Models of people's behavior are formed by society - or is everything predetermined by nature? How do gender stereotypes limit personal development and lead to discrimination? How to destroy them and create a harmonious society? Gender psychology is looking for answers to these questions: we tell how it appeared, how it developed and what it does today.
Gender psychology: two points of view
Gender psychology studies the characteristics of human behavior in society associated with his biological sex, gender (social sex) and their interaction. Gender psychology does not yet have an unambiguous formulation and clear boundaries, and each author sets out its concept in his own way. The main problem is that it is difficult to define the very concept of “gender”.
Male and female qualities are predetermined. For example, if a person is assigned a female gender at birth, then feminine character traits, appearance, and behavior are expected from him.
This is how rigid gender stereotypes are created, which impose two role models on people and impose restrictions on all aspects of life - from choosing clothes to choosing a profession.
A determined son and an obedient daughter, a successful husband and a thrifty wife, an enterprising subordinate and an understanding boss - we unconsciously fit into a binary gender system so as not to look like strangers among our own.
At the end of the second millennium, the United States began to deeply rethink the theory of "biology as destiny". As science developed, it became clear that between men and women there are much more similarities than differences, and the predestination of their qualities is relative. Scientists doubt even that at the genetic level, sex can only be divided into two species, and suggest that the sexual diversity is much wider.
Gender psychology clearly separates the concepts of "sex" and "gender":
Gender is a set of biological characteristics of a person.
Gender is a set of cultural norms, patterns that determine behavior patterns, psychological qualities of men and women. These norms are passed down from generation to generation and are fixed at a subconscious level.
Gender is a flexible construct that can change depending on the experience of the individual, the characteristics of society, and the historical period. It is not determined by biology, which means that it can be influenced. Gender stereotypes and roles are changing in many countries, and this is primarily due to changes in people's self-awareness. If we accept the fact that any person, regardless of biological sex, is an individual with their own psychological characteristics, a combination of masculinity and femininity in the psyche, then society will become more complete and harmonious.
The history of the formation of gender psychology is usually divided into five stages. Each of them is associated with innovative ideas and theories that shocked contemporaries and caused a public outcry. Some of them surprise even today.
1. The period of the philosophers
For most of history, there was no need for people to come up with a theory about the biological origin of male and female qualities. According to the modern historian Thomas Lacker, in many European cultures until the beginning of the 18th century there was a same-sex model of a person, described by the ancient Roman physician Galen. Women and men were seen as two forms of the same sex. It was believed that their reproductive systems are the same, just the female genitalia are not outside, but inside the body.
Many ancient philosophers explained the difference between men and women not with biology, but with the help of religion. For example, Aristotle in his treatise "Politics" argued that a woman is an inert matter that does not have a soul, and a man is an active and creative form, the highest life force.
Plato's views were in many ways similar to the ideas of modern gender psychology. In his dialogue "The State" he reflects on the fact that it is society that shapes the patterns of people's behavior.
Plato was the first to express the idea of gender equality: women can play the same social roles as men, as well as be warriors and scientists.
In the dialogue "Feast" he tells the myth of androgynes - creatures that combine the characteristics of men and women. Androgynes possessed incredible power and encroached on the power of the gods, for which they were punished by Zeus: he cut them in half with lightning and scattered them all over the world.
Today, the concept of "androgyne" is used in gender psychology. An androgyne is a person without rigid stereotypes of gender-role behavior, who is characterized by femininity and masculinity at the same time.
During the Renaissance, many philosophers also expressed thoughts about gender equality. For example, in the book Utopia, Thomas More described an ideal state in which there is no separation of gender roles: people, regardless of gender, have equal rights and opportunities in all areas of life, including religion, military service, and politics.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the same-sex model of a person was replaced by a bi-sex one.
Between the biological sex and the characteristics of people began to look for a strong connection. Doctors, writers, philosophers in their works contrasted women and men in all physical and moral aspects.
Thomas Laker believes that the reason for the emergence of the bisexual model was not only the development of science, but also politics. More and more educated and ambitious women appeared in society. The power of men was under threat, proof of the superiority of the male over the female was urgently needed! This was how the binary gender system was created, which exists in many cultures today.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the first wave of feminism unfolded in France, Great Britain, the USA and other countries - a political movement for granting women equal rights with men: electoral, economic, and the right to education.
Educational institutions in many countries have introduced co-education. Because of this, researchers have become interested in comparing men and women.
In 1902, the book "Sex and Character" was published by Otto Weininger, an eccentric philosopher who was a misogynist and believed that there was no "women's question", and all the hype on this topic was the desire of a woman to equal the man and copy his creative power. His work was based on Weininger's doctoral dissertation on bisexuality. A year after the publication, the scientist committed suicide, which attracted increased attention to it.
The main theses of the book:
1, Sex is determined not only by primary and secondary, but also by tertiary and quaternary sexual characteristics. In fact, Weininger refers to tertiary and quaternary sexual characteristics what today we call gender: behavior patterns, acquired human qualities.
2, There are two biological principles: male and female. Both beginnings are present in every personality, therefore any person is bisexual.
3, Male qualities - developed cognitive and creative abilities, genius; female - stupidity, inability to be creative. A woman can succeed in science, profession, only if she has a masculine principle.
4, The only strong female quality is sexuality. The more feminine a person is, the sexier he is.
