Lecture Notes: Gender, Emotions, and Relationships

Gender, Emotions, and Relationships At the end of this lesson, you will be able to do the following:1. Describe gender tendencies in relation to emotions.2. Identify trends related to gender and friendship. 3. Identifying gender trends in dating. 4. Apply the theories to the study of families and intimate relationships. Sex, gender and emotions. Girls cry, but boys don't, right? I mean, girls are naturally more emotional than boys, right?Keep your guard up: Men and women are not victims of biological processes that determine their emotional stability or strength based on their gender. In fact, scientific research shows that culture and environment, not biology, are better indicators of emotional experiences. Western culture often adheres to the idea of a binary opposition between reason and emotion, generally assuming that reason is a male behavior and emotion is a female behavior. This stereotype has become a powerful social force, building and reinforcing the false belief that gender category determines whether a person is more rational or more emotional. Once this pattern is established, we repeat it in most, if not all, social institutions that actually shape the world we live in and appear "normal" (a process called reification). The emotional woman and rational man stereotype was created and perpetuated in response to the Industrial Revolution, which led to workplace segregation. As noted in previous chapters, before the Industrial Revolution, women were relegated to housework and family responsibilities because they had to reproduce so that the culture could reproduce and survive. After the Industrial Revolution, women largely remained in these domestic roles as these roles became the cultural norm. As the year becomes more visible as we live, this change will impact how we meet, fall in love, and form our families. It is worth noting that the norm of the husband as the breadwinner and the housewife taking care of the household took root during this period and arose from capitalism's need for a reliable labor force. Today, the logic of the "emotional woman helps maintain gender segregation in the labor market. It has been argued that women may be too emotional for certain jobs, such as police officers, firefighters, lawmakers and even US presidents. In fact, during the last presidential campaign, some (including women) argued that women shouldn't be presidents because their hormones could start a war in a second." (And then I wonder how many wars were actually started by women and how many by men). So what are the emotional differences between the genders?Well, actually nobody. However, research indicates a difference in emotions between genders (most research focuses on emotional experiences between binary femininity and masculinity as gender categories). In Western culture, women and men differ more in emotional expression than in emotional experience. Sense Emotions are a human ability, not feminine or feminine. Therefore, men and women experience emotions in the same way, but men and women express them differently. For what? As part of the socialization process, we learn to express our feelings appropriately, Women are taught that it is more acceptable (and even desirable) for them to express their emotions than for men. Additionally, women are more encouraged to display prosocial emotions such as empathy, compromise, and caring. Women are also more likely than men to express feelings that indicate helplessness. such as fear or shame. Again, all of these emotions are human possibilities, but women, more than men, have been allowed to demonstrate this human potential socially. However, the latter emotions are considered to contradict Western constructions of masculinity and have therefore been referred to as feminine emotions And are typically greater suitable to women, in fact, these gendered performances and emotional displays are so ingrained that they become actual gender identifiers According to the dominant Western culture, male emotions include strong emotions such as anger, pride and competition, among others. These emotions are more consistent with the Western ideal of masculinity, as they are more likely to be viewed as the type of emotion that tends to reinforce or affirm a person's social or contextual power So while women are more likely to express prosocial and helpless feelings and men are more likely to express strong feelings, men and women do not experience these feelings differently depending on gender, but rather their expression is largely determined by social conditions. Considerations. Rules and structures. Culture is based on collective rather than individualistic belief systems and behavioral norms. Therefore, the stereotype that women are more emotional than men is perpetuated by cultural constructs that are present in all areas of culture. Understanding gender stereotypes related to emotions is particularly important because they influence the way we perceive and value (or devalue) others and ourselves. Sex, gender and friendship. Friendship can take many forms: close, farnilial, acquaintance, or based on tasks or leisure activities, or even on social networks such as Facebook. How many times have you heard someone refer to someone as a "Facebook friend"? Homogeneous friends are generally similar in terms of gender, ethnicity, intelligence, economic status, and sexual orientation. However, homogamous friends are not more "successful" friendships, and there is no scientific data to support the idea that homogamous friends last longer than heterogamous friends. By the age of 3 to 4, children develop and show