Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender-- Aaron H. Devor

     Out of all of the RPW articles we've read thus far, this was my most favorite article. I find psychology to be fascinating because it logically and sensibly explains the human persona. I thoroughly enjoy learning about why people do the things they do, and how that influences their growth and success in the world.
      I thought this article was really well-written and on a very interesting subject: the social meanings of gender. My senior year of high school, I took a class where I learned all about the psychological and biological development of children. So, when I heard this article was going to be about the psychology behind gender, I was eager to apply my knowledge.
     I did some research on gender to better understand what I was reading. I wasn't quite sure what "gender" was.  According to the "World Health Organization: Online", gender can be defined as, "the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women." An individual's gender is different from individual's sex, which can be defined as, "the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women" (WHO). And, according to answers.com, "Gender identity is a person's sense of identification with either the male or female sex, as manifested in appearance, behavior, and other aspects of a person's life" (answers.com). These definitions helped me to better understand Dover's analysis: "Gender identities act as cognitive filtering devices guiding people to attend to and learn gender role behaviors appropriate to their statuses. Learning to behave in accordance with one's gender identity is a lifelong process" (527). 
      Just like I had learned in class, Devor discusses the idea that "Gender is the most transparent of all social categories: we acquire gender roles early in life and so thoroughly that it's hard to see them as the result of lessons taught and learned. Maleness and femaleness seem 'natural,' not the product of socialization" (527). And it's true. In society today, if we are born female, we are expected to like the color pink and play with dolls and tea sets. The same goes for males, who are expected to love the color blue, sports and race-cars. It seems to us that liking those things are naturally inbred, not what social situations evoke from us as children.
     Devor goes on to say that "Very young children learn their culture's social definitions of gender and gender identity at the same time that they learn what gender behaviors are appropriate  for them" (529). I thought this was not only well-stated, but also incredibly interesting. If you think about it, young children really get their perceptions, as well as their "shoulds" and "should-nots," from the adults and people that shape their worlds and minds. A child's mind/perception is very flexible, so their view of what a boy should like or how a girl must act really does influence them. 
     The child psychology class that I took in high school actually had a preschool program within it. On certain days, we would learn about child development (on a biological level, on a cognitive level, on a behavioral level etc.); on other days, the preschool met during class, and we would be able to interact with the preschoolers and observe all of the new things we learned in the children. I remember, one time, I watched one of the young preschool boys play with a pink pony. This was somewhat out of character for him, seeing as how he usually was aggressive and violent. His father was a hunter and so, it would have been more in character of this young boy to pretend to shoot the pony, as he typically did. But this time, he just played nicely with it. Another preschool student confronted him and teased him for playing with a "girl toy." The preschool boy got very upset. He threw the pony violently and hid in embarrassment. This is a prime example of gender-related expectations. It didn't make sense to the young child that a boy be playing with a "girl" toy. As Devor says, "...children's individualistic impulses are shaped into a socially acceptable form both by particular individuals and by a more generalized pressure to conformity exerted by innumerable faceless members of society. Gender identity is one of the most central portions of that developing sense of self..." (530). Interestingly enough, the young boy, within a few days, picked up a Barbie hairdryer and used it as a gun.
     I was intrigued by Dover's realization: "Persons who perform the activities considered appropriate for another gender will be expected to perform them poorly; if they succeed adequately, or even well, at their endeavors, they may be rewarded with ridicule or scorn for blurring the gender dividing line" (531). This is quite true. I thought back to high school; one of my closest friends, a track-runner, was titled "gay" for deciding to partake in the school's spring musical. He isn't gay, but the fact that he runs track and sings quite well for a male, crowned him "gay." Dover, later, says, "A heterosexual orientation requires women to dress, move speak and act in way that men find attractive." This immediately reminded me of the five reported suicides--related to intolerance of homosexuality--that have occurred over the past three weeks in the United States. It is ridiculously sad and unfair. Gender-choices should be tolerated. Males that come across more feminine and females that come across more masculine are human, and do not deserve to be discriminated against. They are expressing their gender identities.
     I really liked Dover's paragraph on body language. As an actress-in-training, I am learning all about how body language and posture says a great deal about a person and their character. "They demonstrate subordination through a minimizing of spatial use: people appear feminine when they keep their arms closer to their bodies, their legs closer together, and their torsos and heads less vertical then do masculine-looking individuals...Perhaps as an outgrowth of subordinate status and the need to avoid conflict with more socially powerful people, women tend to excel over men at the ability to correctly interpret, and effectively display, nonverbal communication cues" (533). I found this to be quite interesting. A woman's body language says a lot about the character she plays. A character can be defined as incredibly feminine by the way the actor carries herself. For example, Elle Woods from the movie and musical, Legally Blonde (http://images.broadwayworld.com/columnpic/legallyblonde05big.jpg) sits with her legs together, her toes pointed and her eyes up. She clearly fits this gender role.
     I think my love for psychology feeds my love for theater. As a theater major, I get the opportunity to emulate and get into the minds of other characters. If I wasn't going to be a musical theater major, I most certainly would have majored in child psychology. I really enjoyed this article.