AGENTS OF

GENDER
DEVELOPMEN
T:
MEDIA AND
PEERS
Lecture 10
MEDIA
 MEDIA AND GENDER
Associated characteristics
What’s your favorite leisure MASCULINE
activity? Violence FEMININE
TV Wise and successful Sexual
High IQ Young
Video games and computers
Closer-up Soft and nurturant
Toys Hard work and Whole body
challenge Magical and easy
Books
Risks In need of help
Hero Pink and purple, pastel, soft
Blue, bold, dark colors
colors Lace and floral
Mechanics
 GENDERED MESSAGES ARE
ABUNDANT IN COMMERCIALS
Content analysis of Dutch
commercials showed…

Themes reinforce gender

stereotypes.

Buijzen (2003). Unpublished PhD The

 GENDERED MESSAGES
ARE ABUNDANT IN TOYS
Symbolic language
Pennell 1994
encoded in the toys and
toy advertisements and
catalogs.

These gendered messages of

children’s toy merchandise
resemble Eagly’ description of
Agentic vs. Communal roles.
Kinder egg
commercial 2016
https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=_zZA4
EAB6uk&ab_channel
=cannationnest
EFFORTS TO BREAK GENDER
STEREOTYPES IN TOYS AND
MEDIA NOW
 GENDERED MESSAGES
ARE ABUNDANT IN MEDIA:
BOOKS
Story books and textbooks
• Especially textbooks are authoritative to
children

What do you see in these books?

 CONTENT OF CHILDREN’S
BOOKS
Visibility of males and females
 Females less likely to be in illustrations Ratio of
 Females less likely to be title M:F
characters
 Females less likely to be central
characters
 Females less likely to be speaking
characters

Of Time magazine’s 100 Best Children’s Books of

All Time, only 53 had females that speak.
Tepper & Cassidy, 1999; McCabe et al. 2011
GENDER SOCIALIZATION AT SCHOOL:
CONTENT OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Portrayals of males and females
 Men: occupational roles (often require education)
 Women: domestic roles, magical roles (e.g., witch)
 Boys: outdoors, active, heroic, problem solving
 Girls: passive, need assistance, followers

 Moral orientation: Male characters exhibit justice

morality, female characters exhibit care morality
 Material culture: Household artifacts are for females,
non-domestic artifacts are for males
 Language: Male descriptors more ‘powerful’, female
descriptors less ‘potent’ but more ‘positive’

Blakemore et al. 2009

 CONTENT OF CHILDREN’S
BOOKS
Male underrepresentation: The Invisible Father
 Parent characters more likely to be female
 Mothers: caring, nurturing, disciplinarians, full range of
emotion
 Fathers: Stoic/unaffectionate, uninvolved, indolent

Anderson & Hamilton, 2005.

 CONTENT OF
CHILDREN’S BOOKS:
CHANGES OVER
TIME

 Publishers have started

producing more books with
female characters (M:F ratios are
tending more towards 1)
 But still more male characters

Blakemore et al. 2009.

McCabe et al. 2011.
 CONTENT OF CHILDREN’S
BOOKS
Changes over time
 More books with female characters, but still more
male characters

 Portrayals of females are becoming less stereotyped,

but portrayals of males have changed little

 Stereotyped portrayals still exist and parents and

teachers often still read children the older books

Blakemore et al. 2009; McCabe et al. 201

IMPACT OF MEDIA ON
GENDER DEVELOPMENT
TV and violent games Barbie seems to have a similar
promote violence effect on girls’ image ideal and
through modeling and career aspiration: Stereotype
internalization and priming
desensitization

Toys offer different skills training.

Gendered messages in Spatial (usually boy-typical) toys
all media increase increase spatial-cognitive skills.
gender-stereotyped Feminine toys have been linked
to better social skills such as
attitudes empathy and language skills.
Fashion magazines linked
to young women’s
idealization of thinness Video games, especially action
video games, increase spatial
and beauty and cognitive skills.
contribute to eating
PEERS
PEERS
Gender segregation
Popularity and likeability
Peer responses to gender nonconformity
PEER GENDER
SEGREGATION
General trends in same-gender
playmate preferences:
 Before Age 2: No preference
 Age 2: 60%
 Age 4: 75% Across cultures, children
reliably prefer to interact
 Age 6: 80-90% with other children of the
 Elementary school: approx. 60-80% same gender.

