ASSIGNMENT No.

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Sociology of Gender Issues: Gender Dynamics (4690) Msc Sociology

Spring, 2022
Q.1 Do you think, gender plays any role in health status of men and women in society? (20)

Sexism is seen throughout many different cultures and societies around the world. Sexism refers to
being treated differently and in an unfair manner because of one’s gender. Although women are the
victims of sexism more often than their male counterparts, men can be victims of sexism too.

Gender issues:

Understand the different types of sexism. Misogyny is sexism against the female gender and misandry
is sexism against the male gender. Based on many stereotypical views on how men and women should
act, those who don’t follow gender specific roles often face discrimination in the form of sexism.
Research former laws and the make-up of old societies. In times past, men were always the head of
the household, the breadwinner, the only people allowed to own property, and the overall boss of their
households. Women were viewed as inferior to men and were expected to cook, clean, tend to
children, keep the household in order and obey their husbands. Many beliefs of older times have not
completely disappeared today and some still believe men and women should fit into the gender specific
roles of males being masculine and manly and women being feminine and ladylike.

Differences between men and women:

Study the differences between men and women in the workplace. Women have always been viewed as
the weaker sex and have had to fight for the right to get the same jobs as men do. Even though
women are now a large presence in the workplace, there is still a gender wage gap so for the same
work, they are not always paid equally as their male counterparts. Looking at sexism towards men,
paternity leave is not usually given when a man becomes a father but maternity leave is almost always
given to female employees. Some may view this as unfair to males.

Take classes in sociology and gender studies. You can learn about sexism throughout the ages and see
how it has changed as society has changed. Local and community colleges often offer a variety of
classes on the subject. Look at how much sexual content is in the media. There is sex on daytime
television, in music lyrics and videos, in magazines, on billboards and other advertisements. Many
cultures believe that sex sells so more things have become sexualized. Women are often viewed as sex
objects and are called disrespectful and degrading names due to the way they are often portrayed as
scantly clad in music videos, in magazines, and on television. Women are usually shown as passive and
perform degrading acts while men portray dominant roles and are seen as being masculine.

Health cares system:

This distance between the doctor and the patient is evident in the manner the health cares system,
which is largely urban and capital intensive, operates. How are women patients treated by the medical
establishment? Women patients come to Medicare setups for treatment of illness or for obstetric help
or as victims of violence. They also come to seek medical aid for their children. The medical system
deals with women's illnesses in a special manner. While there are no Indian studies, a number of
foreign authors have noted that some common and troublesome conditions in women and children
were dismissed as psychogenic. They document evidence for this in the case of dysmenorrheal, nausea
during pregnancy, labor pains and infantile colic. Specific ways in which both doctors and patients
accept stereo typed definition of social as well as psychological causes of the problems of women
patients have also been documented. A study revealed that male physicians take medical illness more
seriously in men that in women.

Traditional linguistic convention:

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Women patients are often seen as hysterical, irrational and incapable of making decisions. Following
traditional linguistic convention, patients in most medical school lectures are referred to exclusively by
the male pronoun 'he'. There is, however, a notable exception. In discussion a hypothetical patient
whose disease is of psychogenic origin, the lecturer automatically uses 'she'. Majority of women in our
country are housewives. In most other countries women do as much office work as men and in
addition do duties of housewives. Thus Indian women have more spare time. Since a majority of them
have no other activities or hobbies and they do no reading they spend most of their spare time
concentrating on their vaginal discharge.

Physical facilities:

This bias against women is seen not in attitudes, but manifests in the physical facilities available to
them. For instance, the number of beds allotted to women patients in various wards of hospitals is
much lower than the number of beds available to male patients. In fact, the diet given to women
patients is much lower in calories than that given to men patients because it is assumed that women
need less food than men.

We need to stress the fact that women in our society approach the medical facility only if their illness
interfered with their daily routine. It is well known that they do not recognize their illness as such until
it hampers their work. Also they do not want to deplete their family's meager resources by spending it
on their health care. So when they do approach medical facilities, it is imperative that they are treated
with attention and sensitivity.

Specific recommendations

Specific recommendations include women-exclusive interventions, such as restoring their rightful role
in public life, society and the family by eradicating gender-based violence; educational programs for
law enforcement and health professionals; and the establishment of specific service delivery points.
The media must be recruited to build indigenous perspectives and prescriptions on addressing gender-
based violence. Men must be engaged in ending gender-based violence.

Universal approaches do not provide universal solutions. Socially acceptable and culturally appropriate
actions, with an understanding of attitudes and behaviors, are required at the design, development and
dissemination stages of all interventions. Gender, gender mainstreaming, gender empowerment and
gender equality are currently fashionable concepts in the social development sector of Pakistan
However, the actual amount of attention, responses at the policy, services, legislation and community
levels, the funding specifically provided for gender-based violence in Pakistan, and the outcomes and
impact of initiatives remain open to question. This study does not offer complete or final answers; it
merely draws upon available information to assess trends and determine future areas of work.

Civil and Political Rights

According to investigations by the Ansar Burney on Civil and Political Rights, and the International
Trust (n.d.), the vast majority of cases where Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
women lost their lives due to violence at home, Many of the principles contained in these their
husbands and in-laws were implicated. In documents are reflected in the Constitution. For other cases,
victims' fathers and brothers were this reason, it has been argued that Pakistan's responsible. There
were many cases reported of declaration when acceding to CEDAW simply women seeking divorce or
separation who were enabled a smooth accession, and will not have subject to mutilation, such as
having their noses, negative effects in implementing the convention ears and hair cut off by angry
husbands. Sexual (Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of violence is also commonly faced by
Pakistani Discrimination against Women 2005) women. It is estimated that as many as eight women –
half of them minors – are raped every In Pakistan, the conflict between state and day. Many of these
are committed to exact.

Victim’s family, as women

Customary or tribal law has tended to be resolved revenge on the victim's family, as women are by the
former mimicking or accommodating the considered keepers of the family honor. Rapes are latter. This
concord between law and custom, also ordered as punishments by the pantheist and which has much
to say on the place of women in jirga councils of elders, sometimes for crimes society, is also
consolidated in the courts. Judges committed by other members of the family. Many are
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overwhelmingly male and invested in sexual assaults on women occur in custody by the patriarchy.
They are often inclined to give men the police.

Benefit of the doubt in cases involving murder, rape, and physical abuse of women, as well as
According to the Aurat Foundation (2010), 1,988, cases where women are accused of zina. This is or a
quarter of all reported cases of gender-based especially evident in the context of honor killings

Q.2 What do you mean by “Wage Gap”? Highlight the situation of gender wage gap in
Pakistan. (20)

Measurement of women's equality to our access to men's jobs and men's wages. The nomination, then
election, of the first African-American presidential candidate portended and promised great change. But
through its platform, the Democratic Party looked backwards to an equality agenda drawn by women's
exclusion from men's world. This agenda finds singular and transformative power in direct comparisons
between women's and men's status, earnings, and opportunities. But to focus only on such
comparisons misses many of the persistent inequalities imposed on women.

Certainly, women who enter men's world encounter signal inequalities: Hillary Clinton's presidential
campaign and Lilly Ledbetter's unequal wages are just two high-profile examples. But women who do
the work historically assigned to women, whether in the labor market or in the family, face inequalities,
as well-inequalities rooted in the low value ascribed to work performed primarily by women.

