Gender can be defined as the difference in roles and responsibilities that differentiate men from women. It is also used as a basis for creating masculine and feminine roles. It is dependent on the society or community to assign different roles according to sex, social responsibilities and identity. Some communities have set aside some social roles in a manner that they can be considered as belonging to either males or females.
According to Coupland (109), “Social scientists define gender as a construction of the community, experts in gender studies try to figure out whether the difference in biological characteristics influence gender disparities in human beings.” From the perspective of art, paintings of 17th century reveal shows how women were perceived. The painting that showed the nude bodies implied their submission to men.
According to Butler, “Gender as an objective thing does not exist. Gender reality is performance which means that it is only real to the extent it is performed.” He further argues that gender does not in any way depend on physical characteristics of a person, but it is a social fabrication that is subject to change and can also be protested. Roles associated to gender do not practically express what gender is, and neither does it define the objectives that gender ought to attain.
This is due to the fact gender is not a fact, but performance of roles associated to it creates the notion of gender because without them, gender would not exist. Therefore, gender constitutes formation of attributes whose beginning has been hidden. The beginning is not based on reality but performance of duties, so that through this duties the physical our physical body becomes gender although these duties are subject to change or revision over time. I agree with this perspective that gender is based on creation and that it is not a reality.
Generational
Recent studies suggest that the biggest division in the society today is brought about by generational gap and not race or income entities. As we continue interacting in the society, we realize that the age difference between the older and the younger people steadily grows. For instance, the age of students range from four to eighteen years, while adults continue to grow older. In order for harmony to exist, the adults have to formulate ways of understanding students so that they can remain relevant.
One of the factors that bring about differences in generation is change. Age difference has the ability to bring about generational change in the sense that, each generation come up with its own unique characteristics. By virtue of their age, young people’s priorities differ from the once of the older generation. At their age, they have few financial responsibilities; hence, most of them spent their income randomly with a big portion of it going to entertainment.
Art plays a big role in shaping the behavior young people through music. Socio economic conditions contribute to generational change in the society. The conditions that the economy and the society offer have varied impacts on people of different ages. Experiences undergone in formative years of development help distinguish behaviors of different generations. This indicators help create a forum through which the world is perceived and decisions are made. For instance, baby boomers were made due to the influence from Television (Clurman, 750).
According to social science experts, the older generation of people is mostly influenced by the authority unlike the young people who are greatly influenced by their peers. Among their best selection of decisions in life is a selection of choices from experiences of their peers. When you compare the two groups, older people make decision basing on core values; while the young people live in a manner that they are persuaded to embrace social values. From the discussion, generational refers to changes in the society that are brought about as a result age difference. Therefore, advances in the field of art have a great influence in bringing generational change.
Works cited
Clurman, Walker. Rocking the Ages. Sydney: Yankelovich Partners, 1997.
Coupland, Douglas. Generation X: tales for an accelerated culture. Sydney: St Martin’s Press, 1991.
Discussing the issue of gender representation, it would be relevant to refer to the modern social cultures’ trends that define the difference between such notions as gender and sexuality. It is also necessary to discuss the following problems within this context: common attributes that are used to determine femininity/ masculinity; the evaluation and distinguishing of behaviors that are appropriate for men and for women; people’s attitude toward based such norms and values of behavior and the way they are exposed to in people’s daily cultural lives.
Main body
Another issue under consideration lays in the social perceptions changed historically about gender, sex, and sexuality, both in American culture and in other cultures throughout the world. In order to be able to analyze the above-mentioned problems, it is necessary to refer to the following resources that trigger the audience’s thoughts on the function and role of representation in popular culture: “Never Just Pictures” by Susan Bordo and children’s television show “Avatar”.
Gender is a key category that is used to identify and characterize human beings, and, generally, it is basic criterion when discussing the issue of representation. It is important to outline that such characteristics as an understanding of one’s identity, and other people’s identities and basic features are usually referred to as concepts of gender. Here raises the essential question of what determines feminine or masculine features, characteristics, and representations.
With the regard to the above-mentioned facts, it is necessary to note that not only human beings, but also various objects that are used by them and surround them, are represented by media resources as the distinctive features of boys or girls only. This, particularly, happens in advertising and television shows for children. Thus, it might be stated that people grow up convinced and insured of what is “appropriate” and “socially required” characteristics for each gender.
Carrying on the topic of the discussion, it is important to point out that television indeed influences the learning of specific social concepts, the behavior of its characters teaches the audience indirect lessons. With the view to this, the problem of gender representation has been a continuing concern as television frequently presents basic images of masculine and feminine, even in such progressive and popular among children television shows as “Avatar”.
Following this, it is such a well-known fact is worth mentioning: in given children’s show, as well as in entire television, male characters indeed outnumber females two or three to one. Female characters usually play stereotypic roles; they tend to be represented as less active. Children’s television programs and shows might are sex-stereotyped with female characters basically underrepresented, and, as a rule, less central to the show.
With the regard to the above mentioned, it must be said that there exists a certain connection between children viewing such television shows and having a stereotypical understanding of gender roles. This happens because of the children’s desire to be alike sex television characters. But here raises a great possibility to operate with counter stereotypical images that may successfully combat gender and sexual stereotypes.
Referring to Susan Bordo’s “Never Just Pictures” and to “Avatar”, it should be pointed out that the media as a whole, and television, particularly, shapes social and cultural criteria of what it means to be a boy or girl, male or female. In everyday life, people, especially children, encounter various male and female role models in the course of television’s information consumption.
Although such role models may seem, at first, to be different, they do not represent the meaning of ordinary male and female characters. This leads to the stunting individual growth of a person. Here happens a situation, when by accepting role models, as recognized criteria, people, especially children, exalt them and regard them as desirable to be. Here must be provided some basic issues generally related to gender criteria; typically masculine ones might be listed as follows: tough, brave, hard, and sweaty; feminine ones might be described as follows: fragile, thin, soft, beautiful, and fragrant.
Following this, it would be relevant to cite Bordo’s point of view about the above-mentioned problem: “Children in this culture [modern culture with its twisted values and social conditions] grow up knowing that you can never be thin enough and that being fat is one of the worst things one can be. One study asked ten- and eleven-year-old boys and girls to rank drawings of children with various physical handicaps; drawings of fat children elicited the greatest disapproval and discomfort, over pictures of kids with facial disfigurements and missing hands” (Bordo, 2002, p. 265).
Taking Bordo’s viewpoint on this problem into consideration, it is necessary to that twisted modern trends and beauty ideals established by fashion designers and their models and encouraged greatly by media, led to the eating disorder among young girls and women (and even young men). This disorder, and other problems connected to it, became a widespread and common form of cultural perception.
Discussing the above-provided information, it is worth mentioning that while representing women, media resources focus mainly on their physical beauty, missing and excluding other values of women. It should be also pointed out the lack of powerful female characters on television and the unnatural portrayals of them. All these lead to false admiration from the audience and misguiding perceptions as such portrayals have no relation to the real women’s lives and experiences.
Speaking of men, it is necessary to mention that they are finding it as hard to live up to their media representations and descriptions as women are to their ones. It might be stated that media representations of male ideals came in a great force when men’s audience had been targeted with fashion’s product promotion As well as women, men are encouraged to strive to be alike models from magazines, to look and behave in a similar way. But such an aim is considered really hard to achieve. And as well as in the case with women, such striving leads to different disorders, social perceptions, and problems.
Following this, it would be relevant to say that there is a complex connection between those problems and cultural perceptions and images. It might be stated that body ideals perpetuate people’s anxieties, fears, and insecurities. Such glamorous images and ideals cause painful feelings and envy attitudes of those people with not perfect bodies and appearance toward “ideal” models.
But, there might be also represented another explanation of this. The above-mentioned, perfect images draw up some imaginary solutions to people’s anxieties, fears, and insecurities, so they can fantasize about who they could be, but not, actually, are. This fact explains the power of those ideas and images, their unconquerable position in the media sector through the years. Bordo, referring to Freud, regards this problem in the context of “death fashion”, which represents release “from anxiety over not having one’s needs met” (Bordo, 2002, p. 269).
Conclusion
As a conclusion, it should be outlined that problems of gender representations, sexuality, artificial division on feminine and masculine lay, actually, deeper than just fashion trends, ideal images, and their influence on people. It is necessary to outline within this context that cultural images play here a great role, as they are deep themselves and supported by those who gain huge profits from twisted fashion concepts and trends selling their products and goods.
Works Cited
“Avatar: The Legend of Aang”. By Michael Dante Di Martino. Nickelodeon, 2005.
Bordo, Susan. Never Just Pictures. “Every Day, Everywhere: Global Perspectives on Popular Culture”. London: McGraw-Hill Humanities Social, 2002, pp. 265 – 269.
Gender development has lately become a key area of debate amongst researchers, religious groups, and politicians among others. This essay reviews the ‘Gender and development’ authored by Kabeer and Sweetman. The authors look at the patterns of poverty with regard to the growing gender inequalities in the world. The article looks at the way that we understand the concept of gender and development and the growing gap between the men and women. In particular, the journal article discusses gender equity in the middle income and high-income countries by highlighting some of the flaws with regard to the aspect of economic growth and the human progress.
Article Summary
To understand gender equity, the author discusses the issue of gender and development by looking at international policy, research and practices with regard to the way in demystifies other forms of inequality which calls for policy makers to focus on gender and development as the main concern when discussing other issues such as poverty, inequality and Gross Domestic Product of any country (Kabeer & Sweetman, 2015). Instead, the article advocates for social justice and economic well-being as a major concern in the growing economies.
The article seeks to address this gap by looking at the importance of strengthening the capacity of people to determine their priorities as part of gender development. It looks at the role that women play in development which is still not recognizable in most parts of the world. The author thus looks at various approaches to women and development and gender related development. Lastly, the article points out several lessons that should be addressed in gender and development program for both the underdeveloped and the highly developed countries of the world (Kabeer & Sweetman, 2015).
To understand equity, the authors use three approaches that are the anti-poverty approach, efficiency approach, and equity approach. One important area in this article is that it shifts its focus from just women to the term gender meaning that it looks at equity from both the male and the female perspective. The author discusses both the social, economic, cultural and political studies with regard to gender equity. The authors thus argue that for there to be a sensitive gender transformation in the world.
These structures examined with a view of discussing them following a top down approach. According to the authors, the main concern when it comes to gender and development in the issue of ‘gender mainstreaming’ that calls for proving higher priority to women issues with regard to the social, economic and political interventions. For this reason, the study analyzes the gender and development approaches of several developed and developing countries by stressing the importance of gender sensitive transformation of structure over which the transformation of women is embedded.
However, it is important to note that such approaches to empowerment should be done at the grassroots level to the top level. Perhaps, it is the only way women can improve their social, political and economic powers. This situation means that countries need to put more support in awareness programs, political mobilization, and networking with a view of realizing the campaign on gender and development. The authors are more concerned about the gender empowerment approaches than addressing the challenges of inequality, which are the most critical and promising areas that should be emphasized in gender development. The article discusses these convergence points for different approaches, especially with regard to gender development and inequality.