 Adolescents and adults: Prefer same-, but

more open to other-gender

Blakemore et al. 2009. Gender Developm

 GENDER-SEGREGATION
THE “TWO CULTURES” OF CHILDHOOD
Boys’ and girls’ peer groups differ markedly…

Domain Boys Girls

Peer Group Size Prefer larger peer groups Prefer dyads or triads

Interconnectedn Typically groups of friends are Different “circles of friends”, but

ess all interconnected more self-disclosure and discuss
emotions
Play Organized sports/physical More domestic-type and
Styles/Activities play; nurturing style of play
play further from adults

Dominance and More competition and More cooperation and turn-

Cooperation conflict; interrupting one taking
Blakemore et al. 2009. Gender Developm
 GENDER PEER PREFERENCE IS A
DIAGNOSTIC CRITERION OF GENDER
DYSPHORIA
Diagnostic Criteria for Children (must meet 6 for diagnosis) Diagnostic Criteria for Adolescents (must meet 2 for diagnosis)
1. A strong desire to be of the other gender or an insistence 1. A marked incongruence between one’s experienced/
that one is the other gender. expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex
characteristics (or in young adolescents, the anticipated
2. A strong preference for wearing clothing typical of the secondary sex characteristics).
opposite gender and a strong resistance to the wearing
clothing typical of the same gender. 2. A strong desire to be rid of one’s primary and/or secondary
sex characteristics because of a marked incongruence with
3. A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make- one’s experienced/expressed gender (or in young
believe play or fantasy play. adolescents, a desire to prevent the development of the
anticipated secondary sex characteristics).
4. A strong preference for the toys, games, or activities
stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender. 3. A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex
characteristics of the other gender.
5. A strong preference for playmates of the other gender.
4. A strong desire to be of the other gender.
6. A strong rejection of stereotypically same-gender toys,
games, and activities. 5. A strong desire to be treated as the other gender.
7. A strong dislike of one’s sexual anatomy. 6. A strong conviction that one has the typical feelings and
reactions of the other gender.
8. A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex
characteristics that match one’s experienced gender. American Psychiatric Association. 2013. DSM-5.
What was your most notable same-gender
friendship and other-gender friendship?

How are they like?

What are the advantages and

disadvantages of each?

How would you act/expect to make same-

gender vs. other-gender friends?

How did these friendships develop in the

 WHY DO CHILDREN GENDER-
SEGREGATE?
SOME HYPOTHESES
Compatibility of Play Styles

Girls find rough and tumble play and

dominance aversive

Children with more masculine-typed play

styles prefer boys as playmates

Blakemore et al. 2009. Gender Developm

 WHY DO CHILDREN GENDER-
SEGREGATE?
SOME HYPOTHESES
Dominance
Boys tend to show more
acceptance toward those peers
who are more dominant (high
social rank), but girls are more
likely to dislike girls who behave in
a dominant fashion.

Sebanc et al. 2003, Soc Dev, 12, 91-1

 WHY DO CHILDREN GENDER-
SEGREGATE?
SOME HYPOTHESES
Gender Differences in Social Status

Children internalize the gender status

differences they observe

Boys are much less likely to permit girls

to join their groups than vice versa

Boys more protective about their

boundaries because they are protecting
their in-group’s higher status?