The low valuation of women manifests, whether women are labor market workers or caregivers in
families. In the labor market, a gender-based earnings gap disfavors women and leads inextricably to a
gender-based distribution of poverty that breeds misery for mothers and their children. In families, the
lack of economic compensation for caregiving means inevitable poverty for mothers who cannot earn
or depend on a male wage. Both the earnings gap in the labor market and the earnings vacuum for
caregivers follow from the value we assign to women's work, whether it is performed for wages or for
families.

Snapshot of wage differences

The wage gap data takes a snapshot of wage differences in a single year. If you compare men's and
women's wages longitudinally-across time-the income gap is much larger than the 22 percent reported
by the Census Bureau. The Institute for Women's Policy Research compared the income of female and
male full-time/full-year workers over a fifteen-year period. Over fifteen years, the earnings gap
favored men by 36 percent overall-that is, men's income was 36 percent higher than women's income.
When the sample was broadened to look at everyone who was employed at all-not only those who
were employed full-time/year-round, but also part-time and part-year workers-the gap was
substantially larger, at 62 percent.

Across a lifetime, these disparities add up to huge losses. Among full-time/full-year workers, a woman
with a high school diploma loses $700,000 in earnings as compared to a man with a high school
diploma. A woman with a BA loses $1.2 million over her lifetime. A woman with an advanced degree
loses $2 million.

Not surprisingly, the cost of inequality follows women into retirement, especially unmarried women.
The retirement income gap averages about $8,000 each year for single women.7 Overall, single older
women-widows and divorcees, as well as those who never married-share a poverty rate of
approximately 20 percent.

Women's Poverty

The wage statistics show that women in general have lower incomes than men. Women's lower
earnings, in turn, mean that women are more likely than men to be poor. Today, more than 37
million people live below the poverty line-live on less than $16,530 per year for a family of three.9
Sixteen million people-slightly less than half of all those in poverty-live in what is called "extreme"
poverty, meaning that they live on less than half the poverty line income, or $8250 a year for a family
of three. Another 15 million people live just above the poverty line (125 percent, or about $20,000 a
year for a family of two). Altogether, 50 million people are almost poor, officially poor, or extremely
poor. Women figure disproportionately among them.

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 There has been a gender poverty gap every year since the official poverty line was drawn in the
1960s. While poverty statistics consistently have shown that women in general are somewhat more
likely to be poor than men in general, they also reveal deep poverty gaps based on the race and
marital status of women. Women of color are much more likely to be poor than white men and white
women. (See Table 4) Women whose family incomes do not include a male wage are
disproportionately poor, as well: only 20 percent of women in poverty are married.
Welfare

Powerful and consistent empirical evidence shows that the devaluation of women's work in the labor
market and in families destines women's families to economic insecurity. Public policy has responded
to that insecurity primarily by goading mothers into low wage jobs and marriage. Rather than revalue
and support women's work, the public policy designed to mitigate the economic insecurity of mothers'
families actually disdains single mothers as labor market workers, as caregivers, and as unmarried
women.

That public policy is what we call welfare-or what anti-welfare reformers of the mid-1990s named
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). At the time welfare reform policy was enacted, it was
widely hailed for transforming single mothers into breadwinners by forcing them to take low wage jobs
in the labor market. While compulsory labor market work is a feature of welfare reform, the reform
equally emphasized the compulsory introduction of fathers into single mother families.

Indeed, the guiding principle of welfare policy is that the economic security of families requires
mothers to have relationships with fathers. This is a privatizing move, tying the economic well-being of
families to the presence of fathers' wages. It also is a patriarchal move, conferring economic security
only to those mothers who conform to traditional father-mother norms.

Pro-patriarchal attributes of welfare policy

The pro-patriarchal attributes of welfare policy are not accidental. The 1996 welfare law was rife with
condemnation of single mothers and was concerted in its efforts to insert fathers into low-income
single mother families. The preamble to the law began with the assertion that "marriage is the
foundation of a successful society." It then proceeded to blame numerous social ills-among them child
abuse, truancy, and crime - on nonmarital childbearing and single motherhood.

The law went on to tie the purposes of welfare to promoting marriage, preventing nonmarital
childbearing, and fostering two-parent (heterosexual) family formation.27 While the law declared that
one goal of welfare is to "provide assistance to needy families" with children, it conditioned assistance
on reform of the reproductive and family decisions of such families. Program rules regulating teenage
mothers, discouraging illegitimacy, promoting abstinence, and compelling mothers to identify biological
fathers and cooperate with child support enforcement -- all advance these goals.

The welfare reform law enacted in 1996 was revised and extended in 2006. The renewed welfare
program fastens the economic security of single mothers ever more tightly to the end of single
motherhood. The principal addition to welfare policy was the creation of funding streams dedicated to
promoting married fatherhood: $1.5 billion over five years ($750 million each year) for pro-marriage,
pro-father activities. Beyond dedicated federal spending, the renewed welfare law gives states
incentive to spend their TANF block grants and their own state funds to support federal pro-marriage,
pro-father activities.

So the problem isn't that single mothers are lazy or have less of a work ethic than married parents, or
than single fathers. The problem isn't intrinsic to the structure of single mother families but to the low
economic value assigned to women-both in the labor market and as caregivers in their own families.

Marriage promotion may indeed improve economic circumstances for many women. But it won't move
us closer to equality for women, and it won't improve options for women and children whose safety
and well-being is endangered by the presence of particular men in their families. Binding family
economic security to men's earning power, not women's, may force wage-poor women to stay in
abusive relationships; exposes mothers to poverty at divorce; and assures disproportionate poverty to
mothers who never marry. Even for mothers who eke through these dependencies and disparities,
economic inequality comes home to roost later on when fewer retirement assets and lower pension
income spell high rates of poverty for elderly women who are on their own.

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2. Women and Politics.

With the advent of the Pakistan Movement, women’s participation in the freedom struggle became a
dire necessity, both for increasing the Muslim vote bank and for displaying numerical strength at the
Muslim League’s political rallies. In 1940 Mr. Jinnah announced, “Women are supposed to create a
sense of general political consciousness. They should stand
shoulder to shoulder with men in practical politics. This saw the removal of cultural and social
restrictions on their traveling for purposes of attending political gatherings. Unfortunately, in spite of
the Quaid’s personal views, 1948 saw an abrupt end to this temporary political freedom. However, a
few determined women continued to play very important roles in the political empowerment of the
women of Pakistan. This article seeks to
record and eulogise their successes, while simultaneously analyzing the effects of their failures on the
body politic of Pakistan.

Pakistani society in professional carriers in profession life women’s

Women are not only playing vital role in family life but also women's have become important part of
Pakistani society in professional carriers in profession life women's are still facing great difficulties but
there some examples who gives strength to come forward and do some thing good about our country
one of the example we have about Mohtharma Benazeer Bhutto she was a first women elected to lead
a Muslim state having twice been Pakistani prime minister (1988-1990) and (1993_1996)she had a
great political background and her efforts for the survival of our nation is unforgettable being a women
she did so many works for the prosperity of nation .that proves the reality that women can do
something very better than a man for a society and for a nation as well

Women's of Pakistan are greatly contributing their parts in struggling for the prosperity of nation in
every field we are seeing that women are working more efficiently in all fields as we are expecting it
from a man but in big cities of Pakistan it is possible that women can work equally as like all man does
even we seeing now a days in media in politics women's are more active and so many educated girls
wants to make their professional carriers but in ruler areas of Pakistan the situation is entirely different

Women's of ruler areas are facing terrible situations due to the many problems first of all our basic
problem is that our country has been counted in under-developing nations and our literacy rate is very
low so its obvious that the difficulties are created by the lack of education our women's and girls are
not educated and in small cities and villages families are very conservative they don't allow their
women's and girls to go for education according to them women's are made for controlling house hold
and man's are responsible for the expenses of house.