Critic of the Authors
In discussing the issue of inequality on gender and development, the authors fail to address some of the most vital areas when it comes to inequality. At the outset, the article does not discuss household structures and ways in which they contribute to gender inequalities. For example, the fact that women have more roles to play apart from competing in the socio-economic and political world that is usually male dominated (Talsi, 2007). There is usually a general tendency to ignore the functions of a household when it comes to gender and development. For example, nowadays, there is a clear division of labor and equal decision-making power and control of resources for both men and women in their homes (Cranny-Francis, Waring, Stavropolous, & Kirby, 2003). The issue of division of labor is no longer the one that the husband would be productive in bringing food to the table while the woman would be the one to take care of the children and the home.
These assumptions are not correct since they provide a misleading picture of what gender inequality is all about. Nowadays we also have female-headed households where women are the key decision-makers and economic managers. This issue is crucial to gender and development as research shows that there are areas in the world where one-third of the families are female-headed. Elsewhere, women contribute to almost half of the household financial needs. The Sub-Saharan Africa contributes highly to female-headed households with over 31% (Talsi, 2007).
The main point here lies in the relationship between poverty and female-headed households. However, the implication of female headship in the family with regard to the social and economic status of the household is not the same in each country. It depends on other factors such as women access to basic services and jobs. Besides, this relationship is controlled by the social acceptance of female headship. Regardless of the possibility of the female-headed households prospering, the efforts of women are never recognized. Therefore, the authors fail short of discussing the development towards this direction and how gender inequality debates leave out men.
Findings
According to the article, the major findings with regard to gender and development were that developing countries are the worst hit with the issues of inequalities due to the high number of double standards (Cranny-Francis et al., 2003). In addition, the best way to ensure gender and development lays in the social and political will of the country (Fine, 2011). In highly developed countries, women and men both compete for high offices and are provided with equal opportunities unlike their counterparts in the third world. With this regard, it is only through awareness programs continuous mobilization that equality would be realized with regard to gender.
Conclusion
With regard to the finding, it is only the equity approach that provides space for gender and development. Such approaches do not only provide an opportunity for women but also for men. Eventually, it will provide benefits for both men and women. The equity approach is best since it also supports the integration of women into the development processes by providing them with access to employment and market places. One of the major concerns about the equity approach is that it is not restricted to economic development but questions the inequalities between women and men in a much broader perspective.
Reference List
Cranny-Francis, A., Waring, W., Stavropolous, P., & Kirby, J. (2003). Gender Studies: Terms and Debates. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Fine, C. (2011). Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
Kabeer, N., & Sweetman, C. (2015). Introduction: Gender and Inequalities. Gender & Development Volume, 23(2), 185-188.
Talsi, K. (2007). A Conceptual Framework for Gender and Development Studies: From Welfare to Empowerment. New York, NY: Jenner.
The present paper dwells upon the use of emoticons, stickers, photo, video and audio files in Line. The major focus of the research is gender differences. It is found that females are more emotional and use more emoticons and stickers while males tend to share more video, audio and photo files. The data also suggest that males often use emoticons and stickers when communicating with females. Further research may imply analysis of the influence of interpersonal relationships as well as features of character on the use of visual effects.
Introduction
People used to be worried about the role of phones in their lives lamenting about lost face-to-face communication. Development of technology has brought other issues to worry about but it also helped people add an emotional component to their media communication. Social media and instant messaging enable people to have emotional conversation and the effect is achieved through the use of emoticons, stickers, photo, video and audio files (Tardanico 2012). The sphere of digital communication is perfect for researching gender differences in communication patterns. This paper will focus on gender differences in the use of emoticons, photo, stickers, video and audio files in such instant messaging application as Line.
Literature Review
It is necessary to note that there is rather limited bulk of works on the use of emoticons in digital communication. Thus, researchers see emoticons as linguistic elements that enrich communication and adds nonverbal elements (Jibril & Abdullah 2013: 205). It is noteworthy that researchers are also interested in cross-cultural aspect of the use of emoticons. Park et al. (2013) note that people having similar cultural backgrounds tend to use similar emoticons and stickers. Azuma and Ebner (2008: 972) also support this view and they add that emoticons can soon become a “universal visual language” of the future.
Gender issues have also been a topic of researchers’ attention. Tossell et al. (2012) note that females use emoticons more extensive but males use more varied emoticons and stickers. Clearly, the use of emoticons, stickers, photo, and videos varies and this variety can be explained by diversity of people’s characters. Hence, it is possible to assume that these visual effects can be compared to nonverbal tools of communication.
Methodology
The focus of the Study
The paper focuses on gender differences in the use of emoticons, stickers, photo, video and audio files. Mixed research method will be used with a focus on qualitative data. The hypothesis of the present paper is as follows:
Females use more visual effects that are more varied while males do not use emoticons or stickers but may use video and audio files.
Participants and Procedure
Four people will take part in the research. The names are used for convenience (and they are changed). Stan is 29 married man. He is a manager. Yan (Stan’s friend) is a 28 married man. He is an IT specialist. Paula, Stan’s wife, is 27 and she is an administrator. Anna is 27 and she is Paula’s friend.
The present paper will include analysis of conversations in Line that took place during a month. Major attention is paid to the use of such visual effects as emoticons, stickers, photo, video and/or audio files. Major results will be provided in the form of graphs
Results and Discussion
It is necessary to note that the results of the research supported the hypothesis but there are some unexpected data (see Table. 1). It is necessary to note that relationship have a significant impact on the choice of visual effects.
Table 1 – The Use of Visual Effects by Participants.
emoticons
stickers
photo
video
audio
Paula
21
75
9
9
5
Anna
98
16
20
2
0
Stan
9
11
21
16
13
Yan
11
3
30
12
7
First, it is necessary to note that males tend to use photo, video and audio files more than emoticons and stickers (see Fig. 1).
Figure 1: The Use of Visual Effects by Females and Males.
Females prefer expressing their attitude towards the utterance of their interlocutors. For instance, it is possible to consider a short extract of the conversation between Paula and Anna.
It is clear that females use the emoticons and stickers to reveal their attitude towards some events they are sharing. Even such a short extract shows that conversations are highly emotional in the majority of cases. The participants do not use many words but the conversation seems complete, as it is obvious that it is a result of some actions both females know about. At the same time, it is interesting that Paula tends to use stickers while Anna employs emoticons (see Table 1). It is necessary to note that females may often share conversations with other people (which makes the majority of photo files sent).
It is possible to consider a very short extract of a typical conversation between males. The extract is as follows:
The vast majority of conversation with the use of visual effects are very similar to the one provided below. Males seem to use visual effects just to share certain information. Usually these are funny things. Notably, they do not use emoticons to show they think the joke is funny. They may use punctuation marks. This may be explained by the fact that males are quite busy and do not think that their emotions are worth much of their attention.
Surprisingly, the things are different in conversations between a male and a female (See Fig. 2). Stan uses stickers when communicating with his wife Paula. It is necessary to add that these are often responses. However, they are often used to create an atmosphere of a game. It is also necessary to note that Paul shared quite a lot of photo and video files with his wife.
Figure 2: Male/Male and Male/Female Conversations.
Conclusion
The research held focused on peculiarities of the use of such visual effects as emoticons, stickers, photo, video and audio files in Line. The major focus was made on gender differences. It turns out that women are more emotional in digital conversations and visual effects help them reveal their emotions. At the same time, males tend to share various files. At that, when communicating with a female, males tend to be more emotional and use stickers. This makes the conversation livelier. Clearly, the number of participants is limited and further research is necessary. It can be interesting to concentrate on the way interpersonal relationships affect the choice of visual effects. It can be also interesting to trace the role character plays on the use of stickers and emoticons as people (female participants) tend to use different tools.
References
Azuma, Junichi & Martin Ebner. 2008. A Stylistic Analysis of Graphic Emoticons: Can they be Candidates for a Universal Visual Language of the Future? Original printed in: Proceeding of World Conference on Educational Media, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (ED-Media), 972-977.
Jibril, Tanimu Ahmed & Mardziah Hayati Abdullah. 2013. Relevance of Emoticons in Computer-Mediated Communication Contexts: An Overview. Asian Social Science 9(4), 201-207.
Park, Jaram, Vladimir Barash, Clay Fink & Meeyoung Cha. 2013. Emoticon Style: Interpreting Differences in Emoticons Across Cultures. Proceedings of the Seventh International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, 466-475.
Tossell, Chad C., Philip Kortum, Clayton Shepard, Laura H. Barg-Walkow, Ahmad Rahmati & Lin Zhong. 2012. A Longitudinal Study of Emoticon Use in Text Messaging from Smartphones. Computers in Human Behavior 28(1), 659-663.
Following the introduction of China’s market reforms in 1979, the country has experienced rapid urbanization and industrialization. Complementing these spectacular economic and social transformations is the globe’s largest internal migrations. Notably, the estimates show that 158 million people (women constituting 36%) had moved from rural areas to urban centers in search of paying jobs by the year 2011.1
Using disposable labor and nimble fingers, the global capital has established a unique international division of labor which has transformed the People’s Republic Of China into a “world factory.” Besides, the global capital made sexual and class exploitation of women more complex, more mobile, and more extensive. This paper reviews gender dilemmas as part of complexities engulfing rural migrant women in the country that espouses Marxism – China.
Authoritative speech
A major dilemma that engulfs rural migrant women in urban areas is authoritative speech. Notably, authoritative speech is highly recognized, believed, and valued by the listeners. Mainly, the recognition of the speech depends on the status of the speaker, the form of the speech, and the status of the speaker.2 Since rural migrant women lack the ability to speak with authority as urban people do, in most cases, the urbanites do not recognize their speech. Some organizations such as Dagongmei’s Home have been established to act as a site of articulation.
Dagongmei’s Home helps rural migrant women to learn the manner in which they can speak with authority.3 The primary objective of Dagongmei’s Home is to empower Dagongmei so that they do not submit to the language of white-collar women. Specifically, Home empowers migrant women through speech which in turn connects them to legal experts, media, social workers, professors, and women’s federation officials.
Ironically, as Home empowers migrant women, it suppresses them too. In particular, the Home acts as a cage which contains and limits marginal voices by letting migrant women speak as Dagongmei instead of as people with prejudiced experiences. Notably, the Home does not allow or authorize all forms of the speech. Mostly, the Home selects particular women whose speech is favorable to promote the discourse which is based on Chinese peasantry representation. According to Fu, most of the speeches advocate for the awakening of Chinese peasantry representation for inactivity so “that it can undergo a pedagogy, the completion of which would produce a disciplined labor force with high suzhi (quality).”4
Peasant identity
Again, rural migrant women face the dilemma of peasant identity. Mostly, rural migrant women reject their rural identity and instead embrace “a more sexualized, urban femininity through a discourse of eating spring rice.”5 For instance, during Dagongmei visits to their villages, they wear and talk differently to distinguish themselves from their colleagues in the village.