preferences for their playmates. As children grow and enter primary socialization, their ideas about friendship become more complex and center on themes of satisfying interaction. Most children prefer same-sex friendships because they have similar interests in activities. Boys often do well in larger groups and describe their friendships as loyalty, helpfulness, shared activities and awareness of each other's needs, but without overt affection. Girls tend to emphasize closeness, verbal sharing, acceptance, and sharing emotions. As childhood progresses, gender differences in friendships become more pronounced, girls share information and communicate with their friends, while boys share activities with their friends. In many ways, boys see friendship as something instrumental and girls as something emotional Same-sex friendships between boys are also less intimate than same-sex relationships between girls "Research on high school students has shown that maintaining masculinity in adolescence has characteristic features that influence male friendships. Vicki Helgesen explains three reasons: 1. Children's interactions are often structured and characterized by teasing, teasing and provocation.Boys like to tease each other and resist teasing. 2. Boys' identities are largely determined by heterosexism. They are expected to be heterosexual and male, not female at all.3.Boys are expected to be tough and hide their emotions. Often other boys interrupt other boys' attempts to communicate their feelings in order to preserve their own masculinity. One thing both genders have in common when it comes to friendship trends is the proportion of homosocial relationships. Homosocial relationships are relationships between people of the same sex in a society. This term essentially describes the social bonds between same-sex people in society. Of course, there are many different social bonds that people experience in society, but we continue to find that the longest-lasting friendships are homosocial ones. Think about it: Homosocial relationships can include teammates playing a gender-segregated sport, a bachelor party, or a "boys night out. Think back to your childhood friendships. How many of them were homosocial and not heterosocial We see some of these trends reoccurring in adult friendships as well. Sorne researchers emphasize the idea that men prefer side-by-side friendships while women prefer face-to-face friendships. Female friendships tend to emphasize reciprocity, while male friendships are more associative than reciprocal, However, men often reveal themselves in their friendships and women often engage in certain activities with certain friends. Therefore, friendships between men and women may have more thematic overlap than differences. The level of intimacy in long-term friendships between men is generally similar to that of women. While most research on long-term adult friendships has focused primarily on friendships between women, long-term friendships between minority men have been studied even less. Therefore, an intersectional approach to studying long-term friendships between men is relatively new territory. Recent research by sociologist Tristan Bridges into so-called "man caves" shows that the home not only offers a respite from the "female rule of the rest of the world, but is also explicitly marked as a "male rule place where men spend their time with theirs want to spend with friends. If they understand that it is a place where "men can be men, where they can watch sports, swear, and talk openly, then it is also a place primarily for forming homosocial bonds. Unfortunately, most of the men Bridges Interviewed did not use their caves because they did not have time for work and family obligationst in the last decade, more research has been conducted on cross-gender friendships between adults, as well as more egalitarian relationships and sex. Roles have become more accepted and practiced. For women, the benefits of Being friends with men usually means knowing how men think and having access to their greatest resources and status. For men, the benefits of mixed-gender friendships typically include relief from the competitiveness of male friendships and the benefit of greater emotional and caring support. Mixed-sex friendships are often more emotionally satisfying for men than for women. Sex, Gender and Dating What is dating? There are tens of thousands and thousands of human beings withinside the United States among the a long time of 18 and 24 (18-24 is taken into consideration the nice age but up to now and select a partner). In the USA. Statistical Abstract 9, 5% of Americans The population of S., about 15,675,000 men and 15,037,000 women, belongs to this age group. Today, men are much more likely to have multiple partners than wmen. Yes, there is still this double standard. Nevertheless, for both men and women, homogamy remains the fundamental principle when choosing a romantic partner. When we see people, we filter them based on whether they are part of our eligible group (people we could theoretically meet and have relationships with) Filtering is the manner of figuring out human beings we have interaction with as a part of our organization of human beings to date, or as partners with or outside our group. We use a lot of filters. One of them is physical appearance We might also additionally consist of a few for tattoos and piercings or exclude a few for the precise equal bodily characteristics. Dating involves many gender rituals. Just like our sexual scripts, our plans and guidelines for what we define as our role in sexual expression, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, sexual