Political empowerment of women:

This would be the most effective way of enhancing the political empowerment of women, as envisaged
by President Musharraf in his inaugural address to the National Conference on Women’s Political
Participation in January 2003,36 where he had stated that, “The women members of the Assemblies
must rise beyond party affiliations… influence decision-making… (and) become effective in legislation to
ensure that no law detrimental to their rights and interests is passed.” It is heartening to note that
subsequent development in the Punjab Assembly, where women members of the Opposition broke
ranks with their male colleagues and joined their female counterparts from the Treasury Benches in
supporting the provisions of the Punjab Prevention of Domestic Violence Bill, 2003.37 Similarly, the
subsequent passage of the Honour Killing Act and Women Protection Act (that has considerably
reduced the anti women bias of the Hadood Ordinances) have helped bring to surface a new breed of
women politicians such as Sherry Rehman PPP, Nilofar Bakhtiar PML(Q), Kashmala Tariq PML(Q) and
Fauzia Wahab PPP. Their roles in the passage of these Acts have definitely proved that there is light at
the end of the tunnel.

Leap to empowerment of women:

Many amongst the government circle would disagree, rushing to pinpoint the quantum leap to
empowerment of women engendered by the president. The moment the 342-seat National Assembly
has 73 female members, out of whom 60 have been inducted through a complex system of
proportional representation, 12 on general seats and 18 are elected to the Senate (the Upper House).
Technically women have made a quantitative leap which should not be confused with qualitative
inclusion in governance.
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They have been ‘granted’ 17 per cent seats at the federal and provincial levels and 33 per cent at the
local government, but that does not imply they are on the same footing as their male counterparts.
They are repeatedly reminded that their freedoms are endowments given to them by the present
government. The recently released list by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), a constitutional
body entrusted with the duty to organize and conduct elections, for the upcoming general elections
excluded 38 million people from their right to vote. In the previous elections held in 2002, 71.86
million people were registered as voters, but this year the ECP has issued a list of only 56 million
eligible voters.

Force of women in Pakistan

The period of Gen Zia’s Martial Law, which followed after the overthrow of Mr. Bhutto, was a rather
lean period for women politicians. In fact, after the Bhutto ladies had been forced to leave the Country,
women politicians seemed to have virtually disappeared from the landscape. However, in the wake of
the promulgation of the Hadood Ordinances, this vacuum was filled by a class of educated women
activists who had emerged to form pressure groups committed to protecting women’s rights. These
laws, wittingly or unwittingly, reduced the legal status of women through the Qanoon-e-Shahadat on
the one hand, and virtually tyrannized them by the faulty interpretation of the Zina Ordinance on the
other hand.26 Whereas the first barred them from giving evidence in cases of rape, qazf, bodily harm
or property, the second resulted in a rape victim being jailed for Zina unless she could produce four
Muslim male witnesses to prove that she had been raped. Thus was born the Women’s
Action Forum (WAF), which continues to be active even today in its struggle for ensuring basic rights
for women.

Women's position in Pakistani society are getting damage as the time passes some of problems are
listed below

 These are the practises which women's are performing forcibly to do

 Child marriage( in traditional language it is called (Vani))
 Watta satta (It is tribal custom in which brides are traded between two clans)
 Honor killing(it is punishment for a women )
 Marriage to Quran (Man does this in order to keep the land of their sisters and daughters)
 THROWING ACID (for destroying women's beauty)

These problems are unavoidable they doesn't allow women's to come forward do something great for
our nation as compare to the women of big cities they are playing tier role efficiently they are doing
jobs and taking education from higher institutions their conditions are entirely different from village life
of women's.

Participation

Although, relatively speaking, the Musharraf era proved to be a political boom for the women of
Pakistan; unfortunately it also did not restore the principle of female suffrage for women’s
Reserved seats on the basis of special territorial constituencies as envisaged in the 1956 Constitution.
The effects of this lapse can best be judged by an analysis of the elections held in 2002. Although
Gen. Musharraf very boldly increased the number of reserved women’s seats to an unprecedented 20%
in the Assemblies and 33% in the Local Bodies, reportedly as many as 31% of the women in NWFP,
Baluchistan and Southern Punjab were not allowed by their men to vote.30 If the principle of women
voting for the reserved women’s seats had been included in the LFO, even MMA Party leaders would
have been “encouraged” to ensure that their womenfolk went out and voted for MMA women
candidates. The alternative would have been to surrender the 20% reserved women seats to their rival
parties.

This would also have had the advantage of making candidates for the reserved women’s seats
accountable to their women voters, thus forcing the candidates to devise political agendas conductive
to resolving women’s problems and helping them to achieve their due rights.31 In other words,
women’s demands would have been presented and fought for in the assemblies by women
parliamentarians, who would have had to demonstrate their dedication and record on women issues as
an essential requirement for seeking re-election.

Education
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Educations achievement of female students are much higher in rate than male students in cities and If
we talk about women employment patterns of women employment vary throughout the Muslim world
as of 2005,16 % of Pakistani women were economically active either employed or unemployed
.Although Pakistani women's are playing great role in nations economy their contributions have been
under-reported in some censuses and surveys in a gross manner.
Our religion Islam allows women to get education and even for the employment as well but in our
country some conservative people are not allowing their women's to come forward and do something
for their house society and country if all all the women of our country get education and if they become
independent that will become a great cause of success for a nation Women s plays important role in
Pakistani society if basic facilities will be provided to them she will change the current terrible situation
of our country through their efficiency and handwork no doubt our nation has so many hard-working
ladies who are not only running their house society but also our countries economy.

Democratic process

Pakistani women have marked the importance of their role in the democratic process," Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan chairwoman. We can hope political parties will be giving more importance to
women's rights issues in both legislation and policy-making. Turnout for all voters was historically high,
breaking 55%, according to the Pak Tribune. From 1988 through 2008, in six elections, turnout never
reached 45%.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) registered about 37.6m women to vote in this election, 2m
more than in 2008. About half of them cast ballots this year, according to UPI. Women's turnout was
especially impressive because efforts to bar them from voting occurred in some conservative areas,
such as parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas." Voting is your right, and one should not
waste it," she said. "You don't have the right to criticize your leadership if you don't vote. Women were
also more actively involved politically, with more than 450 female candidates running for seats in the
National Assembly and provincial assemblies in 2013, compared to fewer than 200 in 2008 and even
fewer in 2002, media reported.

Q.3 Men and women speak different languages. Explain the statement with examples.
(20)

It would be a lie to say that men and women are the same. They are different in terms of their biology,
and they show differences, on average, in terms of their personality and interests. But how might
these differences be reflected in their communication styles? New research appearing in the Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology may have an answer.

