GENDER AS A CULTURALLY PRESCRIBED ROLE

 Running head: GENDER AS A CULTURALLY PRESCRIBED ROLE 1
Gender Is a Culturally Prescribed Role, Rather Than a Biological Sex
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GENDER AS A CULTURALLY PRESCRIBED ROLE 2
Gender Is a Culturally Prescribed Role, Rather Than a Biological Sex
Introduction
The debates concerning the notions of “sex” and “gender” have been going on
over the years. The recent point of view is that gender roles are not universal for
everyone, whereas some individuals regard them as fundamental and build their lives
according to the rules and standards that society prescribes. The historical background
of gender development theories shows that the major ones discussed gender roles from
social, cultural, biological, anthropological, and psychological points of view. The
biological theory was a leading one, and it influenced many researches covering the
development of gender roles. However, the findings of the previous studies have
revealed that gender roles are the results of social and cultural influences, rather than
being a biological sex. These prepared the ground for modern differentiation between
the concepts of “gender” and “sex”.
Psycholinguistic Theory
In the past, the majority of psychological theories suggested that the gender
development occurs in early childhood as the idea suggested by Freud. Psychoanalysis
theory had a significant impact on a study of gender roles; however, there was a lack of
empirical research that led to various reformulations of the notion “gender” and
approaches to its analysis. According to Kohlberg's theory (1966), the formation of
gender identity starts in the early childhood. Thus, children “develop the stereotypic
conceptions of gender from what they see and hear around them” (Bussey & Bandura,
1999, p. 680), and they adapt their habits and behavioral patterns to these stereotypes.
Thus, their understanding of this notion was based on biological differences between 
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men and women and defined their behaviors and habits. In addition, gender identity was
considered stable and unchangeable for the whole life. However, the findings in contrast
did not support this theory.
Anthropological Approach
Based on the assumption that men and women are biologically different, there
have always been cultural and social factors that shaped the gender roles that both
sexes had to follow and perform in the society. The study by Gilligan reports that
“anthropological research published in that decade uncovered a set of oppositions
between maleness and femaleness primarily derived from studies of non-class-based
societies” (Stack, 1986, p. 321). Over decades, women tended to be more involved with
private concerns, relationships, and the welfare of their families. As opposed to them,
men have always been more universalistic and concerned with a welfare as a whole
(Stack, 1986).
Confusions around Terminology
The distribution of gender roles based on biological differences contributed to
confusions in terminology. The works of Unger and Crawford (1993) attempted to define
the concepts of “sex” and “gender”. They stated that there was a great confusion among
social scientists about the appropriate use of the terms “sex” and “gender” (Unger &
Crawford, 1993). The researchers studying this area for many years can easily
document examples of such confusion.
A “gender” was used as a linguistic term solely. However, “in the mid-1970s
feminist scholars began to use the term to refer to the social organization of the
relationships between sexes” (Unger & Crawford, 1993, p. 123). Feminist researchers 
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also provided the idea that sex-related differences are the products of social
expectations (Unger & Crawford, 1993, p. 123). Further findings showed that “gender is
problematic, and sex-related effects are consistent” (Unger & Crawford, 1993, p.124).
Later they proved that gender identity develops in the social context and can be seen
differently in various periods of the individual’s life. Thus, the biological approach lost its
leading position, and scientists began to focus on social factors that influence the
development of gender roles.
The study by Bussey and Bandura (1999) analyzed the gender role development
from the perspective of a social cognitive theory. In the past, gender was addressed
from the perspective of three major theories based on different dimensions, such as
psychological, biological, and sociocultural. Psychological theories were concentrated
on the role of intrapsychic processes controlling gender development (Bussey &
Bandura, 1999, p. 679) and discussed gender from the psychological perspective. A
gender identity was viewed as the result of a psychological development, and thus it
was considered a psychological issue.
Social, Cultural, and Psychological Theories
Sociocultural theory emphasized the role of social and cultural factors