desires, and the sexual component of our self- definition, we have scripts for dates. These scripts are full of gendered rituals. We are not simply born with fixed sexual or gender scripts, they are learned. We learn about dating and gender trends through the culture and socialization of (think films aimed at young adults). There are as many unique dating scenarios as there are people, but some of them have common themes and can be viewed as a collective pattern or trend on a broader social level. While there are exceptions, who do we generally expect to "make the first move" when meeting straight people? Most would agree that men. When dating, teens often have mutually selfish motivations, which often make their (often romantic) experiences seem real and powerful. Among many adolescents who enter into heterosexual romantic relationships, girls often strive for social status and maturity by developing a complex relationship with a boy and demonstrating their social skills to their friends. Typically, teenagers seek love, closeness, intimacy, and girlfriend, lifelong partner, or even engaged status. This works well for men who often crave physical affection and social status. In general, people who engage in heterosexual dating tend to identify potential partners who exhibit traditional feminine and masculine characteristics as the most attractive potential partners. In other words, we tend to filter our dating prospects based on gender. This refers to the extent to which a person conforms to or violates gender norms. However, and this is where it gets interesting, these people's marital relationships are characterized by lower levels of satisfaction, especially for women. Think about it! While traditional gender roles may be attractive in a dating context, they often do not provide interpersonal satisfaction in marriage More than fifty years ago, Freidan highlighted the fear, loneliness, and dissatisfaction that many suburban women felt as they played out gendered scenarios in the privacy of middle-and upper-class homes. It turns out that this trend is continuing Androgynous people and people in egalitarian relationships and marriages report higher levels of interpersonal satisfaction Speaking of changina and marriages report higher levels of interpersonal satisfaction. Speaking of changing dating patterns, the most popular way for spouses to meet today is online. Between 2005 and 2020, more than a third of married couples in the United States met through an online dating site It used to be said that when looking for a partner you only look for the bare essentials. In fact, in 1932, a third of married couples lived within five blocks of each other before getting married! As far as you need to go, but no further! This partner selection method worked because it allowed you to find a suitable partner as quickly and easily as possible. Given that marriage is a sign of adulthood, there was an urgent need to find a partner quickly (not to mention the social pressure and ever present fear of becoming "single" or "virgin")) Potential spouses were filtered primarily by gender roles; Could this man be the breadwinner for his wife and children? Would this woman be able to have and raise children and maintain a home? These days, explicit gender role filtering has lessened, but still dominates our profile photos. One study even showed that 90% of your success depends on it! The most effective profile photos featured important gender themes; For men, the most effective action was not to look at the camera, not to smile, and to do something interesting instead. For women, a simple flirty and flirty selfie with cleavage visible would suffice. Most of us think of personal or psychological characteristics when explaining our dating and marriage decisions. However, as we have seen in this chapter, it is a simplified and incomplete explanation. Instead, we must turn to sociology to explain the rest. When asked why we choose our partner, we might answer "chemistry" or something similar But as we saw above, the company often takes risks. Isn't it amazing how many of our parents married heterogeneously in terms of most characteristics (eg. race/ethnicity, social class, age, religion, and even level of attractiveness)? Well, it turns out that society has designed our lives in such a way that this outcome is likely for the majority We tend to live in neighborhoods segregated by race and class. When we meet people in the real world, it often happens at work or school. The people we meet in both places probably have similar backgrounds to us in other words, the available Group is divided into classes and backgrounds to us. In other words, the available group is divided into classes and running groups before meeting anyone! By the way, have you ever noticed how much you have in common with people with similar backgrounds? They have similar socialization experiences, similar cultural understanding and voilà, you click! You develop a connection with this person and quickly become a friend or romantic partner. Sounds very similar to the mysterious "chemistry" we talked about before, doesn't it? A lot has been written about this "connection" in recent years, especially among students. Even if its meaning is not always clear (does the kiss count?Any sexual contact?) should occur more often. This is made possible technologically and personally. But the sociologist Lisa Wade didn't just look at dating apps: Today, young people use a variety of apps, such as social media, to make contacts. Additionally, Wade found that relationships that lead to sex are less pleasurable for women than for men, and that this is due to