cycle. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The political brain: neurocognitive and computational mechanisms’.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamar Saguy ◽  
Michal Reifen Tagar ◽  
Daphna Joel

Gender inequality is one of the most pressing issues of our time. A core factor that feeds gender inequality is people’s gender ideology - a set of beliefs about the proper order of society in terms of the roles women and men should fill. We argue that gender ideology is shaped, in large parts, by the way people make sense of gender differences. Specifically, people often think of gender differences as expressions of a predetermined biology, and of men and women as different "kinds". We describe work suggesting that thinking of gender differences in this biological-essentialist way perpetuates a non-egalitarian gender ideology. We then review research that refutes the hypothesis that men and women are different "kinds" in terms of brain function, hormone levels, and personality characteristics. Next, we describe how the organization of the environment in a gender-binary manner, together with cognitive processes of categorization drive a biological-essentialist view of gender differences. We then describe the self-perpetuating relations, which we term the gender-binary cycle, between a biological-essentialist view of gender differences, a non-egalitarian gender ideology, and a binary organization of the environment along gender lines. Finally, we consider means of intervention at different points in this cycle.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026858092199469
Author(s):  
Gowoon Jung

Scholarship on marriage migrants has examined the impact of class and gender ideology of receiving countries on their marital satisfaction. However, little is known about the role of transnational background in explaining women’s feelings of gratitude for husbands. Drawing on qualitative in-depth interviews with marriage migrant women residing in the eastern side of Seoul, Korea, this article explores the micro-level cognitive processes in understanding women’s gratitude for their husbands. Categorizing marriage migrants into two groups, ‘gratified’ and ‘ungratified’ wives, the author demonstrates how the gratified wives’ feelings of contentment is mediated by their active comparison of Korean husbands with local men in their homelands, and how these viewpoints conversely affect their aspirations for return. Bringing the sociology of emotion into an explanation of marriage migrants’ marital satisfaction, this study aims to develop a transnational frame of reference as an underlying dynamic for comprehending marriage migrants’ (in)gratitude.


2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Consuelo Paterna ◽  
Carmen Martínez

Men's discourse about the paternal role is changing significantly. Despite the fact that men still perceive themselves as being responsible for the family's economical protection and the children's discipline, they face increasing demands for more involvement in childcare. From this perspective, this work analyzes the traditional view of gender roles and the perception of inequality in a sample of 95 employed fathers, as well as the various levels of satisfaction with other life roles and their relevance as a function of some gender and sociodemographic variables. The results show that men do not maintain a very traditional gender ideology with regard to role distribution and they still consider the paternal role and feelings as the most important thing in their lives. However, the couple relationship gives them the most satisfaction. Level of traditionalism and age were the two significant predicting variables of perception of inequality of men and women.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 80-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosie Campbell ◽  
Silvia Erzeel

This contribution to the Special Issue on Gender and Conservatism uses expert and election surveys to explore the extent to which the feminist or traditional gender ideology of parties of the right relates to their economic and liberal/authoritarian ideology. We show that although parties of the left generally espouse more feminist ideologies than parties of the right, there are a significant number of rightist parties in Western Europe that combine laissez-faire economic values with liberal feminist ideals. That said, there is more homogeneity among parties of the populist radical right than rightist parties more generally. We find that despite some variation in their gender ideology, parties of the populist radical right overwhelmingly—with the exception of one party in the Netherlands—continue to adopt traditional or antifeminist gender ideologies. In terms of attracting women voters, we find that rightist parties who adopt a feminist gender ideology are able to attract more women voters than other parties of the right. We detect several examples of center-right parties that include feminist elements in their gender ideologies and are able to win over larger proportions of women voters than rightist parties that fail to adopt feminist positions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Misbah Zulfa Elizabeth

<p>Visual expression is something un-denayable in social life because the viasuality is the expression of the social life. This article has the purpose to explore how visual expression of women resistance toward gender inequality. Applying qualitative research with the method of documentation study this article in detail analyses the interpretation of religious text as the source of inequality and gender reality in social context. It is revealed that visual expression of the poster suggesting to treat men and women respectfully is the resistance toward religious text interpretation which is inequally treat men and women.</p>


LITERA ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sri Harti Widyastuti

This study aims to describe Javanese women’s personality in the perspective of feminism and gender equality and inequality in Serat Suluk Residriya and Serat Wulang Putri. It employed the qualitative research design and modern philology. The findings are as follows. Javanese women’s personality in Serat Suluk Residriya includes their images. Gender inequality in Serat Suluk Residriya includes subordination, woman stereotype, rights to use but not to possess, women as sexual objects, and polygamy. Gender inequality in Serat Wulang Putri shows that women must have a lot of children. Gender equality in Sera Wulang Putrishows that men and women have equal rights to be ascetic, knowledgeable, skillful, brave and great, and wealthy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1121-1135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas W. Bakken ◽  
Christy A. Visher

Men and women exiting the correctional system represent a population at high risk for mental health problems, and the body of research on the mental health needs of former prisoners is growing. These mental health problems pose challenges for individuals at every stage of the criminal justice process, from arrest to incarceration to reentry and reintegration. This article examines the mental health status and gender differences among a sample of 352 men and women leaving confinement and the role that mental health problems played in shaping their reentry outcomes using data collected between 2002 and 2005. In the year after leaving prison, men and women with mental health problems reported worse health indicators and less satisfactory social factors, such as employment, housing, and family support. The article concludes with a discussion of recommendations for improved policy and practice for assisting former prisoners with mental health problems during reintegration.


Author(s):  
Anna Maria Kuzio

Online dating is becoming an increasingly used method for meeting significant others. As the research of lying behavior has advanced so has the technique of detecting the act of lying, especially in the online environment where deception is more likely to happen. The aim of this chapter is to simplify the perception of lying behavior to the general population and examine gender differences of lying behavior, namely, to verify whether one can observe a statistically significant difference in the speech behavior and exploitation of lying cues among men and women. The study shows correlation between gender and deception in online environment.


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