Notably, it is not an easy task to discard peasant identity in reality because of women’s rural hukou registration, secondary and temporary status in the urban labor market as well as gender specific waged work, together with the disparity between urban and rural space. Such aspects differentiate rural migrant women from “modern” urban identity. According to Zhang, these issues together with other institution based barriers compel women to rely on their relatives for support; hence, making them come to terms with their peasant identity.6
Government discrimination
Another dilemma that rural migrant women encounter relates to the role played by the government regarding their plight. In fact, “organizing migration has become a national project that is encouraged by the government, and exploitation of migrant workers is depicted as a legal problem rather than exposed for what it really is: capitalist exploitation of cheap labor.”7
This aspect is demonstrated through manipulation and official naming of rural migrant women using phrases such as ‘peasant workers’, ‘dagongmei’, ‘disposable labor’, ‘floating population’, and ‘blind migrant’. Notably, Dagongmei means working sisters (young and unmarried). Mostly, it is mostly translated as “working for the boss” or “selling labor” hence implying commoditization of labor.
The government and other institutions consider Dagongmei as ignorant, short term, docile but quiescent workers. Usually, the government portrays them as offenders or victims of crime who deserve punishment or discipline respectively.8 As such, the government ignores Dagongmei suffering which symbolizes their each day struggle. Mainly, rural migrant women are allowed to take low paying gender specific jobs in service sector, manufacturing, and textile. Consequently, rural migrant women constitute the most oppressed group in China’s urban areas. In fact, they are victims of exploitation through the oppression of state socialism, global capitalism, and familial patriarch (based on gender, class, and rural-urban differences).9
Media biased narratives
According to Wanning, “profit-driven media narratives often reinforce [the] sexualized image of the Dagongmei and construct them as morally loose and sexually out of control.”10 Notably, some official narratives argue that rural migrant women tend to succumb “to the lure of easy money and shamelessly sell their bodies instead of doing respectable work, or for being naïve enough to fall prey to predatory men.”11 In particular, these narratives maintain that rural migrant women use sex for opportunities, favors, and monetary gain and as such, they are depicted as being morally questionable, uneducated, or lacking civility. However, the media narratives refuse to acknowledge that sexual decisions made by rural migrant women are meant to assist their families and friends and thus they are acts of selflessness and bravery.
Commoditization of Dagongmei bodies
The commoditization of Dagongmei’s bodies is common in Chinese urban centers. For example, in Beijing, sexual harassment of domestic workers is commonly practiced on rural migrant women in urban homes because many victims cannot complain, let alone seek justice.12 As a result, rural migrant women in Beijing, premarital sexual activity has increased, always entailing unprotected sexual intercourse and unintentional pregnancies.
Again, the absence of working opportunities compels some rural migrant women to enter the sexual industry by becoming prostitutes. Notably, near factory assembly lines, there are bars, entertainment centers, hair salons, and brothels.13 Further, the media narratives and urbanites regard rural migrant women as chickens or contaminating bodies and thus considered as sources of fear, fascination, desire, and anxiety.
Conclusion
In conclusion, rural migrant women are facing dilemmas relating to their inability to speak with authority, peasant identity, government discrimination, median biased narratives and the commoditization of their bodies by the society. For instance, the incapacity to make an authoritative speech poses a significant challenge to rural migrant women. Although Dagongmei Home intends to empower migrant women to speak with authority, it suppresses and limits their voices by letting them speak as Dagongmei.
Again, rural migrant women are the most oppressed group in the urban areas in China, and some cases, they are considered as substandard citizens because the government, which is supposed to defend them, encourages their current predicament. Besides, the media, which is supposed to raise the concerns of rural migrant women to the government and other groups, continues to demonize Dagongmei by depicting them as morally loose and sexually out of control. Overall, rural migrant women are victims who have no one to turn to because of the institutionalized exploitation by the state socialism, global capitalism, and familial patriarch.
References
Fu, Diana. “A Cage of Voices: Producing and Doing Dagongmei in Contemporary China.” Modern China 35, no. 5 (2009): 527-561.
Wanning, Sun. “”Northern Girls”: Cultural Politics of Agency and South China’s Migrant Literature.” Asian Studies Review 38, no. 2 (2014): 168-185.
Zhang, Nana. “Performing Identities: Women in Rural–Urban Migration in Contemporary China.” Geoforum 54, no. 1 (2014): 17–27.
Footnotes
Nana Zhang, “Performing Identities: Women in Rural–Urban Migration in Contemporary China,” Geoforum 54, no. 1 (2014): 17.
Diana Fu, “A Cage of Voices: Producing and Doing Dagongmei in Contemporary China,” Modern China 35, no. 5 (2009): 547.
Ibid.
Ibid., 548.
Nana Zhang, 21.
Ibid. 21.
Diana Fu, 548.
Nana Zhang, 18.
Ibid., 17.
Sun Wanning, “”Northern Girls”: Cultural Politics of Agency and South China’s Migrant Literature,” Asian Studies Review 38, no. 2 (2014): 174.
A human being is the best creation of God in the world. There are two types of human beings living in the world as man and woman. “WOMEN are different from men and those differences matter in women’s health issues” (The New York Times, 2008). But at the time of born, their behaviors are the same. For the first time in his or her life, there is no difference between man and women’s behaviors. But day by day, they are behaving differently, and their characteristics, attitudes, and values are going to be different from each other.
Consequently, they are going to be men and women. In our society, this study identifies human beings whether they are men or women based on different biological structures and different characteristics, attitudes, values, and behaviors which are established constructed by the specific environment, society, and culture in where we are living. In our environment, society, and culture, there are various types of institutions such as educational institutions from where this study collects our necessary knowledge and non-educational institutions such as religion, workplaces, family, media, peers, communities, and politics.
Every institution impacts our characteristics, attitudes, values, and behaviors, they teach us that what type of characteristics, attitudes, values, and behaviors means gender roles, should be contained, the persons who work in these institutions teach various types of gender activities directly or indirectly or both. This study thinks that the teachers treated as the representative impact on the gender roles.
They teach us that what type of behaviors we have to do with society and with other people and what type of behaviors our society expects from us. Hence teachers in addition to the systems of education, are a much more important factor to influence our gender roles. Some educational institutions prefer to give single-sex teachers which helps to influence gender roles. In case of teaching style, it is different for male teacher and female teacher which also influence the gender roles.
Literature Review
The gender issue is an important factor in our world. Every developed, developing and underdeveloped country is fighting against gender discrimination because they believe that if we can use our power of male and female people properly for development, we can reach our destination of optimum development. It is known that there is a great relationship between educational institutions and gender issues. That’s why there are various types of research did by the various researchers on gender issues of students and teachers such as
Ausburn, 2004
This study describes instructional design elements most valued by nontraditional adult learners in hybrid learning environments that combine limited face-to-face contact with online learning and collaboration” (Cleveland, and Clouse, 2005).
Shel, 2007
This study describes teacher training, school, and classroom climate (to which, this study added community, cultural, governmental influences, etc.), and teacher-student interaction and peer interaction (which encompasses teaching methods and management of peer relationship) (Shel, 31 March 2007).
Machin and Sandra, 2006
This study evaluates the gender gap at various stages of compulsory education in England. This study considers the importance of some possible explanations for the gender gap – in particular, factors that may explain the observed changes over time.
But no research is ever done on the relationship between gender and teaching practices. This study will identify whether any relationship has between gender and teaching practices or not. This study will discuss it and how our teaching practices give the gender message to us directly or indirectly or both. This study thinks that it is one kind of descriptive research that means the descriptive research approach is appropriate. “The major purpose of its description of the state of affairs as it exists at present” (Kothari, 2005, p.4).
The main characteristic of this research approach is that the researcher has no control over the variables, he or she can only report what has happened and what is happening. This study also thinks that it is explanatory research.
Research Methods and Methodology
The purpose of this study is to identify whether there is any relationship between gender and teaching practices or not if so, how the teaching practices give the gender massages. This is done by using largely qualitative research techniques, in its focus groups; a questionnaire is designed to collect information from educational institutions about its teaching practices, male and female teachers, male and female students of these institutions.
This study is one kind of descriptive research and that’s why this study has to describe whether there is any relationship between gender and teaching practices or not. To describe it, the current information about the teaching practices of educational institutions must be needed. One male and the female worker will go to the institutions and ask the related questions on teaching practices to collect the information and the given answers will be written by the workers.
Research design
This study will be completed through an experimental research design is used. In it, there is a hypothesis and to test this hypothesis data is collected from an educational institution through a questionnaire. The participants of this questionnaire will answer as many as possible and after getting these answers an analysis will be done to test the hypothesis.
Fig: 1 an experimental Research Design on a Descriptive Research Approach.
Sample Selection
In this study, to test the hypothesis, the necessary information needs to collect from the sample and that’s why this study needs to select a sample. The various related questions in the questionnaire are asked to six male and six female students and also three male and female teachers in three educational institutions. In the case of students’ selection, three local students and three students who come from the outside of the city are selected to ask the questions. In the case of teachers’ selection, one senior and two junior teachers are selected to ask the questions.
Questionnaire Design
In this study, to collect data, the questionnaire system is used and the open type questions are used because it helps to discuss freely between the questioner and the participants and the questionnaire design will be as follows:
Are the teachers whether all male or all female or both?
Which type of subjects is preferred by the male and female teacher to take the class?
Are the classrooms combined or separate for male and female students?
What type of subjects is male and female students preferred for their higher education?
What type of students do male or female teachers like in his or her classroom?
are there any behavioral differences of teachers in the case of their male and female students?
are there any differences between male and female teachers in case of their teaching style?
are there any differences between given facilities by the teachers in the case of their male and female students?
Are the possible locations equally accessible to girls and boys, such as in a mosque?
What are the direct and indirect costs for girls and boys to attend school?
How inclusive of girls are the learning materials available? Do they include pictures of girls and boys? Are stories and texts appropriate for both? Do they perpetuate gender stereotypes?
Are teaching materials available to help teachers address specific topics needed by girls and boys such as reproductive health for girls?
How many male and female students will be in a classroom?
are there any differences between the male and female students in case of their educational expenses?
Do the female and male teachers behave with male or female students the same or not?
Is there any kind of tendency of male or female teachers for which female or male students do not like to contract with teachers alone?
Do you think that male teachers are more ethical or not in the case of teaching and also behaving with female students than female with male students?
As a teacher, are male and female both teachers ethical or not?
Do you think that the teaching practices of this institution are influential factors for gender roles?
Hypothesis
The relationships between gender and teaching practices are the main hypothesis of this study. Because about all of us first learn our behaviors from our parents who are the teacher of our pre-school education but at the time of five or six years we go to the primary school and then secondary school and then high school. During this educational time of our life, the teacher teaches us about many non-educational matters such as characteristics, attitudes, values, and behaviors, as well as our gender roles, hence teachers and teaching practices, are very important influential factors in case of our characteristics, attitudes, values, and behaviors as well as our gender roles. And that’s why this study wants to hypothesize that ‘there is a relationship between gender and teaching practices.’
Data Collection
Q1) in the one educational institution, all teachers are male, in another two educational institutions, all teachers are female and male combined.
Q2) Male teachers like technological, mathematical, sciences based subjects and field assignment based subjects such as management, banking, finance, management & information systems, and marketing, accounting & information systems, and so on, to take classes and most female teachers like theoretical subjects such as literature, history, political science, and so on to take classes.
Q3) where combined teachers are available, classrooms are combined but male students sit at one site and female students sit at another site.