A team of researchers led by Priyanka Joshi of San Francisco State University examined the degree to
which men and women relied on "communicative abstraction" to verbally convey their ideas and
emotions. Communicative abstraction, according to the researchers, reflects the tendency of people to
use "abstract speech that focuses on the broader picture and ultimate purpose of action rather than
concrete speech focusing on details and the means of attaining action. Interestingly, they found that
men were significantly more likely to speak in the abstract than were women.

"One gender difference that has been pointed to anecdotally is the tendency of women to speak about
specifics and men to speak about the bigger picture," state Joshi and her team. "Across a series of six
studies, we find that men communicate more abstractly than women."

To arrive at this conclusion, the researchers examined the linguistic patterns of men and women in
both experimental and field contexts. For instance, in one of their studies, the researchers examined
over 600,000 blog posts written on the website Blogger.com to see whether men used more abstract
language than women. To do this, the researchers computed abstractness ratings for approximately

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40,000 commonly used words in the English language. For instance, words that could be easily
visualized, such as "table" or "chair," were given a low rating for abstractness while words that were
more difficult to visualize (for example, "justice" or "morality") were given a high rating. They found
that men used significantly more abstract language in their blog posts.

The researchers sought to replicate this effect in a real-world speaking environment. To do this, they
relied on transcripts from U.S. Congressional sessions spanning 2001 to 2017. They predicted that
female members of Congress would, on average, invoke less abstract language than their male
counterparts. Again, they found this to be the case. Analyzing over 500,000 transcripts of text
delivered by more than 1,000 Congress members, the researchers reported that men used significantly
more abstract language in their speeches than women. This was true regardless of political party
affiliation and irrespective of Congressional house (House of Representatives or Senate).

What is the source of this effect? The researchers suggest that power differences between the genders
— that is, men having more power in society — might be a key determinant. For instance, in a follow-
up study conducted with a sample of 300 students from a large west coast university, the researchers
manipulated power dynamics in an interpersonal setting to see if this would influence communicative
abstraction. Specifically, they assigned participants to play the role of either an interviewer or
interviewee. Then, they asked participants to describe various behaviors. They found that participants
in the high-power interviewer role were more likely to invoke abstract descriptions of behaviors than
were participants in the low-power interviewee role.

Across a number of varied contexts we find that men tend to communicate more abstractly than
women. We also identify several moderators for this effect, suggesting that it does not reflect a fixed
tendency of men or women but rather emerges within specific contexts. We look forward to future
research that continues to explore this effect, its basis, and its consequences.

Private Talk vs. Private Talk

According to Tannen, women tend to talk more in private conversations than men do. This has to do
with their focus on establishing connection through communication. To illustrate this, Tannen provides
an anecdotal example in which a woman complains whiningly to her husband about him never telling
her what he thinks; the husband sarcastically replies, “I didn’t want to interrupt you.” This example
does not imply that women tend to talk a lot, but rather embodies Tannen’s conclusion that women
talk more in private—the example of a couple here—than men do.

The above premise should not however be interpreted as solidifying the “women-are-great-gossipers”
stereotype. The only reason why women seem to talk or gossip more than men do is the particularities
of their own societies. In some countries of the Arab world, for instance, women are given less chance
to talk in public, so the standard “quantity of talk” becomes that of men. Hence, when women speak in
these societies, regardless of the “quantity of talk,” they seem as diverging from the norms set by
men, and are therefore described as talking a lot by nature.

Unlike women, according to Tannen, men speak more in public situations. This has to do with their
basic communicational motive introduced above, which is status. Men typically vie for ascendency
when speaking in public. Contrary to women’s style of communication, men’s talk is straight-forward,
detailed and informative, charged with arguments and defensive implicit and explicit statements.
Women’s talk in conversation, contrariwise, is charged with connectional devices that serve to establish
a symmetrical connection between them and their interlocutors. They are known for typically using
what we call “question tags” and “hedging devices” in conversation. These all serve to maintain the
conversation going on, and to notify the interlocutor that they, women, identify with the content of his
talk and are interested in knowing more about it.

Telling Jokes

Joke telling is one more standard out of which many stereotypes have been carpentered on women.
Men are seen as being more humorous than women for telling jokes that make them laugh, whereas it
does not always work on women’s side. Women are therefore deemed lacking a productive sense of
humor; rather, their role in this process of joke telling is confined to that of responding to men’s jokes.
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This however does not necessarily imply that women are not capable of telling funny jokes. Here again,
an understanding of their communicational motives makes things crystal clear.

While men, as already explained according to Dr. Tannen, seek to establish or maintain status while
communicating, this extends to the process of telling jokes as well. Men’s basic thought when telling
jokes is “Hey, now can you tell something funnier than this?”, which is noticeable in their eagerness to
find a joke that is not only funny, but even funnier than that of the other party who told the first joke.
This longing to compete can only be translated to what Tannen calls “asymmetrical status,” in which
men refuse to conform to the status set by their interlocutors, especially when it is a man-to-man
conversation. The race for status goes in a noticeably gradual fashion.

When women tell jokes, it is for a distinct reason from that of men. It is not to sound funnier, and
therefore be labeled the ‘funniest,’ which is what men typically eye when telling jokes. Contrariwise,
women tell jokes to establish connection here again. Jokes for them are ways to break the ‘formal
iceberg’ that is already there before the start of a conversation. It is one way to tell their interlocutor
‘You can step closer.’ Consequently, when women respond to men’s jokes with laughter and hailing
comments, they do recognize their jokes as hilarious, but this does not mean that they accredit men’s
supremacy in this situation, which is what most men misinterpret. This is very noticeable in how men
keep firing jokes at their female interlocutors, without expecting them to tell jokes back. This can be
interpreted as a presupposed belief, held by men, that no matter how funny their female interlocutor’s
jokes will be, they will never transgress the bar set by them.

Women and men in this situation should be aware of the communicational typicalities of each other in
order not to construct what Tannen calls “destructive responses” within a conversation.

Listening, Interrupting and Asking Questions

Women and men seek dissimilar goals when listening, interrupting or asking questions. According to
Tannen, women are more cooperative in their listening. You see women holding eye contact, nodding
from time to time and mumbling some “uh-huh, mmmm, yes, right,” when listening. Well, that is their
way to show that they are following what you are saying, and that they agree and identify with the
content of your utterances, and that explains why women tend to slightly interrupt you from time to
time. They do that to insert a comment that shows that they are following or that they have
experienced, for example, something similar to what you are relating. They also ask questions while
their interlocutors are speaking. The function of these questions is to prompt the interlocutor to talk
more, and guarantee him or her that they will be listening to every single detail they provide.

Men, on the contrary, interpret and use these conversational practices dissimilarly. When men listen,
they do not cooperate in the same way as women. When a man is listening to a woman for example,
he sometimes tends to interrupt her for a longer period than a woman would do. Women interpret this
as lack of interest in what they are saying, whereas it is not the case. When men interrupt a woman
who is complaining to them, for instance, they try to share their experience on the subject matter of
their complaint. That is their way to say “I know what you are feeling and I am with you,” which
is something that women find difficult to decode sometimes.

When men are interrupted, however, they interpret that as an endeavor to “steal the light” from them,
which rings an alarm in their head that says, “Your status is threatened!” This explains why men raise
their voices when being interrupted. They do this to keep the ball on their side, as they have not made
their argument yet.