5. Harmonious relationships in a couple are possible only if the sexual partners are opposites. If one partner has a pronounced masculinity and low femininity, then the second must have opposite qualities
Modern psychologists evaluate Weininger's work in different ways. Some consider him a brilliant scientist, one of the founders of the psychology of sex, gender psychology and believe that Weininger's theory about the combination of masculinity and femininity in every person is still relevant. Others criticize Sex and Character, in particular the claims of masculine-virtuous and feminine-evil, and argue that Weininger is just another male scientist who really knew nothing about women, did not take into account their experience and drew conclusions based on own prejudices and ambitions
3. Freudian stage
The father of psychoanalysis, as always, was not without: the third stage in the development of gender psychology is associated with his famous theory. The scientist believed that gender differences are not innate, but are formed in early childhood. The main mechanism for the assimilation of the sex role is the identification of children with their parents.
According to Freud's theory, every child has a libido from birth and at about three years of age begins to show sexual feelings for the parent of the opposite sex, as well as jealousy and rancor towards the parent of the same sex. Freud called this phenomenon the oedipal complex. As the child grows older, he overcomes it, identifying himself with the parent of his own gender: the boy tries to be like his father, the girl - like her mother. Freud believed that the successful resolution of the Oedipus complex is the basis of a person's mental health.
While Freud was developing his theory, there was a decline in psychology and pedagogy in Russia. With the advent of Soviet power, gender equality was legalized in all spheres of life, women gained access to vocational education and jobs. It would seem that excellent conditions were created in the USSR for the development of gender studies, but in practice everything looked different: the difference between the sexes was completely denied, gender psychology and pedagogy were declared unnecessary.
There was only one gender in the Union - the Soviet man, who was always ready for work and defense and did not need psychological research.
According to the psychologist Tatyana Bendas, only a few interesting works by psychologists were published in the 1920–1930s: “On the Study of the Children's Collective” by E. A. Arkin, “Essays on Child Sexuality” by P. P. Blonsky. But soon their work was banned, and the works were no longer published. In the next 30 years, the development of gender psychology was completely paralyzed.
4. Second wave feminism, women’s studies and women researchers
For the first time, the term "gender" was introduced into scientific circulation by the American psychiatrist and sexologist John Money. In 1955, he studied the features of intersex and tried to find a name for the non-biological differentiation of people. Using the concept of "gender", he described the social experience of people who do not fit into the standard binary system.
Intersex people are people whose sexual characteristics are neither feminine nor masculine. According to genetic studies, about one in a hundred people are born with disorders in sex formation.
In the 1960s, the second wave of feminism unfolded, and the concept of "gender" became its symbol. The central work of the feminist movement was Simone Beauvoir's book The Second Sex, which criticizes the myths about the biological nature of female qualities:
“Her behavior, her qualities, everything that she is accused of, is not predetermined by her nature. Society, the social structure, forces a woman to develop certain qualities in herself and dictates her forms of behavior.
In Women Are Not Born, They Become, de Beauvoir draws a clear line between biological sex and gender, emphasizing the social origin of what is usually called feminine.
The second wave of feminism launched research into the motivation and achievement of women. In 1964, the American psychologist Martina Horner wrote in her work “Fear of Success” that the main factor that prevents women from moving up the career ladder is the fear of success formed by society.
Success causes anxiety in women: they are afraid of losing their femininity, the disposition of their husband, and children.
Therefore, many refuse professional growth in favor of the family or husband's career. This phenomenon was later described by other authors as impostor syndrome.
According to the data cited in her book by psychologist Tatyana Bendas, from 1950 to 1980, the results of 30,000 gender studies were published in English-language sources. One of the most ambitious works is The Psychology of Sex Differences by Eleanor Maccoby and Carol Jacqueline, an analysis of 2000 results of previous scientific works.
Maccoby and Jacqueline found that there were no differences between men and women on most dimensions, including perception, memory, learning ability, emotionality, suggestibility, and self-esteem.
Only some gender differences were confirmed:
women are superior to men in verbal ability;
men have better developed visual-spatial, mathematical abilities, higher aggressiveness.
In 1974, the American psychologist Sandra Behm created a gender role questionnaire to determine the degree of masculinity, femininity and androgyny. The test consists of 60 personal qualities (20 male, 20 female, 20 gender-neutral), which are assessed by survey participants on a seven-point scale. Bem was sure that masculinity and femininity are not opposed to each other, and people of either sex can have both traits at the same time, that is, be androgynous.
Sandra Behm argued that androgyny makes a person more adaptive, flexible to surrounding circumstances. Later, modern clinical studies also proved the benefits of androgyny.
5. Modern gender studies
The last stage in the history of gender psychology has been going on for more than 30 years, at which time clinical research is widely deployed. The United States is the leader in this area, where clear procedures and standards have been developed, and a powerful scientific infrastructure has been formed: journals, conferences, and specialist training systems. In many American universities, women's studies have evolved into large teaching and research programs that study gender and sexuality. There are also similar programs at the universities of Canada, Germany, England, France, India, China.
Since 1990, gender stereotypes have been actively explored. For example, psychologists John Williams and Deborah Best conducted a cross-cultural study of gender stereotypes, interviewing respondents in 25 countries around the world.
In most countries, gender stereotypes coincided, and there were twice as many patterns of male behavior as female ones. Janet Hyde's research refuted some of the previous work by McCoby and Jacqueline.
For example, Hyde found that the mathematical abilities of women and men are the same. The superiority of men was found in physical activity, aggression, and some indicators of sexuality.
Prior to Hyde's theory, most of the research focused on looking for gender differences. After her, many scientists focused on the study of gender similarities. Such works help to combat stereotypes and discrimination created in society.
In recent years, scientists have analyzed:
gender inequality in the professional sphere;
gender stereotypes in education;
linking gender and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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