Gender and perception

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 475.

Like ethnicity, gender influences the interpretation of experience. Men and women perceive different realities, have different expectations set for them, and exhibit different communication styles. Beliefs regarding gender-appropri­ate behavior not only influence how men and women see each other but also affect how they relate to each other. From childhood on, both men and women are conditioned to use behaviors that conform to their gender: While men are reinforced for displaying strength and independence, women are rein­forced for expressing their feelings and being nice to others. While women are categorized as emotional, men are classified as rational.

Through interaction with parents, teachers, peers, and others, we internal­ize the lessons of appropriate male and female behavior. These lessons frame our perceptions and teach us how society expects us to behave. These con­structs, however, can limit the way each gender is perceived, and may lead to males and females being judged on the basis of gender expectations rather than on observed cues. Perceived differences in male/female behavior develop as a result of the expectations of others, the behavior exhibited by role models, the traditional educational institutions that promote stereotyped notions of sex roles, and the media that send repeated confirmation of male/female stereotypes. If we want to change the perception of the kinds of behavior appropriate for males and females, then we need to change the way they are categorized by society.

As we perceive, we sort stimuli, selecting some and rejecting others. What we select and store in our internal data base determines our view of reality and gives our lives a sense of stability. If, for example, we conclude that men are more dominant than women, then we feel that we can more readily predict their actions and thus recategorize them as such. When expectations lead to misperceptions, undesirable consequences can result. All too frequently, rigid categorizing precipitates communication problems.

Individual men and women, however, can reject cultural prescriptions, and when they do so, they can elicit changes in the behavior of others toward them. As we defy a gender-based definition, we also help to redefine it. When, for example, one woman encourages another to be more independent, she may help her friend expand her definition of behavior appropriate for women. As women change their behavior and roles, men may perceive them and them­selves differently and may change as well. As we widen our perception of each other by experiencing a greater variety of situations and people, our expecta­tions for each other may be altered, and our views of what males and females can do may be revised as well. In the process, what masculinity and femininity mean is recast.