One should therefore avoid hasty overreactions to men or women’s conversational tendencies within a
conversation. Their conversational cooperation is different from each other, and should not be always
interpreted as an attempt to subdue the other gender.

Conflict

Finally yet importantly, conflict is another instance used by Tannen to illustrate male-female
communicational styles. According to Tannen, men feel more comfortable when they converse about
conflict-based topics. Some of these topics are, to name but a few, sports and politics. Men see such

9
topics as conterminous with their main communicational motive, which is, as previously described, that
of establishing and maintaining status.

When you see men conversing about sports, chances are they will be gradually engaging in a dispute-
like conversation, in which each one of them tries to impose his argument on the other as the most
well grounded argument. Feeling their status being threatened by their male counterparts, men make
use of relatively offensive styles of communication, such as raising their voice and using casual and
sometimes vehement non-verbal gestures. This can be illustrated through situations in which men
strive to have the “last word” in a conversation.

Women, on the other hand, feel their longing for connection threatened when engaging in conflict-
based topics. This explains why women in general refrain from conversing about such topics; but this
does not necessarily mean that women have no interest for sports or politics. What is assumed,
however, is that to engage in debates on such topics, women have to deploy men’s communicational
style, which is, though true in certain cases, detrimental to women’s status in society. Men, too, are
believed to use women’s style of communication when trying to establish connection with the other.

As most men and women are not aware of the differences in the communicational styles of each
gender, miscommunication is more likely to occur in their conversations. It is by the understanding of
the opposite gender’s conversational particularities, the motives behind them and how society
inseparably shapes them that gender communication can occur in a stereotype-free setting, in which
both genders perform their social roles through language without being misinterpreted by the other
party.

Q.4 Describe the situation of workplace issues and harassment for women in different
employment sectors of Pakistan. (20)

Violence against women is a persistent and universal problem occurring in every culture and social
group. Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or
otherwise abused in her lifetime – most often by someone she knows, including a member of her own
family, an employer or a co-worker. Violence against women has been called “the most pervasive yet
least recognized human rights abuse in the world.” Accordingly, the Second World Conference on
Human Rights in Vienna in 1993 and the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1994 gave priority to
this issue, which jeopardizes women’s lives, bodies, psychological integrity and freedom. Violence
against women is often known as ‘gender-based’ violence because it partly stems from women’s
subordinate status in society. During this session we will examine the meanings of the concept ‘gender
based’ violence, what types of violence are considered ‘gender-based’, where gender-based violence
occurs, who are its main victims and perpetrators. We will also explore gender-based violence as a
violation of women’s human’s rights.

Violence against women:

Violence against women is one of the most widespread of human rights abuses. One out of every three
women worldwide will be physically, sexually or otherwise abused during her lifetime. During times of
war and conflict, sexual violence is used to terrorize and humiliate women and girls. Survivors often
suffer further victimization by family and society. The International Rescue Committee works to break
this cycle of violence by helping survivors to heal, delivering care to victims of sexual assault, and by
bringing women together for mutual support. Through innovative skills programs, we help women gain
economic independence.

The bodies and spirits of women and girls are the forgotten frontline in conflicts throughout the world.
Sexual violence is not just a by-product of war; it is a strategy of combat systematically used to
terrorize and humiliate. The consequences of violence against women are debilitating and many: risk of
HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, damage to reproductive organs, and broken bones. The
psychological and social consequences are equally as devastating, as the prevailing stigma associated
with sexual violence often leaves women isolated and increasingly vulnerable. The trauma a survivor
experiences goes beyond her own suffering, also rendering great costs to her family and community.

10
The threat of assault follows women and girls as they flee conflict. And it lingers long after fighting
ends. In war-torn regions where destruction, displacement and lawlessness breed yet more violence,
women increasingly face abuse in their homes and may be forced to exchange sex for survival.

Gender based violence in Pakistan:

Presence of parallel legal systems in Pakistan is also a contributing factor which leads to the injustice,
inequality and violation of fundamental rights. The established different courts and forums under
Common Law, Sharia Law and Tribal Law and all of them parallel to each other, sets paths towards an
unequal and unjust criminal legal system. Moreover, the presence of informal justice system, known as
Council of elders has led to certain inhuman decisions, including the one mentioned above where a
council of elders in south of Punjab, ordered to rape a woman, as there was allegation of her brother’s
relationships with a girl of the rival tribe in 2002.

According to Aurat Foundation’s:

According to Aurat Foundation’s data collected from various sources, a number of around 8500 cases
of gender based violence reported in 2010. Again, these figures are only the tip of in iceberg as women
in Pakistan, having less faith in criminal justice system, re-victimization and facing social taboos,
hardly report such crime. Moreover, certain forms of violence are not even recognized as a crime under
the law. The violence faced by women in domestic sphere is always considered as a private affair and
is not cognizable. Pakistan, despite having the highest number of honor related killings in the world,
still carries such legislations which allow the legal heirs to forgive the perpetrator of such crimes. Some
unofficial resources described this number as high as upto 3000 an year.

The recent decision of Supreme Court on Mukhtaran Mai case has widely disappointed the women of
Pakistan who stands against the barbarism and crimes against women by society and state. Mukhtaran
Mai is amongst those courageous women who believes that the silence against cruelty is an abetment
to cruelty and stood against the outrageous acts against her. The case was a combination of 2 different
legal systems, rape charges under Sharia Law while the anti-terrorism and abetment charges under
Common (Anglo-Saxon Law). The trial court announced her judgment on 31 August 2002, sentencing
six out of fourteen accused to death.

Having conflict among two higher courts, the Supreme Court (most superior court) intervened and
announced that Supreme court will hear the appeals and temporarily suspended the high court decision
of acquittal of 5 accused person. The final decision of the Supreme Court was announced a week ago
when she upheld the High Court decision and acquitted 5 accuse person. Shaken Mukhtaran Mai, while
interviewing after judgment said that “why courts in Pakistan have kept her hanging to wait, if the
decision was going to be such unjust”.

Dependent position:

Notably, 24 % of all 13–16 year old girls are already married and 75% of girls between 16 and 21
years. A total of 75% of all girls have been forced into an arranged marriage in one way or another.
Men are usually twice the age of their wives. Furthermore, there is a high rate of illiteracy among
women and honour-related violence appears to have increased these past few years. This has
strengthened the dependent position of women.

Men:

The research consisted of a quantitative study among women and a qualitative study among 78 men.
The men were asked to voice their perceptions of masculinity, causes for GBV and solutions to stop the
violence [see appendix 2]. Pakistani men face strong social pressure to act like men, e.g. their role of
provider and protector of the family and being the one who makes all the decisions. As a result of
unemployment and economic pressure they are not able to meet all these expectations. This results in
frustration which in turn may lead to violence. Nevertheless, the men were asked how they themselves
see a solution to this deep-rooted cultural problem. It is exactly this contribution of men that is needed
to start a dialogue, according to Rutgers WPF.

The future?

11
Since 2009, Rutgers WPF has worked hard to get Gender Based Violence acknowledged in the most
conservative areas of Pakistan, by training and capacity building of local organisations. This research is
vital in order to produce scientific data. With these results Rutgers WPF can approach politicians, health
workers, police officials and lawyers. The aim is to slowly bring about change in behaviour, to have the
law changed and to be able to carry out more research.

