Учебное пособие для студентов старших курсов гуманитарных специальностей, изучающих английский язык Москва

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Название	Учебное пособие для студентов старших курсов гуманитарных специальностей, изучающих английский язык Москва
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Тип	Учебное пособие

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О.Б. МАКСИМОВА

ГЕНДЕРНАЯ СОЦИОЛОГИЯ

Учебное пособие для студентов старших курсов гуманитарных специальностей, изучающих английский язык

Москва

Издательство Российского университета дружбы народов

2005

Утверждено

РИС Ученого совета

Российского университета дружбы народов

Рецензент –

Максимова О.Б.

Гендерная социология. Учебное пособие по английскому языку для студентов старших курсов.–М.: Изд-во РУДН, 2005. – 86 с.

Учебное пособие состоит из 8 разделов, каждый из которых включает в себя оригинальный текст, сопровождающийся упражнениями. Авторами текстов научных статей, взятых из различных публикаций, являются ведущие американские и британские исследователи, специализирующиеся на проблемах гендерной социологии. Книга рассчитана на аудиторные занятия и самостоятельную работу студентов.

Для студентов старших курсов гуманитарных специальностей, изучающих английский язык.

UNIT 1

THE BASES OF GENDER ROLES

Why do sexual differences in behavior and sexual inequality exist? The traditional explanation is biological: Anatomy is said to be destiny. Men, by nature, are supposed to be providers and protectors, and women are said to be genetically programmed for motherhood and domestic work. But if this were the case, then men and women would behave in the same ways in all societies because of innate biological forces they cannot control. But this is not so. Women in other cultures have performed roles traditionally thought in our culture to be suitable for men only. This means that gender roles – the patterns of attitudes and behaviors thought to be appropriate for males and females within a society – are learned through the process of socialization. It is from this process that we get our gender identity – an awareness of being masculine or feminine.

The debate over explanations for sex differences persists, and the nature (biology) versus nurture (socialization) distinction remains at the heart of the controversy. A notable difference in this debate today, however, is that research is beginning to replace bias and opinion. Explanations for definitions of masculinity and femininity are now based on research rather than on tradition and “common sense.” This research suggests that sex differences in behavior are a blend of biological, cultural, and social factors.

In what ways are men and women biologically different? The obvious biological differences between the sexes include distinctive muscle and bone structure and fatty tissue composition. The differences in reproductive organs, however, are much more important, because they result in certain facts of life. The biological division of labor in reproduction is the foundation for the elaboration of gender roles. In addition, the genetic composition of the body cells of men and women is different. All human beings have twenty-three pairs of chromosomes (the components of cells that determine heredity), but one of those pairs is different in men and women. Males have an X and a Y chromosome in the pair that determines sex, and females have two X chromosomes. At about the eighth week of prenatal development, the information coded into the chromosomes determines the development of the reproductive glands of the embryo. These glands discharge the hormones that are characteristic of either males (testosterone and androgens) or females (estrogen and progesterone). These hormone combinations influence development throughout life.

Do biological differences produce different behavior? Many assume that biological differences between the sexes produce behavioral differences. Judith Bardwick has reported that even during the first few years of life males are more aggressive than females. Aside from aggression, there are few biological sex differences that can be attributed to genetic and hormonal differences. Girls seem to have greater verbal ability than boys, and boys excel in visual-spatial ability and mathematical ability. But of these differences, only visual-spatial ability has been clearly linked to biological differences between the sexes. Moreover, most other behavioral sex differences popularly attributed to biological factors – that girls are more social, that boys have more achievement motivation, that boys are more analytic, that girls are more timid, that boys are more competitive, that girls are more maternal – have not consistently been supported by research.

In general, then, most researchers attempting to establish innate differences between the sexes have not been able to do so consistently. One researcher’s findings tend to contradict another’s. Furthermore, many studies seek to find differences but ignore the similarities between males and females. To compound the problem researchers often fail to document the variation in characteristics that exist among males and females. Some men tend to be submissive, weak, and uncompetitive, and some women are aggressive, strong, and competitive.

If few sexual differences in behavior are genetically based, then it follows that gender roles cannot totally be explained biologically. There is, in fact, research demonstrating cultural and social influences on the development of gender roles.