Culture & Gender

PSYCH 101Prof. GreggFall, 2007

Reproduction of MotheringNancy Chodorow

• Revised Freud’s theory of psycho-sexual development: emphasized “pre-Oedipal” period (birth to about 3)

• Attachment & identification, not sexual attraction

• Both M & F begin “as if” female: develop “feminine” sense of self in experiencing world with & through mother

Reproduction of MotheringNancy Chodorow

• Females: develop by continuity -- sustaining identification with mother

• Males: develop by discontinuity -- separating from mother and creating new identity

Misogyny: “masculinity” created via repression / expulsion of “feminine”

In A Different Voice

Carol Gilligan

Gilligan: Research

• Student of Lawrence Kohlberg: children’s development of moral reasoning

• Investigated differences in men’s and women’s reasoning about moral dilemmas

Lawrence Kohlberg

• Investigated children’s moral development

• Inspired by Piaget’s stage theory

• Devised moral dilemmas

• Categorized not answer to dilemma, but form of reasoning

Kohlberg moral dilemma

In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. the drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug.

Kohlberg moral dilemmaThe sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to

everyone he knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $2,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from if." So, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets desperate and considers breaking into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.

Kohlberg Stages of Moral DevelopmentPreconventional

1 Punishment & Obedience Avoid punishment

2 Instrumental hedonism Desire for rewards

3 “Good boy” morality Avoid disapproval

4 Authority maintenance Rules set by authorities

5 Contract & Democracy Rules set by agreement

6 Individual conscience Personal principles

Conventional

Post-Conventional

In a Different Voice

• Men: conflicts of rightsvalue autonomous perspectiveuniversal judgments

• Women: competing responsibilitiesvalue maintenance of relationshipsrelativistic judgments

Gilligan’s theory of Ethics

• Men: Ethic of autonomy

• Women: Ethic of care

In a Different Voice• Men’s sense of self based on

separation & autonomy – live by universal principles

• Enter adulthood prepared for independent, competitive action

• Poorly prepared for intimacy & nurturance

In a Different Voice• Women’s sense of self based on

building & sustaining empathic ties – weaver of relationships

• Poorly prepared for competitive achievement

• Fear success will cost them personal relationships

In a Different VoiceIs Gilligan an essentialist or a

constructivist?

Male – female differences fundamental or socialized?

Will women carry ethic of care into male world, or become like men?

Culture & Child-Rearing

John WhitingChild-Training & Personality

Child-Training & Male Development

Child-Training & PersonalityChild Training

Fixation (indulgence or frustration)

Projection (myth & ritual)

Child-Training & Personality

• Indep. Variable: fixation (indulgence or frustration)

Five areas: oral, anal, sexual,dependence, aggression

• Dep. Variable: illness explanations

Child Training and Personality

  Initial Indulgence Age of Training Severity

Oral 2nd lowest 2nd earliest weaning upper quartile

Anal 3rd lowest 2nd earliest most severe (tied)

Sex lowest among earliest most severe (tied)

Dependence slightly below median slightly earlier than median

at median

Aggression near median near median slightly above median

U.S. vs. 72 non-Western cultures – early 1950s

Child Training & Personality

• Oral: ingestionverbal spells & incantations

 • Anal: defecation, feces, urine, etc.

carelessness with excretionscharms, curses, spells,

incantationsfailure to perform ritual

Child Training and Personality

• Sexual: sexual behaviorsexual excretionsmenstrual blood

 • Dependence: soul loss

spirit possession

Child Training & Personality

• Aggression: aggressive wishesdisobedience to spiritspoisonmagical weapons

Child Training and Personailty

• Found: negative fixation (frustration) statistically associated with illness explanations

Robert LeVine

Child-Rearing StudiesIn Kenya & West Africa

Kenya ethnic groups

Gusii

Ecology and Infant Care• Pre-industrial: “pediatric” models

high infant-mortalityprotect & nurture

• Modern: “pedagogic” modelssurvival assumed

prepare for school & achievement

Pediatric vs. Pedagogic Models

• High Infant Mortality

• Infant on mother’s body; nursing on demand; co-sleeping

• Seeks quiet baby: dampen excitement

• Low infant mortality

• Separation alternating with high interaction

• Seeks responsive baby: elicit excitement

Mothering Behavior

Objectives of Mothering

• Pediatric (pre-industrial):minimize caloric expenditurefoundation of life-long attachment

• Pedagogic (modern):elicit interest & engagement in worldprepare for school & achievementprepare to separate from family

Whiting’s Theory of (Male) Gender Development

Sling vs. Cradle Cultures

• Slings: warmer climates

• Cradles: colder climates

Gusii (Kenya)

Morocco

Native American

Native American

Native American

Dark: cradle

White: sling

Sling vs. Cradle Cultures• Sling cultures:

– “cross-gender” identity conflict– resolved via masculinizing ritual

• Cradle cultures:– “dependency” conflict– resolved via solitary vision quest &

guardian spirit (Native America)

Whiting theory of Masculine Development

• Long exclusive mother-infant co-sleeping leads to…

Stronger “feminine” identification

Greater need for “masculinizing” ritual

Puberty rituals with genital mutilation– Excising “femaleness”– Creating “male” bodies & persons

Manhood in the MakingDavid Gilmore

• Provides world tour of cultures, showing great range of “masculinity”

• Adopts version of Chodorow – Whiting theory of masculine development

• Adds: importance of warrior role

Manhood in the Making

• Truk: drinking and brawling to provemasculinity

• Sambia: ritual bleeding de-feminizes fellatio masculinizes

• Tahiti & Semai: greater gender equality and androgyny

Gilmore Theory“Man-the-Impregnator-Protector-Provider”

• Basis in “symbiotic” mothering & early “feminine” identification (Chodorow & Whiting)

+• Harsh environment & scarce resources =

greater warrioring

rejection of “femininity”