Presentation

The research results will be presented in Pakistan in March 2012. More information will follow later
concerning the research results and the follow-up actions.

Apart from this programme, different steps are taken to empower women in the society. 10% quota is
given to women in federal jobs for the active participation in civil service. Pakistan Army started
recruiting women officers. Pakistan air force also has women fighter pilots on duty alongside their male
counterparts. Even Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed was the first women Prime Minister of the
Muslim World which was the manifestation of women empowerment in Pakistan. The national assembly
speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza from Pakistan, is also the first Muslim lady speaker of Muslim World.

Women represent in almost every field of life and in some cases they have superseded men in several
fields. The government of General Pervaiz Musharraf took few positive and bold steps in this regard
and ensured the women participation to the full. He reserved 1/3rd women seats in the local
government ordinance.

Women empowering in true sense

The question arises here is “Are women empowering in true sense after these steps. Still the answer is
“No”. The later answer is not wholly depicting a bleak picture. But the women are still facing many
problems like harassment, social violence and others. She is not empowered in the real sense therefore
she is still facing many social and economic issues. The fault lies in the society which is not literate
enough to give equal opportunity to the women. One example of this social cruelty is that only
unmarried women between the age of 18 to 26 years will be given employment in the garment
factories as unskillful labor. This law is the root cause of exploitation of married and older women
workers. Also the employers can’t issue maternity leave or day care for babies will not be provided.

Additionally, women are given jobs in private sectors but some are lucky enough to get responsible
seats while others are treated as a symbol of attraction. Improving literacy rate is quite different from
educating people. People have partially accepted the fact that women should be given chance in of
education still they are reluctant to allow co-education and doing job in the field.

Local media highlights women issues and problems but ignores women achievement. Only modern
Media can change and understand the complex reality. What gives us hope is their continued struggle
and defiance of traditional authority will bring huge change in the life of women. It should also be
mentioned here that many Ulemas and jurists have realized that in the twenty first century women
should participate in the economic activities to bring change in the society.

Modern Islamic state

Discourse about the position of women in Islam and women's role in a modern Islamic state was
sparked by the government's attempts to formalize a specific interpretation of Islamic law. Although
the issue of evidence became central to the concern for women's legal status, more mundane matters
such as mandatory dress codes for women and whether females could compete in international sports
competitions were also being argued.

Another challenge faced by the Pakistani women concerns their integration into the labour force.
Because of economic pressures and the dissolution of extended families in urban areas, many more
women are working for wages than in the past. But by 1990 females officially made up only 13 percent
of the labour force. Restrictions on their mobility limit their opportunities, and traditional notions of
propriety lead families to conceal the extent of work performed by women. Usually, only the poorest
women engage in work — often as midwives, sweepers, or nannies — for compensation outside the
home. More often, poor urban women remain at home and sell manufactured goods to a middleman
for compensation. More and more urban women have engaged in such activities during the 1990s,
although to avoid being shamed few families willingly admit that women contribute to the family
12
economically. Hence, there is little information about the work women do. On the basis of the
predominant fiction that most women do no work other than their domestic chores, the government
has been hesitant to adopt overt policies to increase women's employment options and to provide legal
support for women's labour force participation.

Social welfare activities of the women's

A melding of the traditional social welfare activities of the women's movement and its newly revised
political activism appears to have occurred. Diverse groups, including the Women's Action Forum, the
All-Pakistan Women's Association, the Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association, and the Business and
Professional Women's Association, are supporting small-scale projects throughout the country that
focus on empowering women. They have been involved in such activities as instituting legal aid for
indigent women, opposing the gendered segregation of universities, and publicizing and condemning
the growing incidents of violence against women. The Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association has
released a series of films educating women about their legal rights; the Business and Professional
Women's Association is supporting a comprehensive project in Yakki Gate, a locality of the poor inside
the Walled City of Lahore; and the Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi has promoted networks among
women who work at home so they need not be dependent on middlemen to acquire raw materials and
market the clothes they produce.

The women's movement has shifted from reacting to government legislation to focusing on three
primary goals: securing women's political representation in the National Assembly; working to raise
women's consciousness, particularly about family planning; and countering suppression of women's
rights by defining and articulating positions on events as they occur in order to create more public
awareness.

Q.5 How do you see the role of media with reference to gender specific roles socialization?
(20)

Scholars have been investigating connections between screen media and gender beliefs since the
1970s, and three meta-analyses have been produced summarizing media's effects, all centered on
television. In the first meta-analysis, Herrett-Skjellum & Allen (1996) reported average significant
correlations of r = 0.21 across 11 experimental studies and r = 0.10 across 19 nonexperimental
studies; neither age nor gender of participants was a significant moderator. The following year, Morgan
& Shanahan (1997) published a meta-analysis of 14 nonexperimental studies and reported an average
effect size of r = 0.10. Most recently, Oppliger (2007) conducted a meta-analysis of 31 studies (33
effect sizes) examining contributions of media use to gender beliefs. Here, the average effect sizes
were r = 0.24 for experimental studies and r = 0.12 for nonexperimental studies. Again, moderation
analyses indicated that neither gender nor age was a significant moderator. All but one of the
experimental studies had been done with children.

Thus, meta-analyses of experimental and nonexperimental studies consistently show an association

between frequent television viewing and expressing more stereotypic beliefs about gender roles.
Moreover, the effect sizes reported are similar to those of other areas of media psychology. For
example, average effect sizes for media and body dissatisfaction are reported as d = −0.28 (Grabe et
al. 2008); average effect sizes for prosocial media and helping behavior are reported as r = 0.18
(Coyne et al. 2018); and the average effect size of violent video game exposure and aggression is
reported as r = 0.18. Although these effect sizes are small, they are meaningful because they
demonstrate the consistency of media in shaping beliefs. Moreover, because media exposure is a
chronic process that unfolds throughout development, small effects may compound over time.

Overall Sexist Attitudes/Traditional Gender Roles

Meta-analyses give only an overview of the strength of findings in a field. In the remainder of this
section, we review the nature of findings in several areas, with attention to methods and constructs
tested.

One domain of gender beliefs studied is traditional gender role attitudes. In some cases, scholars use a
gender belief scale, such as the Attitudes Toward Women Scale for Adolescents (ATWSA) (Galambos et
al. 1985), which assesses participants’ agreement with statements about the attributes and roles
acceptable for each gender, in general (e.g., “Boys are better leaders than girls”). In studies using this
scale, results typically vary by media genre. Surveying US high school students, Ward & Friedman
(2006) found that heavier consumption of daytime talk shows was associated with stronger support of
traditional gender roles, but regular viewing of 21 “sexy” prime-time television programs or of music
videos was not. Ward et al. (2005) surveyed 152 Black adolescents (70% girls) and found that more
13
frequent consumption of music videos and sports programming was each associated with stronger
support of traditional gender roles; overall prime-time viewing and movie viewing were not related.

