Sex-Related Comparisons: Theory 147and define themselves through their con-
nection to others. In later years, girls have
difficulty finding the same intimate attach-
ment to men. Boys, by contrast, acquire their
gender identity by rejecting the one person
with whom they have become attached, by
separating or individuating themselves from
their mothers. Thus males learn to repress
relationships and define themselves through
separation from others. With whom do boys
identify? Because fathers are less of a pres-
ence than mothers in children’s lives, fewer
models are available to boys; thus boys come
to define masculinity as “not being feminine”
or not being like their mothers. Whereas girls
learn the feminine role by observing their
mothers on a day-to-day basis, boys may
find themselves identifying with cultural im-
ages of masculinity to learn their gender role.
Because girls identify with their moth-
ers, their tendency to mother “reproduces”
itself. Chodorow (1978) argues that women
have a greater desire than men to be par-
ents because they are more likely to have
identified with a parenting role. According
to Chodorow, the fact that women are the
primary caretakers of children in our society
leads directly to the division of labor (i.e.,
men working outside the home and women
working inside the home) and the subse-
quent devaluation of women in society. The
only way these roles can change, according
to Chodorow, is for men to become more
involved in raising children. Given the de-
cline of the nuclear family and the greater
diversity of family structures today, it is pos-
sible to test Chodorow’s theory. Conduct
Do Gender 5.1 to determine if children have
more traditional gender roles when they are
raised in a traditional family structure com-
pared to a nontraditional family structure.
Like Freud’s theory, Chodorow’s theory also
lacks empirical data.Freud had many critics. A notable one
was Karen Horney (1926, 1973), a feminist
psychoanalyst and physician. Like Freud,
she placed a great deal of emphasis on the
unconscious and the importance of sexual
feelings and childhood experiences in per-
sonality development. However, Horney
believed social forces rather than biology in-
fluenced the development of gender identity.
She said girls’ penis envy did not reflect a lit-
eral desire for a penis but reflected a desire
for men’s power and status in society. She ar-
gued that men also experience envy—envy of
women’s breasts and ability to bear children.
She believed men perceive women as inferior
as a way to elevate their own status. In fact,
she argued that men’s feelings of inferiority
are responsible for men’s need to prove their
masculinity through sexual intercourse.
A more modern version of psychoana-
lytic theory, referred to as object-relations
theory, was applied to the acquisition of
gender roles by Nancy Chodorow (1978)
in her bookThe Reproduction of Mothering.
Chodorow’s theory emphasizes the impor-
tance of early relationships in establishing
gender identity. Like other psychoanalytic
theorists, she stresses the importance of sex-
uality, but she believes the family structure
and the child’s early social experiences, rather
than unconscious processes, determine sexu-
ality. She believes that the fact that women are
the primary caretakers of children is respon-
sible for the development of distinct gender
roles. Both boys’ and girls’ first primary rela-
tionship is with their mothers, a relationship
that affects boys’ and girls’ sense of self, future
relationships, and attitudes toward women.
According to Chodorow (1978), girls
acquire their gender identity by connect-
ing with the one person with whom they
are already attached: their mother. This ex-
plains why females focus on relationshipsM05_HELG0185_04_SE_C05.indd 147 6/21/11 8:03 AM