The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

6 Chapter 1

a tomboy, but a little boy who behaves like

a girl is called a sissy.Sissyhas more nega-

tive connotations thantomboy. Today, par-

ents have no problem giving their little girls

trucks to play with and encouraging girls to

play sports. But how do parents feel about

giving their little boys dolls and encouraging

them to play “dress-up”?

Most scientists believe men suffer more

negative consequences for gender-role vio-

lations than women. The reason? Status.

Women who take on characteristics of the

male gender role are moving toward a higher

status, whereas men who take on characteris-

tics of the female gender role are moving to-

ward a lower status. We applaud the move up

but not the move down. The relation of gender

to status is elaborated on later in this chapter.

The termgender roleis used inter-

changeably with the termsex role.Person-

ally, I do not know what to make of the latter

term.Sex rolereally does not make sense be-

cause it confuses a biological category, sex,

with a social category, role. Thus it is pecu-

liar that one of the leading scientific jour-

nals in this area is calledSex Rolesinstead of

“Gender Roles.” I prefer to use the termsex

acceptable for women to dress like men by

wearing pants, suits, and even ties; it is ac-

ceptable for women to have jobs that were

traditionally held by men, such as doctor,

lawyer, even construction worker. And, it is

more acceptable for women to participate in

sports (see Figure 1.2).

But is it acceptable for men to dress

like women by wearing a dress or tights?

Are men who possess jobs traditionally held

by women, such as nurse or secretary, en-

couraged or applauded? It is interesting that

a little girl who behaves like a boy is called

DO GENDER 1.1

Engaging in Gender-Role

Incongruent Behavior

Try adopting some behavior that does not

fit your gender role and see how people

respond—verbally and nonverbally.

For example, if you are male, try

Wearing a dress.

Wearing makeup.

Calling for an escort service when you

walk across campus in the dark.

Going into a salon and having your

fingernails painted.

If you are female, try

Chewing tobacco in public.

Joining a group of guys to play football

or basketball.

Working on your car with a man

standing by (changing the oil or

changing a tire).

Going into a barbershop and getting

your hair cut.

How did you feel?

How did others respond?

FIGURE 1.2 More girls play soccer today than

any other sport.

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