Handbook on Gender Roles : Conflicts, Attitudes & Behaviors

This book is dedicated to new research which is defined as a set of perceived behavioural norms associated particularly with males or females, in a given social group or system. It can be a form of division of labour by gender. It is a focus of analysis in the social sciences and humanities. Gender is one component of the gender/sex system, which refers to "The set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed needs are satisfied". Almost all societies, to a certain effect, have a gender/sex system, although the components and workings of this system vary markedly from society to society. Gender refers to an individual''s "psychological type", it is acquired through experience. An individual can be viewed as either masculine or feminine. Gender role refers to the attitudes and behaviours that class a person''s stereotypical identity, e.g. women cook and clean, men fix cars. To associate oneself as either masculine or feminine is identifying with gender. Researchers recognise that the concrete behaviour of individuals is a consequence of both socially enforced rules and values, and individual disposition, whether genetic, unconscious, or conscious. Some researchers emphasise the objective social system and others emphasise subjective orientations and dispositions. Creativity may cause the rules and values to change over time. Cultures and societies are dynamic and ever changing, but there has been extensive debate as to how, and how fast, they may change. Such debates are especially contentious when they involve the gender/sex system, as people have widely differing views about how much gender depends on biological sex.