social forces that favor male pleasure over female pleasure Trends in Same-Sex Dating To what extent do marriage and family therapy magazines cover gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues such as dating, marriage, divorce, and adoption? To answer these questions, Wanda Clark and Julianne Serovich conducted one of the largest studies of its kind. Of 13,217 articles analyzed in 17 journals, only 77 (0.006%) focused on gay, lesbian, and/or bisexual issues or used sexual orientation as a variable. Their findings support the claim that LGBTQ+ family issues are largely ignored by marriage and family therapy researchers and most academics. This poses a problem for people searching for information on this topic. However, we know that normative behavior across multiple genders is the same in heterosexual relationships as it is in same-sex relationships. For example, people in same-sex relationships typically identify potential partners who exhibit traditional feminine and masculine characteristics as most attractive as potential partners. One difference in same-sex relationships is that younger people may be more vulnerable to dating violence. Most media and literature attention on LGBTQ+ youth focuses on violence, including hate crimes and bullying (where acknowledged). This makes it difficult to demonstrate the increased risk these young people face from dating violence. One study found: "A total of 5.647 adolescents (51 men, 74% white) from 10 schools took part in an anonymous cross sectional survey, of whom 3,745 reported that they were currently in a romantic relationship or had been in one for a certain period of time last year. The results showed that lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are at greater risk of experiencing all types of dating violence (and almost all types of dating violence) than heterosexual youth." Dating and Relationships with LGBTQI People Community can In the dominant Western culture, they are more difficult causes of social oppression. This may be particularly true considering that lesbians and gay men experience stigmatization at both the individual and marital levels. The effects of oppression and internalized homophobia can put a strain on romantic relationships, something many heterosexual couples don't have to endure. Higher levels of homophobia and internalized discrimination were associated with less positive perceptions of relationship quality among gays and lesbians. Cohabitation Cohabitation is living together without marriage. Although the legality of cohabitation and marriage differ, the gender variables that influence satisfaction do not differ significantly. However, when it comes to marriages, a more egalitarian division of the family seems even more desirable. And there is little difference between gay and heterosexual couples in the extent to which they desire an egalitarian home. However, living together has greater marital significance for lesbian couples than for homosexuals.Some researchers suggest that divorce is more likely among couples who lived together before marriage. However, researchers have found that it's not cohabitation that increases divorce rates. Divorce occurs when people live together before they have the maturity and experience necessary to select suitable partners and maintain a long-term relationship. Early marriage or cohabitation, especially before the age of 23, is a key risk factor for divorce. Sometimes cohabitants marry under social pressure or out of a need to take the next step" (get married), and without this pressure they might otherwise not have married if they were not ready or if their partner did not want them, ready, long-term adaptation. However, marrying out of necessity or pressure is also a major risk factor for divorce. Sociology of the Family The family is a social group in which adults work together for the good of the group, These Include, however aren't constrained to, blood spouse and children, spouse and children through marriage or adoption, and those who stay collectively in an intimate relationship. Family structures that were common a hundred years ago are no longer common today. The orientation family is the family into which a person is born. Most people grow up and start their own families. A reproductive family is a family that a person creates through marriage and/or children. In the United States around 1900, most families had three generations living in a single household (e.g., children, parents, and uncles, aunts, or grandparents), and most were engaged in manual labor to meet domestic needs. Today, many families can be divided into two types: the first is the family unit or family group consisting of the mother and/or father or both and their children; The second most common type of family is the blended family, which is a family formed by the marriage of two adults in which one or both have one or more children from a previous relationship. The remainder are made up of many different family types, including single parents (about 41% of births are to "single parents" [although these births also include cohabiting partners]) Very few families consist of multiple generations other than the parents and their children. An extended family refers to all family relationships that go beyond the nuclear or step family (e.g., cousins, uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents). In 1970, nuclear families dominated, accounting for 81 percent of all households. In 2012, this proportion fell to around 66% The most notable trend is the 40 cline in the number of households made up of married couples with their own children. agricultural holdings in 1970 at 20%