Q4) Maximum male students prefer technological, mathematical, sciences based subjects and field assignment based subjects such management, banking, finance, management & information systems, and marketing, accounting & information systems, and so on for their higher education, but most of the female students prefer theoretical subjects such as literature, history, political science, and so on for their higher education. Male teachers try to influence their male students to take technological, mathematical, and science-based subjects and female teachers also try to influence their female students to take theoretical subjects.
Q5) Most male teachers like male students in their classrooms and most female teachers prefer female students in their classrooms and they feel comfortable in it.
Q6) Most of the female teachers give various helpful advice to female students than male students and most male teachers prefer male students to ask important questions, to give supporting elements for their improvement that means behave different behaviors with male and female students (Kelly, 2007).
Q7) One teaching style is different from other teaching styles and it is normal, but there are great differences between male and female teacher’s teaching styles in the classrooms. Male teachers can contract with male and sometimes female students very quickly but female teachers can contract with female and sometimes male students. Male teachers like to move to one place to make the topics easier to understand by the students but most of the female teachers like to stay in one place to deliver their lecture.
Q8) In every educational institution, there are various differences among the given facilities such as course materials, accommodation facilities, communication facilities, library facilities, and so on, between the male and female students. These differences always give a very important gender massage that male and female students are not the same; they are different from each other in various ways such as thinking, mind, behavior, values, and characteristics.
Q9) There are various places and locations in every educational institution such as mosque, hall for male or female students, gymnasium, swimming places, and so on, where male and female students can not go together and many of these places and locations allotted for male and student are different.
Q10) In the case of various costs for male and female students to attend school, there are differences among various direct and indirect costs for male and female students such as admission fees, accommodation fees, travel charges, and so on.
Q11) to make the lectures understandable, various types of learning materials are used. In the case of combined school, these must be appropriate for male and female students. Most of the time male teachers use that type of male-oriented stories and pictures and female teachers use female-oriented stories and pictures for examples of the given lectures. As a result, it has a great impact on the gender roles and these give an important gender massage.
Q12) Sometimes teaching materials are different in the case of male and female students. Female teachers can easily use any type of examples in front of female students but these may not be appropriate in front of male students and male teachers also use various examples in font of male students which are not appropriate in front of female students.
Q13) In one educational institution, the male and female students are the same but in the other two institutions male students are higher than female students in the technological, mathematical, and science based subject’s classroom and female students are higher than male students in the theoretical subject’s based classrooms.
Q14) the educational expenses of male and female students are not the same in all three educational institutions. In every institution female’s educational expenses is higher than the male student.
Q15) Sometimes male or female teachers can not treat same their female and male students. Before thinking of them as a student, male or female teachers think they are female or male students and that’s why they can not behave with them as a student.
Q16) Ethics is a combination of moral standards by which one person should be guided in private and personal life. It tells persons that what is right and what is wrong and how to live moral lives. Like any other person and profession, a teacher and his or her profession must have a code of ethics. Because of the lack of ethical and moral values of male or female students do not like to contract with the female or male teacher alone.
Q17) Sometimes male teachers try to take a chance with their female students for becoming female students and female teachers also. That means sometimes teachers breach their code of ethics as a result the gender roles are influenced. The potential breaches of the teacher’s code of ethics are
Various types of inappropriate relationships with students such as sexual, business partnership, drinking binges, and so on
To violate the various types of school rules and educational procedures which are clearly stated
Failure to be responsible for his her duties (no teaching, chaos, wrong attitude toward the teaching profession, etc)
Enforcing the various types of teacher’s personal views such as political and religious views, views notorious social issues, preference of a particular social group, and so on, directly or indirectly on the personal views of students which are unrelated to the subject of a lesson.
Unfair behaviors such as improper grading, partiality, and lack of fairness are based on who is liked or not with his or her past performance and historical background.
Creating various types of embarrassment or disparagement environment with the help of emotional or psychological harassment
Q18) in every educational institution, every sample of teachers and students is with this study’s hypothesis. All of them would like to say that there is a great relationship between gender and teaching practices (Clifford, n.d.).
Data Analysis
In this study, there are two-three types of variables such as independent variables, dependent variables, and dummy variables.
various teaching professions are independent variables.
the gender massages are dependant variables.
the various instruments which influence the actions of independent variables and as a result dependant variables are reacting very faster.
This study analyses the summary of various related answers to asked questions in the organized questionnaire and tries to identify the relationship between gender and teaching practices.
this study observes that most male teachers prefer male students and most female teachers prefer female students.
this study observes that their teaching style is such type that meal teachers feel comfortable with male students and female teachers feel comfortable with female students. The teaching style segregates the area of knowledge into two sectors for male and female students.
This study observes that male students prefer technological, mathematical, science-based subjects and the job sector which subjects are more complicated and competitive for their higher education and the teacher.
this study observes that teaching practices influence them to take these subjects. And female students prefer theoretical subjects and the subjects what is suitable for the service-oriented job they are more efficient to serve people.
This study observes that on top of that teachers and teaching practices also influence them to take these subjects and send a gender message that these fields of knowledge are suitable for females and the former fields of knowledge are suitable for a male.
this study observes that every educational institution gives different educational facilities to male and female students.
This Study Observes that ethics and good moral values are so important qualities and they must be contained by a male or female teacher. Otherwise, our gender roles are badly affected. According to Regulations (L.N. 81 of 1988), a teacher has three kinds of responsibilities and these must be fulfilled. Without good moral values and ethics, a male and female can not be a teacher. The responsibilities are (Dickey, 2006):
“The teachers’ responsibilities to the students in his or her care
The teacher’s responsibilities to his or her colleagues and the teaching profession and
The teacher’s responsibilities to the parents of his or her students and the community”
Under the first responsibility, various activities are included such as; the teacher
Shall consider primly the student’s well being
Shall support his or her whole professional effort to support the students to develop his or her whole personality including his or her capability to work
Shall promote in his or her student’s honesty, indignity
Shall act with justice
Shall exercise authority by the law of the land and with evolving concepts of the student’s needs and rights
Shall differ each child because everyone is individual and promote differently for their appropriate education
Shall create an obligation to support all students under his or her charge to build up their talents suitably and to the fullest extent feasible
Shall promote the students to work with his or her parents
shall not disclose information about pupils obtained in the course of professional service unless such disclosure serves a compelling professional purpose or is required by law.
Under second responsibilities various activities have also such as the teacher
shall give the proper owner to the professional standing and Opinions of his or her colleagues and shall develop and keep a good relationship with them
Shall maintain a nature to help in all possible ways junior colleagues and those in training
shall give equal educational facilities to male and female students also give an important gender message
Should give a reasonable service to protect the students from harmful conditions of learning for health and safety
Should not purposely representation the students to embarrassment or disparagement
Should acknowledge the authority of senior professional colleagues while retaining the right to express a professional opinion
Should be familiar with his or her obligation to develop his effectiveness as a teacher in every possible way
Should be familiar with his responsibility for his actions and judgments and he shall be prepared to stand by their consequences
should be acquainted with his or her too obvious responsibility, individual’s inventive nesses and honesty in his teaching and other professional actions within guidelines laid done for the profession.
Should not intentionally make a false statement concerning the qualifications and competence of a candidate applying for a position (Cornell University Law School, n.d.).
Should not accept privilege, reward, or support that might come into view to influence professional decisions or actions
Should not try to make any plan to influences the Minister, the Department of Education, or Educational Board to get any kinds of unethical facilities
Should not make any unethical relationships with a senior professional colleague or any teacher and criticize their work in the hearing of students
Under third responsibilities, various activities have such as the teacher
Shall recognize the right of a parent to consult him, through proper channels, on the welfare or progress of a pupil. “The teacher shall recognize the right of a parent to be consulted about any matter which concerns the future development of his child
Shall do nothing to undermine lawful parental authority but shall be prepared to give advice which, in his professional view, is in the best interest of the pupil
Shall make every effort to encourage parents to interest themselves actively in the education and welfare of their children and d) shall act within the community in a manner which enhances the prestige of the profession” (Malta Union of Teachers, n.d.). This study also observes that the teaching style of male and female teachers is different and the teaching style of the female teacher is suitable for female students and the teaching style of the male teacher is suitable for male students (Wenglinsky, 13 February 2002).
Test of Hypothesis
After analyzing the collected data from teachers, students, and educational institutions, it is clear that the hypothesis of this study is right, and there is a great relationship between gender and teaching practices. Because the teaching practices of a male and female teacher in the sample educational institutions is such type that they give all time with the help of their activities, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, characteristics, teaching style, advice, their preferences, motivations, and other educational instruments a message to their students that they have two types of students one is male students and another is female students, male and female students are not same and their power, facilities, activities, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, characteristics and preferences should not be same. They teach us that besides the biological differences between males and females, we have another difference between male and female’s power, facilities, activities, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, characteristics, and preferences. And that’s why this study wants to say that there is a relationship between gender and teaching practices.
Results
This study saw that there is a great relationship between gender and teaching practices. As a results gender discrimination creates in society, male students can not think of female students as a part of them, and also female students can not think of male students as a part of them (Oyler, Gregory, and Philip, April 2001),. It creates negative competition between male and female students which influences the male and female student’s activities, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, characteristics, and preferences. As a result of this relationship between gender and teaching practices, the confidence level of males and females.
Some studies found that males’ and females’ confidence in their computer ability was equal (Sanders, June 2005). But by the time females, the confidence level is significantly decreasing day by day and females with lower confidant level is dropping out of computer programs. Because of this relationship, nowadays single-sex schools are increasing day by day (Walford, 1983).
Conclusion
This study wants to say in conclusion that although there is a relationship between gender and teaching practices this is not good for our society and that’s why this study tries to give suggestions in its conclusion to improve these pictures
Educational institutions should be a combined based teaching system that means an equal number of male and female teachers who will be more responsible in case of gender issues.
an Equal number of male and female students in all classes and all subjects should be available in every educational institution.
Equal educational facilities, courses materials, preferences, and educational expenses should be for male and female students.
All male and female teachers should think that students are a student who has no sex and no gender that means all teacher should think that there is no difference between male and female students.
the teaching style of both male and female teachers should be such type that it will be suitable for all types of students such as male and female students.
every male and female teacher must follow the applied code of ethics and by the institution and by the department of education and the code of ethics must be related to law. In the code of ethics, the male and female teacher’s behaviors, the teaching style, relationship with male and female students, and other activities which give the negative gender message, must be included. These must be followed by every male and female teacher.
As human beings, our characteristics, attitudes, values, and behaviors as well as our gender roles are constructed by the sociological perspective. Hence our male and female characteristics are affected by the various social institutions. The important influential social institutions are school. The environment of schools, teachers of the school, the values of the school, and the teaching practices have a significant impact on our gender roles and this study tries to find out the relationship between gender and these factors especially teaching practices.