Stronger effects have emerged in analyses that used experimental designs to test whether exposure to
stereotypical content predicts greater acceptance of traditional gender roles. In one study, adolescents
exposed to stereotypical clips from television comedies and dramas reported more traditional gender
role attitudes than those exposed to neutral content (Ward & Friedman 2006). In another study,
adolescents exposed to stereotypical music videos endorsed more traditional gender roles and valued
stereotypical attributes in women (e.g., attractiveness) to a greater extent than students without this
exposure (Ward et al. 2005). In a third study, Italian high school students were assigned to play a
violent and sexist video game, a violent-only video game, or a nonviolent game, and then to report
their beliefs about masculinity and their empathy for a female victim of violence (Gabbiadini et al.
2016). Participants who played the violent and sexist game reported stronger support of traditional
masculinity than those who played the neutral game. In addition, playing the violent and sexist game
decreased empathy for female victims among boys who identified with the game character, and did so
by increasing their support of traditional masculinity.

Scholars have also examined whether everyday exposure to screen media is associated with beliefs
about specific gender-related roles, such as motherhood. For example, high school students who
watched more pregnancy-related reality television programs (e.g., Teen Mom) reported a greater belief
that adolescent mothers have a higher quality of life and a high income and that the adolescent fathers
are more involved with raising the child (Martins & Jensen 2014). Similar associations have been noted
concerning other genres. Among Dutch adolescent girls (aged 15–17) and young women (aged 20–
22), heavier exposure to both American and Dutch sitcoms and soap operas was associated with more
traditional expectations about motherhood (Ex et al. 2002).

In some analyses of this issue, scholars have focused specifically on ethnic minority youth, who are
understudied but are heavy media consumers. Rivadeneyra & Ward (2005) examined Latinx high
schoolers’ everyday exposure to 132 popular Spanish- and English-language television programs,
including prime-time programs, soap operas, and talk shows. Even controlling for cultural identity
factors, watching more Spanish prime-time television, Spanish and English talk shows, and Spanish
soap operas each correlated with girls’ endorsement of traditional gender roles; boys’ beliefs were not
affected. When variables were entered simultaneously into a regression model among girls, Spanish
prime-time comedies, English talk shows, and perceived realism all emerged as significant predictors.
Similarly, Anyiwo et al. (2018) examined how exposure to both mainstream and Black-oriented
television programs was related to adolescents’ endorsement of traditional gender roles and of one
race-specific role: the ideal of the strong Black woman. Surveying Black adolescents aged 12–18, they
found that greater consumption of 17 mainstream programs was related to lower endorsement of
traditional gender roles among boys, and heavier consumption of 12 Black-oriented programs was
linked to higher endorsement of the strong Black woman ideal for boys and girls. These studies
demonstrate the value of taking a nuanced approach to understanding effects of different types of
media on the gender beliefs of ethnic minority youth.

In addition to examining direct effects, this research has explored the role of several potential
moderators, including gender, identification with media models, and perceived realism. Results indicate
that some effects exist only for girls (e.g., Rivadeneyra & Ward 2005) and some only for boys (e.g.,
Gabbiadini et al. 2016). In other instances, increased identification with media models (e.g., Ward et
al. 2005) and higher levels of perceived realism appear to enhance media effects (e.g., Martins &
Jensen 2014, Rivadeneyra & Ward 2005). Overall, this body of research illustrates that although
frequent or directed exposure to media stereotypes is associated with adolescents’ stronger support of
traditional gender roles, effects vary by viewer race and gender and by genre.

Appearance Beliefs and Sexualization

A second domain of gender beliefs studied includes beliefs about the importance of appearance for girls
and women, highlighting that women are expected to be beautiful and, as they get older, sexually
appealing. Research in this area has typically drawn on premises of objectification theorists
(Fredrickson & Roberts 1997), who argue that regular exposure to society's treatment of women as
sexual objects leads women to internalize this perspective, increasing their tendency to self-objectify
and to value themselves more for their appearance than for other aspects of the self. Given the
prevalence of sexually objectifying images of women in the mainstream media (for a review, see Ward
2016), the concern is that regular media use will lead girls to self-objectify and to have dysfunctional
appearance beliefs, more broadly. Findings using several approaches have confirmed these
expectations.

Some research has explicitly examined whether exposure to objectified portrayals is associated with
children's beliefs about appearance. Slater & Tiggemann (2016) surveyed 300 Australian girls aged 6–
9, asking about their preference for sexualized clothing, their body dissatisfaction and body esteem,

14
and their consumption of popular children's programs and magazines, each of which was subsequently
coded for its degree of sexualization. Results indicated that girls who watched more sexualized
television preferred sexualized clothing for other girls and believed that boys would like girls to wear
such clothes; girls who consumed more sexualized magazines preferred sexier clothes for themselves.
Notably, this preference for sexier clothing was related to higher body dissatisfaction. In another study,
girls (aged 6–11) who regularly watched television programs with more sexualized content were more
likely to adopt a “sexualized girl stereotype” (Stone et al. 2015, p. 1606) when asked to comment on
images of sexualized and nonsexualized girls. This stereotype was defined by perceiving the sexualized
girl as more popular but as less athletic, less smart, and less nice than the nonsexualized girl.

Similar results have emerged among tweens and adolescents. In a two-wave panel study conducted
among Belgian youth aged 11–14, more frequent viewing of eight tween television programs was
related to the internalization of mainstream beauty ideals and the belief that beauty is rewarded (wave
1), which in turn predicted adolescents’ tendency to equate their worth with their physical
attractiveness at wave 2 (Trekels & Eggermont 2017b). Among a similar sample of 785 Belgian girls
(Mage = 11.65), time 1 exposure to tween television programs was linked to greater time 2
engagement in appearance management behaviors (e.g., applying makeup) (Trekels & Eggermont
2017a). As an example, those who watched the tween television programs one or twice per week were
four times more likely to initiate hairstyling behaviors and twice as likely to start applying makeup
compared with girls who never watched these tween programs. Finally, surveying 176 Black adolescent
girls, Gordon (2008) found that greater viewing of Black sitcoms and Black music videos each
correlated with greater endorsement of the importance of appearance for women, although these
effects were not significant in regressions with other media variables included. Together, these findings
illustrate the role of media in perpetuating objectified and sexualized ideals for women and highlight
that girls do grapple with and internalize these depictions.

Toy and Play Behavior

A third domain of gender beliefs studied has been beliefs about toys and play behavior. Research
reveals strong effects of stereotypic media portrayals on children's gendered toy and playmate
preferences. For example, in two studies, young children were shown media content that featured girls
and boys playing with toys traditionally associated with their gender (e.g., boys playing with an
airplane set) or as counterstereotypical (e.g., girls playing with trucks) (Pike & Jennings 2005, Spinner
et al. 2018). Across both studies, exposure to stereotypical content reinforced gender-typed
assumptions, such that children exposed to this content judged gender-neutral or gendered toys as
being exclusively for one gender and expressed a strong preference for same-gender playmates. In
contrast, children exposed to counterstereotypical media content were significantly more likely to judge
gendered or gender-neutral toys as being for both girls and boys and to show equal preference for a
same- or other-gender playmate.