Similarly, there are other domains

where higher status individuals create
boundaries to preserve the in-group
status (e.g., economic social class)
Blakemore et al. 2009. Gender Developm
 WHY DO CHILDREN GENDER-
SEGREGATE?
SOME HYPOTHESES
Developmental Intergroup Theory

Children view same-gender as the

“in-group” and the opposite-gender
as the “out-group”

In-group favoritism and out-group

hostility

Example:
 When given adjectives, both genders…
 Perceive positive traits (e.g.,
dependable) as being associated with
their own gender
 Perceive negative traits (e.g., boring) as
being associated with the opposite-
gender
Powlishta 1995. Sex Roles, 32, 17
 APPRAISALS OF PEER
GENDER NONCONFORMITY
Gender-(Non)Conformity refers to
the extent to which an individual
exhibits characteristics that
correspond to those stereotypically
associated with their gender within
a particular sociocultural context

How might children’s social

preference be influenced by not
only gender identity, but also
gender-typed behaviour?
 PEER ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION AMONG
GENDER-REFERRED (GR) CHILDREN VS. THEIR
CLASSMATES (CONTROLS)

GR BOYS (compared to male classmates): GR GIRL (compared to female

- less accepted by boys and more accepted classmates):
by girls, and - More accepted by boys and less
Wallien et al. 2010.
APPRAISALS OF GENDER-NONCONFORMITY
AND GENDER STEREOTYPE ENDORSEMENT
AMONG CHINESE CHILDREN

The more gender-stereotyped

children’s thinking was on the
IAT, the less likely they were to
want to be friends with gender-
nonconforming children.

Qian et al. 2020

 LGBT YOUTH AND MENTAL
HEALTH
 Youth have been coming out
as LGBTQ at younger ages
as societal acceptance
increases

 However…
 Young LGBTQ adolescence
face elevated risk of social
exclusion, and gender and
sexuality norms are often
enforced by peers
As acceptance increases, mean age at coming
 LGBTQ youth still experience out has been decreasing.
more bullying, elevated risk of
substance use and lowered
Russell & Fish, 2016, Annu Rev Clin Psychol, 12, 46
THE MINORITY STRESS MODEL
Experiences of Discrimination

Minority Characteristics
(e.g., LGBTQ identity; GN Poor Psychological Well-Being
behaviors)

But, LGBTQ individuals often show gender nonconformity as children, and

even children are less accepting of gender-nonconforming peers.
Might poorer psychological well-being be tied to gender-nonconformity and
poor peer relations in children as well as adolescence?
 PEER RELATIONS AMONG CHILDREN AND
YOUTH WHO EXPERIENCE GENDER DYSPHORIA

Beginning in early
childhood for those
referred to gender
identity services for
GD, we see an age-
related increase in
poor peer relations
(i.e., being teased,
not getting along
with peers, not being
liked by peers).

nsma et al. (2014). J Abnorm Child Psychol., 42, 635-47.

 MENTAL HEALTH AND GENDER
EXPRESSION IN CHILDREN
Boys Girls

In both Canadian and Chinese community samples of children <12 years, increased
gender nonconformity was associated with increased behavioral and emotional
problems for
For gender-nonconforming boys. protective factors may
children,
included:
(1) Peer relations that were more positive
(2) Parents with warm parenting styles and less traditional
gender rolevan
attitudes
der Miesen et al. (2018). J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 57
 IMPACT OF PEERS ON
GENDER DEVELOPMENT
• Imitation, reinforcement, • Conflict management (by
punishment talking through, competing, • Blue collar, pink collar jobs
• Gender police or avoiding) • People self-select into
• Felt pressure to conform to • Problem talk (talk or no talk, gender-segregated sectors
gender norms or through shared activities) and infer that jobs
• Psychological risk or • Intimacy (intimate or distant) dominated by the other-
Time spentfactor
protective with •Relational
Expressivenessskills
(stoic or gender have a work culture
same-gender and interaction
expressive; emotional or that is unsuitable for
peers has a rational) themselves
styles learned • Difficulty breaking the gate-
dosage in the “two keeping—just like children,
dependent cultures” may esp boys, who are unwilling
effect on gender- to permit the other gender to
stereotyped play expand or limit Workplace
enter their groups
styles, interests, the relational segregation
social behavior, skills to be used
academic in adult
behavior (Martin romantic