Causes of Gender Inequality: Differential Socialization

Gender roles are explained by differential socialization between men and women.

Socialization based on sex causes gender inequality.. This socialization occurs even before birth: from the moment during pregnancy when it is identified whether the baby will be a boy or a girl, a long process of socialization begins, the result of which is the differentiation of people as men or women.

From the gender perspective, it is possible to understand that the application of the sex-gender system in the socialization process builds a set of beliefs at the social level in which each gender is assigned certain behaviors.

The difference between sex and gender

The roles of each gender are given different importance according to a hierarchy of values, positioning women in inferiority. This is how stereotypes arise that contribute to the maintenance of inequalities between men and women.

The concept of "sex" refers exclusively to the physical characteristics that biologically differentiate people as men and women. characteristics that biologically differentiate people as men and women. However, the concept of "gender" is a social construct based on the assignment of different roles according to sex.

This means that gender is used to describe those characteristics that are socially constructed in a differential way for women and men. The social differences we find in today's society between men and women are the result of learning the sex-gender system.

The sex-gender system: a theory of inequality

The sex-gender system is a theoretical model that explains how gender socialization occurs. This theory identifies the natural with the socially constructed and establishes that sex itself is not the cause of inequality between women and men, but their socially constructed gender position. between women and men, but rather their socially constructed gender position.

This system produces a set of learned and internalized social norms that structure the behaviors of both sexes and condition the perception and interpretation of social reality. As a result, they generate differential socialization.

Biological inequalities translate into social, political and economic inequalities between women and men.Biological inequalities translate into social, political and economic inequalities between women and men that generate sexism, with women being the most disadvantaged in this process.

From birth, people learn the behaviors, attitudes, roles and activities that correspond to the characteristics determined by belonging to one or the other sex, thus developing gender identity and gender roles.

Gender roles and the construction of identity

Gender identity is the ascription to one or the other sex, that is, the identification as male or female. This gender identification triggers the development of a specific differentiation process in which gender roles are learned.

Gender roles involve assuming as one's own the social representations of masculinity and femininity to about masculinity and femininity through the various agents of socialization: the family, the educational system, the media, culture, the community, institutions, etc.

This socialization is maintained throughout life. Through interactions with other people, the values, attitudes, expectations and behaviors of each society are learned and internalized in order to function in that society.

Differential socialization between women and men

Walker and Barton's theory of differential socialization. (1983) explains how people, in their process of initiation into social and cultural life and through the influence of socializing agents, acquire differential gender identities that entail attitudes, behaviors, moral codes and stereotyped norms of conduct assigned to each gender.

The key to the process of differential socialization is the congruence between the messages congruence between the messages emitted by all socialization agents.. This facilitates the assumption and internalization by each individual to the point of considering that it is something of his or her own, of his or her personality, causing him or her to think and behave accordingly. Thus, boys and girls will assume from childhood the traditional masculine and feminine roles as their own.

Masculine roles: work and ambition

The socialization of children in the traditional male role focuses on producing and progressing in the public sphere. They are expected to be successful in this area because they are prepared and educated so that their self-esteem and gratification come from the public sphere.

Men are repressed in the affective sphere by promoting freedoms, talents and diverse ambitions that facilitate self-promotion. They receive enough encouragement and little protection, which orients them towards action, the exterior, the macro-social and independence. Men are inculcated with the value of work as a priority and defining obligation of their condition.

Female roles: family and home

In the case of girls, the process of socialization in the traditional female role focuses on their preparation for reproduction and their permanence in the private sphere. They are expected to derive their success from this sphere, which will be their source of gratification and self-esteem.

As opposed to men, their freedoms, talents and ambitions are repressed. that facilitate self-promotion, fostering the affective sphere. They receive little encouragement and a great deal of protection, which orients them towards intimacy, the interior, the micro-social, dependence and the value of work is not instilled in them as a priority or defining obligation of their condition.

All of these values and norms are referred to as gender mandatesthat is, those implicit social norms that do not reflect what men and women are but how they should or ought to be and what is expected of each of them.

Socializing agents: how gender roles are reinforced

The process of differential socialization according to gender occurs through different reinforcements and models. Differential reinforcement occurs when men and women are rewarded or punished for different behaviors, interests or expression of emotions.interests or expression of emotions.

Much of this learning occurs in the first years of life through modeling, that is, learning through observation of other people's behaviors and the consequences that such behavior has for the model.

This normative and informative influence is produced through the agents of socialization. The main socializing agents are:

1. The family

The first models that the child will have are the members of his/her family and they have an important role in the first stage of life as transmitters of behaviors, values, etc., through modeling and emotional learning. Several studies indicate that the most important role of the family lies in the regulation of sex-typed activities.

2. The educational system

The educational system is the social structure that best reflects dominant beliefs and values. Its influence on the maintenance of differences occurs through the hidden curriculum and the processes of social interaction that take place in the educational system.

There are four aspects of differential socialization that contribute to the hidden curriculum: the distribution of males and females in the educational system, which acts as a role model for students; educational materials and textbooks, which tend to reproduce gender stereotypes; school organization and practices, which reproduce traditional gender activity choices; and teacher expectations and attitudes, which affect students' expectations of themselves.

With respect to social interaction processes, differences have also been observed in classroom interaction, differences in teachers' attention, in the distribution of play spaces, etc.

3. The media

It is the informative influence that, through selective regulation, presents stereotypical cultural models stereotypical cultural models based on ideals of men and women that do not of men and women that do not correspond to reality. They influence our perception of men and women in general, as well as of ourselves.

In order to achieve the elimination of gender-based inequalities, it is necessary to understand that the origin of inequality is based on differential socialization and that such socialization is a self-justifying process; that is, it causes men and women to behave differently and to develop their activity in different spheres.

Differential socialization contributes to confirming the belief that the sexes are different and to justify the need to continue perpetuating socially constructed differences.

Since the key to continuing to maintain this differential process is the congruence between the messages that socialization agents emit, it would be useful to use them as an avenue for change and promote through them congruent messages that eliminate gender-based inequalities.