Ridgeway & Correll Conversation

Ridgeway & Correll: "We categorize others based on appearances and behavioral cues...that are culturally presumed to stand for physical sex differences (515)." 

Caitlin: I completely agree with their take on how we categorize people. We always seem to do this with people, usually on a subconscious level. In everyday activities, the way we view people is often stereotypical. It is usually based on what they are wearing or what activity is being done. I think that this statement really brings home what I view as gender. It says exactly what I think: that people categorize others based on what they look like, instead of by their personality.

Ridgeway & Correll: "We should expect that the behavioral expectations for men and women that are contained within gender beliefs also will be implicitly evoked for individuals in social relational contexts. Indeed, social cognition experiments demonstrate that sex categorization automatically activates gender stereotypes, including gender status distinctions, and primes them to affect judgements and behavior (515)." 

Caitlin: I think it is interesting that this has been proven in an experiment. I agree that the way that people react to a situation is based on the behaviors that they have been raised with. It is influenced greatly by what people believe to be the social norm and what values they have learned to be considered in this context of the social norm. How we view others is greatly affected by what the media has portrayed to a person as ideal and also by what the people around us have deemed acceptable. I think that people are very often quick to judge and very rarely take a second look if it seems like someone is a stereotype that they don't necessarily like. Without that second look, one will often miss that person's unique personality or if it is an activity, they may bypass a good experience. 

Works Cited:

• Unpacking the Gender System: A Theoretical Perspective on Gender Beliefs and Social Relations

• Cecilia L. Ridgeway and Shelley J. Correll
• Gender and Society, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Aug., 2004), pp. 510-531
• Published by: Sage Publications, Inc

Journal 1

Aaron: “Very young children learn their culture’s social definitions of gender and gender identity at the same time that they learn what gender behaviors are appropriate for them (426).“

Caitlin: I believe this statement is accurate because when children are young, they are taught what behaviors are acceptable and how to react to certain situations. Aaron’s thoughts are very much in tune with what I think about gender and how it affects the way people grow in society.  I believe that children learn about behaviors from the moment they are born because of how people act around them. This statement can be seen in everyday experiences when you see boys being taught that dolls are for girls and that they should play sports. For girls, they are taught that they should focus on looking beautiful and should be interested in clothes. I remember when I was younger that trying to identify if a person was a male or female would be based on their clothing and hair style. If a boy had long hair, I probably would have thought that they were a girl and if a girl had short hair, I more than likely thought it was a boy. Children that are around 5 typically don’t identify gender by anatomy.

Aaron: “These two clusters of attributes are most commonly seen as mirror images of one another with masculinity usually characterized by dominance and aggression, and femininity by passivity and submission. A more even-handed description of the social qualities subsumed by femininity and masculinity might be to label masculinity as generally concerned with egoistic dominance and femininity as striving for cooperation or communion (427).”

Caitlin: I agree that this statement is quite true in our society today. However, I do not agree that this is the way things should be. I see no reason why men always have to be the dominant people in society and that women must always submit to men. I think this idea is an ancient concept and way past due for a makeover. Women today are on the rise in politics, are well-educated, and have very substantial careers. This idea that men are supposed to be the “bread-winners” in society really irritates me because it makes me think that they believe they are better than women.  Women can think for themselves and should not have to “cooperate” with men all the time.