Childhood development

• The bulk of socialization occurs while one is “growing up”
• Theories of socialization tend to focus on birth through teenage years

Psychological theories

• Focus on developmental phases of relations, emotions, etc.
  (Freud, Erikson, Kohlberg, …)

Sociological theories

• Focus on social expectations and roles
  (Cooley, Mead, …)
• Looking-glass self (Cooley)
• Roles as relations

Symbolic interactionism

• Focus on roles, situated sense of self, and the generalized other
• Tightly linked to theories of childhood development

Roles shape expectations

• Often it is not a question of general behavior.
  “What is the right/wrong way to behave?”
• Instead, a question of role-specific behavior.
  “What is the right/wrong way for people like me to behave?”
• Moreover, role-specific behavior is sensitive to situational context.
  “What is the right/wrong way for people like me to behave toward people like you?”

Reflexivity

• Behavior is prescribed by situated roles
• Roles are defined by characteristic behavior

Sex vs gender

• Related, contructed categories
• Sex tends to rely on physiological characterstics
  Genome; hormones; genitalia; reproductive role; secondary characteristics
• Gender is based on roles, expectations, behavior
  Clothing; mannerisms; language; values;
  interests; …
• Sex and gender are both "primary" categories affecting virtually every aspect of social life

Sex–gender link

• Sex and gender are closely linked, in particular (but certainly not exclusively) in Western societies
• Children are commonly assigned a gender before or at the moment of birth based on sex determination
  Usually: visual inspection of genitals or chromosonal analysis
• One-to-one link between sex and gender is a social construction

Gender is among the most overtly socialized institutions

• “Primary cultural frame” (Cecilia Ridgeway)
  Frames allow us to negotiate situations in everyday interactions and relations
• Gender is present in virtually every domain
  Language, sexuality, employment, education, finance, …

Gendered socialization of children

• Begins very early, often before birth
  Gender reveal parties, nursery/clothing colors, names, …
• By age three, most children can identify gender in photographs and engage in gendered play
  Gender identity based on clothing/behavior rather than sexual characteristics
• Boy/girl divide present in children’s preferences, behavior, and social structures

Reflexivity of gendered socialization

• Gender categories and gendered expectations mutually reinforce one another
• Gender boundaries are maintaned through everyday interaction and institutionalization

Socially constructed categories

• We have discussed several different social categories that can be understood as social constructs
• E.g. race, ethnicity, disability, sex, & gender

Boundaries

• Analyses have focused on the ways the inclusion in these categories is socially determined
• The social deliniation of boundaries