“What are the striking differences between gender and culture?”
When visiting different countries, one of the more notable differences is the emphasis certain societies place on the differences between men and women while others exhibit less enthusiasm for such diversity. Mentioning sex disparities raises the implication that gender must have a significant role in influencing human behaviour. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that human males and females are considerably more alike than dissimilar anatomically and physiologically. As a result, they are generally interchangeable in terms of social duties and behaviours, with childbearing serving as the key exception. This chapter explores gender in the context of cross-cultural interaction, starting at the individual level and moving to the cultural level, looking at issues including gender roles and stereotypes, male-female interactions, the functions of biology and socialisation, and theories.
Gender differences
Gender roles, or the differences in how men and women are expected to behave, or gender stereotypes, can all contribute to differences between men. For example, men and women actually possess different abilities (i.e., differences in how we think men and women are). Gender roles and stereotypes may or may not accurately represent actual gender differences. Girls learn more words than males do when it comes to language development and linguistic skills, but these differences do not persist over time. Girls are also more likely than boys to express gratitude, concur with the other person, and elaborate on what they have just said.
Girls are less prone than boys to voice their opinions or make complaints. Boys are slightly less competent than girls to restrain incorrect replies, and they are slightly more inclined to blurt out things, in terms of temperament. Boys are physically more aggressive than girls are, but there is no difference in the rates of physical aggression that is triggered. The play habits of children are among the most notable variances. Girls frequently participate in fewer physical activities in much smaller groups than boys do. Boys frequently play organised rough-and-tumble games in large groups. The prevalence of depression varies as well, with girls being far more likely than boys to experience depression following puberty. Girls are more prone than boys to be dissatisfied with their bodies after puberty.
Male and female individuals differ significantly from one another. Additionally, even when there are average group differences, the majority of these differences have a relatively small real size. This means that predicting someone’s actual traits is not all that easy just by looking at their gender.
Social interactions
People of various genders speak differently due to differences in “gender cultures.” These distinctions start in early childhood.
Traditionally, communication between people of the same gender is done differently by men and women.
Communication helps us understand the characteristics and behaviours that our culture assigns to our sex.
Social and cultural conventions have a big impact on how gender identity is expressed and how different genders interact with one another. The study by Maltz and Broker showed how children’s games help them become more socialised to masculine and feminine cultures. Girls playing at home, for instance, foster interpersonal interactions and doesn’t always have set guidelines or goals. Boys, on the other hand, frequently engage in more competitive team sports with distinct objectives and tactics.
Women operate from assumptions about communication and utilise norms for communication that are very different from those supported by the majority of males as a result of these differences as youngsters.
Communication styles between masculine and feminine cultures and people are often different. For instance, women are more likely than men to divulge more personal information about themselves. In a similar vein, women have a tendency to express their affection more openly, intimately, and confidently than men do. In general, women emphasise communication over men and engage in more verbal exchanges.
Traditionally, communication between people of the same gender is done differently by men and women. Males and females develop connections with each other based on shared interests, while males and females develop friendships with each other based on mutual support. However, the same factors are used by both sexes to start friendships with people of the opposite sex. These elements consist of closeness, acceptance, effort, communication, shared interests, affection, novelty, and closeness.
When deciding how to interact with others, context is crucial. It’s crucial to recognise the script that works best in each particular relationship. It is crucial to comprehend how affection is expressed in a particular situation. For instance, men anticipate rivalry in their friendships. They keep their frailty and vulnerability hidden. They refrain from discussing sensitive personal issues. Masculine people frequently show their love for their friends by including them in activities and exchanging favours. The way that men often interact is shoulder to shoulder (e.g., watching sports on television).
Women, on the other hand, are more prone to convey weakness and vulnerability. In fact, during these moments, people might seek out friendships more. Because of this, women frequently feel a stronger bond with their friends than men do. Women tend to value their friends for their ability to listen and communicate without judgement, offer support, communicate emotions of increased self-esteem, communicate validation, provide comfort, and promote personal development. Face-to-face communication is more common among women (e.g., meeting together to talk over lunch).
Communication culture between genders
A group of individuals with established rules for how they should communicate with one another is said to have a communication culture. You can classify these cultures as masculine or feminine. The interaction with other people is what essentially creates and maintains gender cultures. Communication helps us understand the characteristics and behaviours that our culture assigns to our sex. Contrary to popular belief, gender actually has a more significant impact on how we relate to and communicate with others than does our sex. It is possible to divide entire civilizations into masculine and feminine, with each having a distinctive way of interacting with others through various forms of communication.
“Communication develops and reproduces societal conceptions of masculinity and femininity,” according to Julia T. Wood’s research. When, how, and why communication is used differs significantly between masculine and feminine cultures.
According to Deborah Tannen’s research, males tend to refer to people as being more masculine, whereas women tend to refer to people as being more feminine:
In public settings, males speak more than women do, yet at home, women speak more than men do.
When speaking, women are more likely to face each other and make eye contact than men, who are more prone to turn their heads away.
Women typically discourse in-depth about one subject while men frequently switch topics.
Men are more likely to listen quietly, but women tend to make sounds like “mm-hmm” and “uh-huh”.
Men are more likely to engage in disputes whereas women are more likely to offer support and agreement.
Conclusion
As parents begin socialising their children as boys or girls virtually as soon as they are born, socialisation into gender roles starts in infancy. Even while neutral observers who do not know the sex of the children do not see any such gender differences among infants, parents frequently describe their infant daughters as lovely, soft, and delicate and their infant sons as strong, energetic, and attentive. Parents play with and engage with their daughters and sons differently starting in infancy. With their sons, they are rougher in their play. They assert that even if biology does influence gender, the importance of culture and socialisation should not be understated. It is possible to transform gender and contribute to the creation of a society where men and women have more opportunities to realise their full potential, to the extent that society and culture do in fact create gender.