Term paper on learning Gender
Whether a human being is male or female it is identified to observe his or her biological factors and characteristics, attitudes, values, and behaviors which are constructed by our society. Our socialization plays a larger role than the biological perspective but some sociologists believe that it is a combination of both factors such as biological and sociological but that our socialization plays a larger role. There are various influential factors such as social institutions such as schools (including preschools) and other institutions of education, religion, workplaces, family, media, peers, communities, and politics which teach us our gender roles. There are four aspects of the gender of Harding such as
a property of individuals
a relation between groups
A property of symbolic systems and
a way of distributing scarce resources
Sometimes these four attributes are collapsed into two main ways of understanding sex or gender such as
The sex-gender system
‘A set of social relations between men which have a material base… that enables them to dominate women’
Concern with the sexual division of labor, social division around sex or gender (traditionally the focus of equal opportunities or gender mainstreaming)
Gender Identity
identity and subjectivity of a particular gender
discourse (post-modern feminism is sometimes accursed of collapsing everything into discourse)
issues of embodiment
performativity of gender (butler)
There are various psychological differences between the male and female which influence his or her think, communication, and behaviors which are apparent in the playgrounds. For example
boys tend to play different types of games that do not play girls.
Boys are more hierarchical the noun of it is the hierarchy that means the system of grades of status or authority ranked one above the other.
Girls are more collaborative which means more sharing and caring and they are more co-operating.
girls tend to be better at communicating their feelings that means girls can easily express their feelings to others.
boys tend to answer in the classroom very frequently.
the tendency of girls to be able to diagram and systematize their jobs much more effectively than boys
Girls are more capable to show their efficiency to various learning contexts.
boys tend to interrupt frequently and answer not frequently in spite of do not know the answer.
the tendency of girls to keep silent in the classrooms and also in groups
boys tend to overestimate their academic abilities that mean they tend to be more confidants than means over confidant.
the tendency of girls is to underestimate their abilities and that’s why they always work hard to compensate for their shortage of abilities.
boys tend to take action before thinking and they involve quickly with practical activities than girls,
girls tend to think before taking steps and they are slower involving in practical activities.
the tendency of Girls is that they are more got ready to be open about their ambition than boys.
girl tends to enlarge communication skills quickly than boys. The taking style is quicker and earlier.
Culture is one kind of the important influential factor in gender roles. For example, during the time of school age of children, imitation instruments such as imitation dolls become important, and in case of these, peer and media influence strongly on the gender roles. As a result, these affect their mindsets and behaviors.
Recent brain research proposes that there are two major objective differences between male and female brains and also in the way men and women use their brains. In many educational institutions, the single-gender classes system is used and it has various advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are given below (Learning about Learning, 31 August 2007):
there is less disruption to the learning of girls and quieter boys.
the content of the curriculum can be adjusted to suit boy’s and girl’s interests, for example, in reading materials.
Learning about Learning | Gender in education
Boys can relax and express themselves more effectively when girls are not present and they take more risks in their learning.
the absence of boys can empower girls and make them more assertive.”
Some disadvantages which are given below
there is a danger of introducing or reinforcing male/female stereotypes” (Learning about Learning, 31 August 2007).
Male teachers can sometimes reinforce a macho or ‘lad dish’ culture and the learning climate can often be characterized by confrontation.
“Not all boys or girls behave or think like ‘typical’ boys or ‘typical’ girls” (Learning about Learning, 31 August 2007).
“Same-sex classes can result in the relatively higher attainment of girls, thus widening the gap in attainment between girls and boys” (Learning about Learning, 31 August 2007).
Sometimes students can get a chance to select the learning style because they may have any specific learning style favorite and their preferences may vary between male and female students. Sometimes, this study sees that teachers cooperate with males more habitually, ask them better questions, and provide them more accurate and helpful feedback. From this discussion, it is clear that the teachers act differently with male and female students and the activities also differ from male and female teachers.
References
Ausburn, J. Lynna., (2004), Gender and Learning Strategy Differences in Non-traditional Adult Students’ Design Preferences in Hybrid Distance Courses, The Journal of Interactive Online Learning, Volume 3, Number 2, pp. 01. Web.
Cleveland, Gary. Clouse, F. Shawn. (2005). Distributed Learning for Geographically Dispersed Students. Clyde Neu; Journal of Educators Online. Web.
Clifford, Hazel (n.d.), A Comparison Of Gender-Related Attitudes Towards Mathematics Between Girls In Single-Sex And Co-Educational Schools, Submitted to the University of Exeter for the degree of Master of Education. Web.
Cornell University Law School, (n.d.), ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility. Web.
Dickey, J. Robert. (2006). Code of Ethics, TESOL Law Journal. Vol. 1. 16-23.
Kelly, Nicola. (2007), Information Communication Technology (ICT) & Gender–The Declining Numbers. Web.
Kothari, C R. (2005). Research Methodology: Methods & Techniques. 2nd ed. New Age Publishers. New Delhi: Wishwa Prakashan.
Learning about Learning, (2007), Research summary – gender in education- Differences between boys and girls. Web.
Malta Union of Teachers, (n.d.), Code of Ethics. Web.
Oyler, Celia., Gregory, T. Jennings. And Philip, Lozada, (2001), silenced gender: the construction of a male primary educator, Teaching and Teacher Education. Volume 17, Issue 3, Pages 367-379.
Sanders, Jo. (2005). Gender and Technology in Education: A Research Review. Sage Publications, London. Web.
Shel, A. Tammy. (2007), Gender and Inequity in Education Literature Review, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2008: Education for All by 2015: will we make it? UNESCO. Web.
The New York Times, (2008). Q&A/Dr. Carolyn M. Mazure; Women’s Health, Women’s Differences.
Walford, Geoffrey (1983). Girls in Boys’ Public Schools: A Prelude to Further Research. British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 4, No. 1. pp. 39-54.
Wenglinsky, H, (2002). How schools matter: The link between teacher classroom practices and student academic performance, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10(12). Web.
The four types of toys under analysis are Bathtime Baby (for girls) and Woody (for boys), Build It (for boys) and Cleaning Trolley (for girls). Bathtime Baby is a pink and white baby doll with a shampoo and powder set. The doll is plastic and soft to touch. Its packaging consists of a young girl holding the doll and playing with it. Woody is the second toy; it is a figure of a man wearing brightly coloured clothes.
The toy has a hat and boots and can talk. It has the colour blue, red, yellow and white. Woody also has a plastic hat and boots, and a torso made of soft material. Build It is a set of items that children can construct into a truck and drill. It possesses battery power to enable the child to move it back and forth.
Manufacturers made the set using hard plastic and bright colours (red for the truck and yellow and green for the drill). Lastly, Cleaning Trolley is a set of parts that children can make into a cleaning trolley. It has red, blue and pink as its prominent colours and consists of durable plastic; the toy is also mobile.
How the toys represent gender ideology
Girls’ toys represent the world of the woman as a nurturer. Bathtime Baby has a shampoo and powder that will allow a young girl to take care of her baby. This will condition her for her future role as a parent (Barthes, 1972). Furthermore, because producers already constructed the toy, the girl cannot take on the role of a creator; she must embrace her role as a consumer. In essence, this depiction mirrors what goes on in the adult world.
Most manufacturers target females as consumers of their objects. One only has to watch commercials on television to realise this. Hair conditioners, deodorants, cooking materials and many other household items target the female consumer. Even the nature of materials used can condition girls into thinking that all they can do is use an item; they can never make it. Conversely, Woody is a stand-alone toy. It does not come with shampoos or washing-powder like Bathtime Baby.
Instead, the toy can repeat phrases from a movie. This means that the child can pretend to be a movie star by imitating the toy. The element of care is not evident in this item. Instead, the child playing with it has taken on the role of a movie star. He can be a hero and carry the day. This toy represents the dominant and outgoing nature assigned to men (Van Leeuwen, 2009). Society confines women to domestic roles while men can go out and save the day in a movie.
The second set of toys also reflects similar gender roles. Children would only use a cleaning trolley in the home environment. The girl can pretend to mop or vacuum just like her mother. This toy also prepares the girl to embrace her role as a homemaker. Conversely, Built It is a set of parts that make up a fire truck and drill.
Children who play with this toy can pretend to be firemen or mechanics. They may also pretend to be drivers or engineers. One can see that manufacturers are giving boys more options. It is almost as if they want to condition boys into becoming direct contributors to the economy. These toys do not confine children who play with them to one role.
The kinetic design of the toys is something worth nothing in all four sets of toys. Bathtime Baby is a representation of a child seating down. On the other hand, Woody is standing erect, and his legs are far apart. Van Leeuwen and Caldas-Coulthard (2002) explain that women cannot support themselves.
This clarifies why a girl’s toy consists of a baby in a seated position. The latter authors affirm that such kinetics cause women to become submissive in adult life. They are also symptomatic of power relations in society. The doll is almost looking up; meaning that it is seeking approval from others. Also, because the girl who is playing with Bathtime Baby must concern herself with the well being of someone other than herself, then this causes her to focus on appeasement in her adult life.
In contrast, Woody is standing alone and has no need to be supported. This reflects the independent and confident nature of men (Van Leeuwen & Caldas-Coulthard, 2002). Furthermore, a person who is standing up always has greater control than one who is seating down. Once again, this signifies power relations between men and women.
Similarly, designs for Build It and Cleaning Trolley enforce societal expectations about gender. One can see this in the rigidity and the mobility of the objects. Both items are mobile; however, Build It differs from Cleaning Trolley because the boys’ toy can be manipulated through battery power. A child can move the fire engine forward or backward by removal of the handle in the electric power drill. One may also move the toy by hand.
Cleaning Trolley can only be moved by hand. This indicates that boys have more playing options than girls. They can learn about electrical energy through the battery-operated drill, but still move the truck using their own hands. Society tends to undermine the exploratory role of the female as seen through Cleaning Trolley.
The manner in which she can manipulate the toy limits her, and this discourages her from exploring new things. In the adult world, females know remarkably little about mechanical issues. They often seek male assistance when changing light bulbs, repairing leaking pipes or replacing car tires. Such toys lead to the development of these attitudes at an early stage.
Differences also exist in the manner in which the toys can be utilised. The rules of use are already evident in the construction designs of the toys. Bathtime Baby has soft material in order to encourage girls to play with her. Furthermore, because the doll is in a seating position, then it is easy to pretend that it is bathing in a basin. On the other hand, Woody is standing, so one would have to move it in that erect position.
Bathtime Baby has prominent eyes and bright pink and white colours designed to attract a girl child. She will probably want to make eye contact with it and care for it. On the other hand, Woody’s eyes are smaller; this would encourage boys to focus on doing things with it rather than care for it.
Additionally, because the toy can talk, boys would be encouraged to take on the same role of a movie star. Once again, the interpersonal and ideational elements of these toys reinforce gender stereotypes. Blakemore and Centers (2005) explain that most boys’ toys encourage more social play than girls’ toys.
Cleaning Trolley and Build It also differ in the way they encourage children to participate. Build It has 18 parts while Cleaning Trolley only has 10 parts. Girls have fewer options with regard to the way they construct their toys, and this stifles their creativity. Additionally, the power of the user over the toy appears to be greater in Build It than Cleaning Trolley. Boys can manipulate Build It in more ways than the girls.
Additionally, Build It gives greater feedback than Cleaning Trolley. Blakemore and Centers (2005) carried out a research in which participants classified girls’ and boys’ toys according to certain characteristics. The authors found that most boys’ toys tended to provide users with feedback for their input, but this was not true for girls’ toys. Consequently, one can understand why girls tend to shy away from structural work. They do not see results for their interventions from an early age, so this puts them off spatially-oriented work.
The two sets of toys differ from one another with regard to their physicality. Girls items (both Cleaning Trolley and Bathtime Baby) tend to portray proper grooming and attractiveness. These ideas get implanted into girls’ minds and cause them to become conscious about their appearance in adult life. Bath Time baby is pink and white while Woody is yellow, red and blue.
Pink and white are striking colours that emphasise the significance of one’s appearance. Cleaning Trolley and the truck may both have bright colours, but each of these colour choices sends a different message. The truck is red in colour to represent danger and violence while pink and blue are harmless colours that represent domesticity. Blakemore and Centers (2005) argue that most boys’ toys teach them how to embrace risk and danger as is the case with Built It.
Manufacturer’s promises
The packaging of Woody and Bathtime Baby has a design that invites users. The cover of Bathtime Baby is pink and white, which is quite appealing to young girls. Furthermore, because the package has no plastic cover, the potential buyers can test the doll. The package has an image of a girl holding the baby and playing with it at the back. This image can cause visual stimulation in other girls observing it, and thus prompt them to buy the toy.
Similarly, Woody’s package is white and blue in colour so as to convey the message that it targets boys. It also has an open window that allows one to pull its string. Such a strategy causes physical stimulation because it allows boys to test the item (Stengling, 2008). In both these packages, it is easy to see a front and back part because the front has an image of the toy in each case and the back allows access to the toys.
When comparing Build It and Cleaning Trolley, one can see similar patterns in the packaging. The front of Build It has a photo of a boy playing with the two items; the drill and truck. It also has a plastic window with the drill in it. The back of the package has an illustration of all the crucial parts of the assembly.
Designs of these images show the children what they can make out of the various parts given to them. Similarly, Cleaning Trolley also possesses an image of a girl playing with the trolley while the back of the toy has labels for all parts of the trolley. This would probably encourage an observer to long for the item.
Manufacturers portray Salience in Woody and Bathtime Baby slightly differently. The name of Bathtime Baby has a design that informs caregivers about what the toy can do for the child. In other words, this company promises that it will teach children social skills. The item meets these expectations because girls can dress, wash, or shampoo the baby. This would teach them interactive skills as they get older.
The manufacturers of Woody have employed a different strategy to create certain expectations about the toy. First, the front of the package has Woody and some speech bubbles. These indicate that the toy can talk, and it would teach a child speech patterns or social skills. The toy delivers in terms of the speech patterns; however, lack of movement may be an impediment.
Build It also possesses a different salience from Cleaning Trolley. At the front of the package, the manufacturers have placed the word fire engine so as to inform buyers that they will be constructing a similar item. The company has also placed the construction method for the toy, which tells parents that their children will learn spatial and construction skills from the toy. In Cleaning Trolley, the image of the trolley illustrates what the item will do for the buyer. It promises to teach the girl social skills and meets this expectation.
With regard to the information value of the toys, Bathtime Baby contains information about the manufacturer and the social skill to be learnt from the toy, that is, imagination. The latter can be found at the front of the package. On the back side, one can see an image of the child playing with the doll. One side of the package contains information about the items in the package while the other side describes the activities that the child can engage in.
This information is quite useful, although there is no mention of age. Woody, on the other hand, has descriptions of the toy on the front and back. It also has speech bubbles containing a summary of the phrases that the toy will provide. Lastly it contains information about the age limit and warns that children between 0 and 3 years should not use it.
This is useful information although the company should have added information about how to make the toy talk. It should also describe the activities one can perform with the item and the social skills to be learnt.
Information value between Build It and Cleaning Trolley also differs depending on the nature of the items in use. For instance, Build it has information describing the things that one can do with the item. It also possesses an image of a child playing with it. One side of the toy contains information about the various parts.
It should include warning signs about any potential danger. Cleaning Trolley contains information about the benefits of the toy, the age group and the manufacturer’s name at the front. The back contains various parts of the toy and their labels. One side consists of tips on how to play or use the toy. The other side provides alternatives on role playing. This toy should have contained additional information about the process of assembling it.
Conclusion
An analysis of these two sets of toys reveals that toys portray a semiotic relationship between the genders. Girls’ toys tend to reinforce stereotypes about nurturing, submissiveness, consumption, affirmation and attractiveness. Conversely, boys’ toys enforce stereotypes about confidence, stronger power relations, independence, risk, assertiveness and production/ construction.
References
Barthes, R. (1972). Mythologies. NY: Hill and Wang
Blakemore, J. & Centers. R. (2005). Characteristics of boys’ and girls’ toys. Sex Roles Journal, 53(9), 619-634
Stengling, M. (2008). Binding: a resource for exploring interpersonal meaning in 3D space. Social Semiotics, 18(4), 425-447
Van Leeuwen, T. (2009). The world according to Playmobil. Semiotica Journal, 173(1), 299-315
Van Leeuwen, T. & Caldas-Coulthard, C. (2002). The semiotics of kinetic design. Wales: Cardiff University Press
In terms of medicalizing sex, ‘the corporate-sponsored definitions of “female sexual dysfunction” are being criticized as misleading and potentially dangerous’ (Moynihan 2009:450). Do you agree to Discuss either popular culture trends in your everyday experience/knowledge? What part do pharmaceutical companies play in constructing ‘disease’?
Female sexual dysfunction is one of those disorders which have been turned into a source of income for many pharmaceutical companies. Modern psychologists as well as medical workers criticize the idea that drugs are the only solution to this problem. They point out that modern businesses have successfully convinced women from all over the world medication will enable them to retain their femininity (Moynihan, 2005, 192). It is frequently argued that such an approach to female sexual dysfunction or any other disorder is inherently wrong and it may imperil the health of many women. In my view, such criticism is quite justified because researchers and medical workers do not know for sure if female sexual dysfunction is caused by the lack of hormones (Moynihan, 2005, 193). One should not disregard the hypothesis that it can be associated with some psychological peculiarities of the patient rather than some physiological deficiency.
Another issue is that the producers of such drugs trivialize their aftereffects. For example, they are very reluctant to mention that this medication can disrupt metabolism in the human body and result in many illnesses. More importantly, many people are not aware of the fact that the clinical trials of such drugs are often conducted by people who are closely affiliated with pharmaceutical companies (Mamo & Fishman, 2001). Therefore, one may assume that such tests are not quite objective. Unfortunately, these issues are frequently overlooked by people who buy these drugs. In part, such an attitude can be explained by the enormous role, played by modern mass media. They help pharmaceutical companies to construct the public image of sex-related diseases and convince both men and women that the medication is the only way out. For instance, women are often told that sexual dysfunction is a problem that affects approximately 43 percent of the female population and for instance hormone replacement can assist a patient, irrespective of her age. This is one of those situations that can be regarded as a criminal act because misinforms the person and this misinformation can threaten her health.
It is quite possible to say that pharmaceutical companies play a pivotal role in the construction of disease. They need to find consumers for their products and they create such a demand by using mass media. Overall, there are several recommendations that we can make. First of all, people should not take the promises of pharmaceutical companies for granted; they should read the books or articles which are written by those people, who are not affiliated with the manufacturers of drugs. Only in this way, they will be able to avoid the risks for their health or even life. Moreover, a person, who is suffering from sexual dysfunction, should primarily consult a physician who would be able to recommend a viable treatment model. This person is interested in a positive treatment outcome, rather than the promotion of a certain drug.
“Marriage became the dominant issue in lesbian and gay politics in the 1990s, but not before. If marriage is so fundamental to a program of rights, why did gay men and lesbians resist it over the twenty-five year period of their most defiant activism?” (Warner 2000:87) Discuss some of the other points raised by Warner, combined with your own opinion. What is marriage anyway?
In his book, Michael Warner strives to reassess the notion of gay marriage and tries to explain why many homosexual people were very reluctant to struggle for it in the past, for example, in the seventies or eighties. According to Warner, homosexual people believe that their struggle for the right to marry one another will increase the animosity toward them (Warner, 2000). In part, such an attitude can be explained by the fact that prejudice against homosexuals is still deeply inherent in modern society (Fields, 2004). Probably, it has recently become more concealed but it has yet to be fully irradiated. To some extent, they understand that by advocating the right for same-sex married they may provoke those aggressive-minded people who will never tolerate homosexuality. This is one of the theories which explain the reasons why homosexual people were not actively advocating their right to marry in the past.
However, in his book Michael Warner attracts the reader’s attention to another important issue, namely to the modern concept of marriage. One of his arguments is that for many people the right to marriage is a certain kind of privilege, something that makes them special. Thus, if homosexual people receive this right, they would achieve equal status in society. The key problem is that many heterosexual vehemently resist it. In their opinion, such social change is utterly impermissible. Michael Warner believes that the legalization of gay marriage would require the government to make a great number of changes to the existing legislation; we can speak about such issues as the adoption of a child, taxation laws, and so forth. To some extent, this radical transformation of the legislative and social norms can cause discontent among the heterosexual population of the country, and the government does not want to do it. On the whole, in modern society marriage is often considered as a sign of privilege, legal or civic right but not as the unity of people who love one another. This is one of the tragedies of the modern community. Michael Warner points out that nowadays marriage requires the consent of more than two people (2000, p 115). Modern people always have to receive the agreement of the third party, in other words, society or community, which is governed by heterosexual people.
To a large extent, Michael Warner’s book touches upon a very important characteristic of modern people, who are more willing to turn a blind eye to a certain phenomenon rather than face it. For example, many people say that they think well of gays and lesbians, as long as they do not talk about their sexual orientation and their civic rights. When homosexual people start struggling for their rights, they display their otherness, and this is frequently not tolerated. This article suggests that xenophobia and discrimination very often hider under the disguise of political correctness. Same-sex marriage is one of those issues which uncover this xenophobia in contemporary society.
“While Viagra reinforces dominant cultural narratives about sex, gender, sexuality and hegemonic masculinity it also constructs sites of resistance” (ammo and Fishman p30). Discuss in comparison to treatments for female sexual dysfunction(Moynihan). How does the binary of ‘normal’ and ‘dysfunction’ speak in the gendered discourse?
Biotechnologies as well pharmaceutical products are now being designed and marketed in such a way that would best suit the ultimate customer. For instance, such Viagra is a drug that has become famous throughout the world due to the successful marketing campaign. This drug emphasizes the masculinity of the buyer and most importantly his ability to gain control over his body (Mamo & Fishman, 2001). It would not be an exaggeration to argue that modern drugs are becoming increasingly gendered; in fact, even the manes of the disorders reflect our perception of genders. For instance, the very word impotency suggests the state of being powerless, weak, helpless, and so forth. These characteristics are never tolerated in the world of men. More likely, they will be viewed as shameful. Therefore, a person, who buys this medication, regards it as a symbol of power, control, or maybe even prestige. Such marketing strategies are used to promote other products but Viagra sets enormous stress on the masculinity of the consumer. This is the main reason why this drug has been of such interest to sociologists and people who are interested in gender studies.
In contrast, the medications, which are marketed to women frequently, are supposed to help them feel sexy once again and derive pleasure from sex (Moynihan, 2005). Still, in both cases, pharmaceutical companies avoid speaking about the side-effects produced by their drugs. They continuously set stress on the idea that this medication is life-enhancing but they do not speak about the dangers of using them. An advertisement, urging a patient to buy Viagra will never mention that the frequent use of this drug may lead to cardiovascular diseases.
Overall, we can argue that the concepts of sexual “normality” and “dysfunction” are still marked by traditional gender roles. As it has been mentioned before, male patients associate the idea of being normal with ability power and the ability to exercise control over one’s body. In turn, dysfunction is understood as helplessness or weakness. As far as women are concerned we can argue they associate normality with the ability to derive pleasure. These perceptions are the most dominant ones, and the developers of medication take these perceptions into account. Apart from that, such drugs as Viagra are oriented toward heterosexual patients, although this drug can be gay male users.
Modern sociologists emphasize the idea that the marketing of drugs frequently reflects predominant perceptions of sex, and gender roles. Most importantly, they reinforce these perceptions. This is one of the reasons heterosexuality is regarded as a norm, while homosexuality is often labeled as an abnormality. The example of Viagra indicates that the language and rhetoric of commercials continue to be gender-oriented. Unfortunately, such an approach only strengthens common stereotypes about sexes. Furthermore, as we have shown before it may pose a great threat to the health of people who take these drugs.
Sexual identity
This course has compelled me to reevaluate some aspects of sexual identity. It has shown to me that it is a constructed notion which frequently is created by people who want me to behave only in a certain way. Such notions as masculinity and femininity are imposed upon us from outside, and every person, who decides to depart from this standard, is considered to be deviant and abnormal. For example, every male person, displaying the signs of weakness or indecision, is frequently treated as an outcast. Similarly, a woman, who tries to acquire a position of leadership, may not be tolerated by others. Certainly, nowadays such a tendency has become less conspicuous but no one can argue that it has disappeared entirely.
I may say that sexual identity is constructed by a great number of socialization agents such as family, school, immediate environment, mass media, and so forth. To some of them, each of these agents has shaped my worldview and especially, perception of gender roles. I have frequently asked myself a question of whether I believe these people or not. I cannot deny the fact that I have been significantly influenced by the views of gender, expressed by my parents, friends, or even mass media. Yet, I continuously try to question them at least in those situations when they seem to me old-fashioned or prejudiced. For me, a rule or tradition cannot exist for its own sake; it must contribute to the wellbeing of the community. If it does not, this rule is no longer mandatory.
At this point, I would like to discuss how common stereotypes affect not only our behavior patterns but our physical appearance as well because this is one of those cases when a person has to question traditional views of sexes. Commercials show us how a woman or a man should be dressed and what is considered to be the norm. Physical appearance is not the only example; one may also mention hobbies, artistic preferences, political views, and so forth. Apart from that in many cases, people buy products or services to comply with these stereotypical perceptions of genders. In my view, such behavior strongly resembles the so-called herd instinct, which is typical of people who cannot make independent decisions. I do not want to say that I am rejecting every kind of authority, but for me, the authority has to prove its legitimacy as well as its right to impose stenotypes on me. This is one of those principles that has always helped me immensely.
We are living in a world where people have multiple identities, which can include occupation, social status, hobbies, ethnic origin, gender, and so forth. Unfortunately, people attach importance to only one of these identifies, while disregarding others. At the given moment, I see myself mostly as a student of sociology, who intends to earn an academic degree. At least, such a form of identity speaks much more about me.
References
Fields Jessica. 2004. Same sex marriage, sodomy laws, and the sexual lives of young people. Journal of NSRC. (1) 3, pp 259-269.
Kimmel. M. & Rebecca Plante. 2004. Sexualities: identities, behaviors, and society. Oxford University Press.
Mamo L. & Fishman. J. 2001. Potency in all right places: Viagra as a technology of the gendered body’ Body & Science. 7 (4), p 13 – 35
Moynihan Ray. 2005. Marketing of a disease: female sexual dysfunction. BMJ. 330, 192- 184.
Rich A. 1994 ‘Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence’. NY: Norton Paper Back.
Warner. Michael. 2000. “Beyond Gay Marriage”. in The trouble with normal: sex, politics, and the ethics of queer life. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
The research design methodology is determined by the structure of the research question and the context (Bridget & Lewin, 2005). Social research aims at explaining the current state of affairs using predetermined variables. It is worth noting that social research significantly depends on probability, therefore, explaining why a given variable plays a significant role in determining the outcome. Therefore, this implies that the social research must put more emphasis on the findings, coupled with a correlation to the available theoretical frameworks to explain the current form of perceptions by the citizens towards the police force. When carrying out social research, the researcher can choose between Qualitative and quantitative approaches (Nardi, 2003). The quantitative approach entails the collection and analysis of quantifiable data and statistics, to infer a conclusion; it involves collecting data through investigative units such as questionnaires. The qualitative approach on the other hand utilizes analysis and evaluation of qualitative data through interviews and observation to conclude. This research requires both the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data that will be collected from the citizens regarding their gender and the way they perceive police satisfaction, with the data acquisition methods incorporating both primary and secondary sources. This is because the data collected will be in form of questionnaires and interviews which are both quantitative and qualitative respectively (Ritchie & Lewis, 2003).
The deductive approach will be used since the research will begin by the description of concepts such as the relationships between gender and the perceptions of how the work of the police, after which it will involve analysis of empirical evidence that will attempt to evaluate the gender disparities towards the work of the police. Therefore, a deductive approach will be used because the research study commences with a research hypothesis and terminates with empirical measurement, analysis, and evaluation of research findings. The research structure will entail an analysis of the available theory, followed by the formulation of the hypothesis. After that, an observation is made to confirm the already formulated hypothesis. Consequently, this social research structure will deploy the use of a top-down approach. The deductive approach is more preferable because it narrows down to a specific objective that is primarily concerned with the confirmation of the hypothesis (Simeon & Simeon, 2004).
Research sample
The research will be conducted in the state of Victoria. The choice of this state was based on the fact that it is one of the most populous states in Australia because it will facilitate research diversity and enhancing the accuracy of the findings. The sampling approach that will be employed will be quota sampling and convenience sampling. Quota sampling refers to a situation whereby the researcher chooses a proportion of the elements that will be investigated during the study. The partition can be based on different categories such as gender, age, lifestyle, and ethnicity (Ruane, 2005). The researcher can then decide which categories to use in the proportion of the study elements depending on the ease of access. The quotas that will be chosen for this research will be categorized into three distinct groups: ≤ 18, 19-34, and ≥ 35. A further classification will be based on gender and the social statuses of the citizens of victoria state. According to Nardi (2003), this chosen set represents a diverse people with diverse perceptions towards satisfaction in terms of the work of the police.
It is also is important for social research to put into consideration the perceptions of the police towards their effectiveness. The sample will therefore incorporate a considerable number of the police workforce to gather their views regarding their relations with the public, and how this plays a significant role in influencing the public satisfaction in the police force.
Proposed data collection methods and variables
Data collection is a significant requirement for the success of any social research since it determines the success of the research in terms of facilitating the inference of conclusions. This implies that social research should significantly rely on statistical data since it deploys a probabilistic approach to offer a rational explanation of the ways things are currently in the social context. Data consists of two types: primary data, which is collected by the researcher, and secondary data that has been collected by other researchers (Neuman, 1997). For confirmation of the social theoretical models, this social research will utilize both secondary and primary data sources.
Primary research/ data sources
Primary research involves data acquisition based on first-hand information by the researcher. This will be carried out through the use of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, which will be based on a one-on-one approach with the respondent. Primary data sources serve as an effective method of researching because the information gathered is usually raw and has not been manipulated, this in turn increases the accuracy of the research study (Obson, 1997). Also, the primary data collected can be used to match against the secondary sources for accuracy purposes. The various ways of gathering primary data that will be used during the research include questionnaires, focus groups, and unstructured interviews.
Questionnaires
Ruane (2005, p.123) defines a questionnaire as a “self-contained, self-administered instrument for asking questions”. The questionnaire will be used to gather information on the perceptions of the police workforce basing on gender orientations. The use of a questionnaire is preferred because it facilitates the researchers to acquire enormous amounts of data within a limited time frame. The use of questionnaires will also provide first-hand data concerning the levels of satisfaction towards the police workforce by the citizens of victoria state. The primary objective of a questionnaire is to encourage and offer motivation to the respondent to actively participate in the interview (Bridget & Lewin, 2005). This will be achieved through the use of interesting questions and visual aid representations for clarity.
The respondents will be asked the various ways in which the police force is effective or ineffective during the relinquishing of their duty and other parameters that hinder the effectiveness of the police force such as excessive use of force. This will be aimed at captivating the motivation of the respondents to actively participate in the research study. The questionnaire will comprise of structured and unstructured (open) questions. A structured question can be either in form of multiple choices, dichotomous questions, or scales. Dichotomous questions are designed to collect the fundamental data from respondents such as Male or Female, age, and other basic personal information. Dichotomous questions will save time required for the respondents to answer the questions. They will be in a simple format involving Yes or No multiple-choice questions.
Checklists will be used to obtain diverse information from the respondents such as areas they perceive the police force is more effective, areas that police have failed, and areas that require improvements in the police force of the Victoria state.
Ratio Scales will be designed as a five-point scale range between 0 and 5 to indicate extremes of the satisfaction of the work of the police by the various residents of the Victoria State. 0 will be used to mark very bad while 5 will represent very good (Nardi, 2003). They will also be the open ended questions where the respondents will be able to open clarify and express their opinions in detail concerning the effectiveness of the police force in carrying out their duty. This research aims to collect approximately 1000 questionnaires from the various regions within the Victoria state that will be accessible.
Semi-structured interviews
Semi-structured interviews provide a large number of qualitative data. However, the limiting factor towards this approach is that interviews require researchers to consume a lot of time (Ritchie & Lewis, 2003).
The semi-structured interviews will be carried on a random basis. This will involve spotting those who are consuming carbonated soft drinks in the various designated areas in the cities and if they are willing they will be interviewed immediately.
Focus groups
Ruane (2005) argues that focus groups are one of the most effective methods of gathering collective data. Also, it offers an interactive approach to social research. Focus groups used in the research will comprise of six individuals; three females and three males, with one facilitator. The proposed duration for a focus group meeting will range from forty-five minutes to one hour.
Limitations of the research
The significant constraint that the research will face is time constraints. This may result in an inadequate collection of questionnaires and the carrying out of the semi-structured interview. This may result in a higher marginal error.
Another problem will be that some target respondents may not be interested in answering the questions during the research and interview. Some respondents may also provide inaccurate information.
Consideration of any ethical and legal issues
Any social research must put into consideration the various ethical and legal concerns associated with conducting social research. Firstly, the questionnaire and interview questions should be devoid of sensitive questions. Many research participants fear for their views to be known and they seek confidentiality. The following is an outline of the ethical and legal issues associated with the research.
The principle of voluntary participation: it requires that no correspondent will be forced into participating. To achieve these, the questionnaires will be issued to only participants who will be willing to participate in the research study.
Preservation and anonymity of the respondents: all social research studies should aim at guaranteeing the anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents. All the information gathered will not be revealed to anyone under any circumstance. Also, the questionnaires will not be asking the respondents their names and associated personal information.
Social research should guarantee no harm to participants and researchers before, during, and after the research study. It is an ethical requirement of a social research study that the researcher should not put the respondent in a harmful situation through his participation in the project. All participants shall receive equal treatment without prejudice and they will be informed of the reasons for the research before their participation.
Data analysis
Data analysis is an essential phase in social research because they are used to infer conclusions. The research findings will provide a framework for agreement or refute of the already formulated hypothesis. It is therefore important that the data collected should be as accurate as possible to facilitate the process of data analysis. The data collected during the research will entail both qualitative and quantitative data. This implies that both inferential and descriptive statistics will be used to arrive at the conclusion (Neuman, 1997). Descriptive statistics in social research usually serve to summarize and describe data through the use of quantities such as percentage, proportion, mean, mode, mode, and other descriptive statistical quantities. Inferential statistics on the other hand will be used to generalize the sample population; it will generally entail the use of statistical tests such as variance, chi-square, standard deviation, and other statistical test variables (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
The approach for data analysis will consist of mainly univariate data analysis, which examines the distribution of one statistical variable at a time. For instance, the percentage of women in Victoria State who view the police as effective in delivering their services. Bivariate data analysis will also be deployed in analysis cases that will require the evaluation of the relationship between two variables, for example, the relationship that exists between the women’s perceptions and men’s perceptions towards police satisfaction. Bivariate data analysis will deploy the use of contingency tables and correlation to evaluate the kind of relationship that exists between two variables.
An important part of data analysis is the testing of the hypothesis. This social research is based on an experimental hypothesis, which is based on a prediction and will be confirmed after the analysis of data (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
Analysis of qualitative data will entail the use of a generalization of research findings to evaluate their conformity with available theoretical literature. Field notes drawn from interviews or observation will be analyzed by the use of affixation of codes and noting relevant remarks and reflections (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
References
Bridget, S., & Lewin, C. (2005). Research methods in the social sciences. London: SAGE.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. (1994). An expanded sourcebook: Qualitative data analyis. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Nardi, P. (2003). Doing Survey Research- A guide to quantitative methods. Boston: Pearson Education Inc.
Neuman, W. (1997). Social Research methods: Qualitative and Quantitative approaches. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Obson, C. (1997). Real World Research: A resource for social and practitioner researchers. London: Blackwell.
Ritchie, J., & Lewis, J. (2003). Qualitative research practice: a guide for social science students and researchers. Sage Publications: London.
Ruane, J. M. (2005). Essentials of Research methods: a guide to social science research. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Simeon, J. Y., & Simeon, Y. (2004). Doing social science research. London: Sage Publications.
Gender development, just like some other European countries; have seen quite a number of changes, especially on the positive side since the end of the dictatorial government in the mid 1970s. Considered to mean equal access to all resources like healthcare, employment, technology, and credit facilities, gender development is an important in empowering tool to develop a state in any society. The post dictatorial government recognized the gender empowerment programs and recognized rights of women (Valiente, 1997c 181). They repealed such draconian rules that existed such as illegal advertisement of contraceptives, and illegalization of abortion thus making women have more control over their reproductive health system. This paper, therefore discusses the gender progress in Spain since the end of dictatorship in 175
Introduction
Gender development in the world over has seen significant changes in the past five decades. Gender as the 3rd of the Millennium Development Goals has generated strong debates in the past and to date, with different gender experts and scholars giving varied opinions on the gender development progress. As former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan once said, “there is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls “ (UNDP, 2007/ 2009) However, many scholars observe that gender disparities are more than just education, and if anything, education alone cannot eliminate the overall unjust system of governance and societal hierarchies (Arjomand, 1993, p. 103). It is thus said that just and equal access to all resources like healthcare, employment, technology, and credit facilities are important in empowering the women. Spain, governed by General Francisco Franco, had been faced by some of the worst gender discrepancies in Europe (Arjomand, 1993, p. 104). This was attributed to the authoritarian regime of General Francisco who led Spain from mid 1930s to 1975. The post dictatorial government on the other hand recognized the gender empowerment programs and recognized rights of women (Valiente, 1997c 181).
During the Franco rule, it was illegal to advertise any form of contraceptives, making it difficult for women to have the authority over their reproductive health management (Daly, 1993, 103). It was as well illegal to have or conduct abortion in Spain during this time (p.104). The official state doctrines had put in place the meaning of an ideal family unit in a form of a hierarchical identity, recognizing the father as the official head of the family, with all the powers to run and take care of the family (p. 106). It was made clear that motherhood was the sole responsibility of the mothers, a task that indebted them to the state and the society as a whole. This consequently reinforced the notion that women’s role could not allow them do any other duty like salaried or waged works since the motherhood responsibility was seen as incompatible with other duties (Casanova, 2000, p. 201). Worse still, Franco’s rule even went ahead to make all the women’s duties confined within the compounds of their homes, and illegalized any other responsibility that would see them work outside the confines of their homes until 1960s (Daly, p.108). One of such clause required that any married woman had to seek permission from the husband before putting her signature to a labor contract and having any trade engagement. However, as time went by, Franco’s late rule saw the abolition of some draconian policies like prohibition to practice some professions like law and some labor limitation such as the abolition of prohibiting married women from working in the labor market. But these measures only became effective after the 1975 (p. 109)
In Spain, the church controlled a good chunk of learning institutions. In the first phase of the Franco rule, the state and the church worked hand in hand and supported one another (Valiente, 1997c, p. 199). There was no freedom of worship since catholic was the official religion for the country. This saw the state delegating all the duties and responsibilities of managing all the issues relating to marriage and divorce to the Catholic Church (p. 200). The powers the Catholic Church had over learning institutions were very instrumental in the overall shaping of the education system. The post-authoritarian years has seen Catholic Church demand more powers to control the learning institutions, especially on the establishment of religion in the syllabus (Castles, p. 38). Religious teachings were made mandatory in all primary and secondary schools. It is noted that the Catholic Church is opposed to some laws that legalize some moral matters in the society, such as abortion and divorce legalizations, which tend to affect women most in the society in general (p. 39). Sex segregation became the norm, thereby making boys and girls attend different schools and with different curricula. This grossly perpetuated the gender imbalance as early as tender age of the school children. However, it is important to notice that currently church in Spain is not very much involved in some of the main political controversies but is vocal mainly on matters such as education and moral issues (Bonal, 2000, p. 202-204). The political powers church wielded in the past decades has significantly declined especially after the democratic transition after 1975. This saw the church change its approach to democratic governance thereby giving support to the building of a new democratic state (Casanova, 1993, p. 114-117).
After 1975, Spanish women have constantly increased their participation in state and civil society matters. In the civil societies, they have either participated in mixed groups or as women only where they have advocated for changes in the governance. Arjomand, (1993, p.144) states that women now occupy some special and important place in the country that politicians cannot afford to avoid especially when looking for policies to support or oppose in the legislative process. It is also observed that mixed civil society organizations have women dominating, thereby giving them advantage over their male counterparts when it comes to policy change advocacy. A typical l example is in the third sector dedicated to social causes, where women are dominant. The movement of women is in two branches; one which is explicitly feminist and the other which is moderate (p.148). The relatively moderate group is composed of mainly housewives associations, widows groups, movement of mothers as well as religious and cultural organizations and many more. This group have found remarkable success considering their surging number of members and increased activities. The agitation for the liberation from dictatorship in Spain in 1960s is what brought about the explicitly feminists groups in what was known as feminist movements (Arjomand, 1993, p. 104). Most of the feminists were mainly active in the opposition to the then Franco regime, supporting the then illegal left wing political parties and trade unions. Since the end of dictatorship, these feminist movements have significantly influenced the changes in the gender equality issues like gender policy changes and making process, attributed to their close association with the left-wing groups of the political divide (p.105). Many of the feminist member groups mobilized both in the left-wing party and within their feminist organizations in the civil organizations (p.106). When the left wing took power after 1975, some of the women got senior political and government positions that enabled them to advance more agenda on the gender equality. Again, the left-wing feminists continued with their civil pressure on their male counterparts to bring about some legislative changes in relation to gender equality, by fronting the gender issues on policy change prioritization (Andren &Schmidt, 2005. p. 2). It is also important to acknowledge that feminist movements have succeeded in the mobilization of the public opinions to support the improvement of the welfare and status of women (p.9).
The issue of childcare has been discussed in the past in Spain for quite sometime since the post-dictatorial period. It has been an issue mainly advanced by the moderates in the movement of feminists (Valiente, 1997c, p. 183). Since childcare helps women to balance the work and family care, feminists in Spain, just like many other European countries have constantly demanded childcare services. Observers attribute the success of women’s gender equity advocacy in Spain to many years of dictatorship of the right-wing regime that kept women away from the thinking of childcare alone as the only issue (p.184). As Valiente states it, after many years of being brainwashed with the idea of child care and mothering as the only and the most important responsibility for women, it became apparent that this is the least thing that the Spanish woman wanted to hear or even give too much attention to. It was then understood that women feminists mainly focused in the development of the gender equity and improving the life of women, that is, employment, political involvements, and the control of their bodies thus making the newly liberated Spanish woman have a new lease of life (Valiente, 2002, p. 65; 2003, p. 288).
One of the areas that have tremendously improved the women’s welfare is the child care policy amendments. Even though seen as an education program policy, it has considerably improved the women status by allowing working class women to balance the motherhood and work thus the increased number of working-for-pay women in the past three decades (Andren & Schmidt, 2005, -11). Any attempt to cut the spending on the pre school program would be seen as an attempt to go against the women’s progress, thereby provoking the civil society and other feminist organizations. Even though 51.6% employment rate for women in Spain is slightly lower than the European Union average of 56.5%, many Spanish women (77.3%) now work full time for wages (p. 12).
In an overall analysis, Spain has significantly seen improvement since the adoption of Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) By the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 (UNDP, 2007/2009). Acknowledged and described as a bill of rights for women, CEDAW bill states areas where women get discrimination and solicit for countries to amend laws that seem to infringe on women’s rights. It also constructs gender policies for states. This has generally improved the general welfare of Spanish women. This is because since beginning of democratic Spain, decentralization of national resources was adopted to improve the economic status of women.
References
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Bonal, X. ‘Interest Groups and the State in Contemporary Spanish Education Policy’, Journal of Educational Policy, 15,2 (2000) 201-216
Arjomand, S. A. (ed.), The Political Dimensions of Religion (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1993), 101-153
Castles, F. G. ‘On Religion and Public Policy: Does Catholicism Make a Difference?’, European Journal of Political Research, 2007. 25,1 (1994) 19-40
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Valiente Fernández, Celia 1996. The Rejection of Authoritarian Policy Legacies: Family Policy in Spain (1975-1995). South European Society & Politics 1, 1:95-114
Valiente Fernández, Celia 1997c. The Regulation of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in Spain: The Role of State Feminists in the Elaboration of Gender Equality Policies. En Crossing Borders: International Dialogues on Gender, Social Politics, and Citizenship, eds. Barbara Hobson y Anne Marie Berggren, 179-200. Estocolmo: Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research.
Valiente Fernández, Celia. 2003. Central State Child Care Policies in Postauthoritarian Spain: Implications for Gender and Carework Arrangements. Gender & Society 17, 2:287-92.
United Nations Development Program 2007/2008: “Human Development Report- Spain Rank 13”.