One set of studies has looked more specifically at children's participation and engagement with
princess and superhero media. The Disney Princess line currently includes 14 films, excluding sequels
and remakes, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and ending with Moana
(2016). Each film features a central female character who is often a princess or community leader. This
so-called princess culture (PC) has proven to be a lucrative industry, with princess merchandise,
including clothing, games, toys, dolls, and home décor, earning $5.5 billion in 2015 (Robinson et al.
2020). PC may also help shape children's femininity norms by providing prime examples of idealized
feminine figures (England et al. 2011). Using longitudinal methods, Coyne et al. (2016) investigated
whether young children's engagement with Disney princess media and related products was associated
with greater stereotypical behavior. At time 1, parents reported on their children's PC engagement,
which was defined as children's frequency of viewing PC media, playing with PC toys, and identifying
with individual princesses. Children also noted their preferences for certain gender-typed toys. For both
girls and boys, PC engagement was associated with greater levels of female gender-stereotypical
behavior (e.g., playing with dolls or tea sets) but not male gender-stereotypical behavior (e.g.,
climbing). In addition, for both girls and boys, PC engagement at time 1 was associated with greater
female gender-stereotypical behavior one year later, even after controlling for initial levels of
stereotypical behavior. These effects were most prominent among children whose parents actively talk
with them about media content.

Fewer studies have examined associations between gender beliefs and engagement with superhero
media, although new research is emerging. For example, Coyne et al. (2014) conducted a longitudinal
survey assessing 3–6-year-olds’ exposure to superhero media content and toy play and preferences.
For boys but not girls, exposure to superhero media content predicted greater play fighting, sports
play, and playing of ball games. However, exposure to superhero content did predict girls’ weapon
play, and parental mediation exacerbated the effects of superhero exposure on girls’ weapon play,
contributing to greater gender-stereotypical play.

Impact on Courtship Beliefs and Gendered Sexual Scripts

15
A fourth domain of gender beliefs that could be influenced by screen media use includes beliefs about
courtship, sexual roles, and sexual relationships. Approximately a dozen studies have tested this issue
among adolescents, with mixed and often conditional results. Some analyses testing associations
between everyday screen media use and adolescents’ endorsement of gendered sexual roles have
reported null results. For example, in a survey of US high school students (80% White, 59% girls),
Ward & Friedman (2006) found that participants’ viewing of music videos, daytime talk shows, and 21
sexy prime-time programs did not predict notions that women are sexual objects or men are sex
driven. In other studies, the presence of significant associations is conditional, varying based on
gender, genre, or parental socialization and attachment. Perhaps the clearest set of significant
associations was reported by Rousseau & Eggermont (2018). Controlling for gender, age, body mass
index, and overall television viewing, they found that exposure to three popular Flemish programs
rated as sexually objectifying was associated with greater acceptance of objectified dating scripts
among Flemish youth aged 10–13. Together, these results suggest that media associations with
gendered sexual scripts may exist but may be more nuanced than expected, and likely vary by gender
and medium/genre.

Surprisingly, however, we do see experimental evidence from one-time laboratory exposure to

traditional courtship scripts. Polo-Alonso et al. (2018) assigned adolescents and emerging adults to
view a movie with stereotypical sexual roles (Friends with Benefits) or a control film (Ice Age).
Although there were no condition effects for the emerging adults, among adolescents, those who had
seen the stereotypical sexual roles offered greater support of rape myths, of men as sex driven, and of
women as sexual objects than did adolescents in the control condition. This pattern suggests that
adolescents may be particularly susceptible to these stereotypes. In another study, Driesmans et al.
(2016) had a group of 88 Dutch youth aged 11–14 watch the popular tween movie High School Musical
or a control film. Results demonstrated no main effect of condition but revealed an interaction among
age, parasocial interaction, and condition, whereby younger girls exposed to High School Musical who
were high in parasocial attachment (feelings of closeness with celebrities) were more likely to endorse
romantic myths (e.g., “I am likely to fall in love almost immediately if I meet the right person”).

Experimental exposure to specific sexual stereotypes has also been linked to adolescents’ gender
beliefs. After exposure to four music videos rich in sexual stereotypes, Black teens offered stronger
support of statements painting women as sexual objects and men as sexual players than did teens who
had viewed nonstereotyped videos (Ward et al. 2005). Among a predominantly White sample of high
school students, those exposed to television clips featuring women as sexual objects offered greater
acceptance of traditional gender roles and of women as sexual objects than did students who had not
viewed these stereotypes (Ward & Friedman 2006). Finally, Driesmans et al. (2015) found that Belgian
adolescents who were assigned to play a novel video game with a sexualized female character later
expressed more tolerance of rape myths and of sexual harassment than teens who played the same
game with a nonsexualized character.

Beliefs About Occupations, Careers, and Academic Performance

A fifth domain of gender beliefs that could be shaped by media exposure includes assumptions,
expectations, and preferences concerning academic achievement and career selections. With the
thought of “if you can see it, you can be it,” there has been concern that the underrepresentation of
professional women on the screen may diminish the academic and professional aspirations of young
female viewers. Empirical research has borne out this assumption, although there are few cross-
sectional or longitudinal studies testing these dynamics. Some early research supported the notion that
girls exposed to nonstereotypical portrayals of occupations on television were more flexible about some
adult roles and activities (Rosenwasser et al. 1989, Wroblewski & Huston 1987). In one of the few
studies to test this issue in the new millennium, Grabe & Hyde (2009) surveyed 195 seventh-grade
girls (89.4% White) concerning their frequency of viewing music videos and multiple aspects of their
psychological well-being, including their perceived confidence in math. Path analyses indicated that
music video viewing predicted lower math confidence both directly and indirectly, via greater body
surveillance. These authors suggest that because music videos often emphasize women's sexual
qualities and ignore their other competencies, exposure to this content may diminish girls’ confidence
in the traditionally male-dominated domain of math.

Experimental data yield stronger evidence. First, exposure to traditional media content that highlights
women's appearance or sexual appeal has been linked to diminished academic performance or weaker
interest in certain careers (Pacilli et al. 2016, Slater et al. 2017). For example, Pacilli et al. (2016)
assigned 79 Italian children in grades 3–5 (57% female, Mage = 9.29) to view either two sexualized or
two nonsexualized images of girls and then take a math test. Across grades, girls who had seen the
sexualized images performed worse on the math test than did girls who had seen the nonsexualized
images; there were no condition effects for boys. In a second study, 102 children in grades 3–5 (50%
girls) viewed one sexualized or one nonsexualized photo of a same-gender child, completed a digit
span test to assess working memory, and then completed math problems. Boys and girls in the

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sexualized condition did worse on the math test than participants in the nonsexualized condition.
Moreover, mediation analyses indicated that effects on math performance of viewing same-gender
sexualized images were mediated by a reduction in working memory resources.

Second, exposure to traditional gender stereotypes has been linked to less interest in STEM fields for
girls, although findings do not appear for all dependent variables (Bond 2016, Wille et al. 2018, Ziegler
& Stoeger 2008). For example, Bond (2016) assigned 60 girls aged 6–9 to view television clips
featuring traditional stereotypes of women, portrayals of women in STEM careers, or no programming.
Participants then indicated their confidence in their science and math skills, noted their preference for
six STEM careers (e.g., scientist, architect) and six non-STEM careers (e.g., florist), and drew a picture
of a scientist. Girls who had viewed the stereotyped clips were more likely to report interest in
stereotypical careers than any of the other girls and were less likely to draw women as scientists; there
was no effect of condition on math and science self-efficacy. Finally, playing a digital learning game
about science led to stronger interest and motivation in STEM, depending on children's age and
whether they played as a female or male scientist (Hawkins et al. 2019). Together, these findings
suggest that, across multiple media, viewing women in traditional or nontraditional careers can have
an impact on children's beliefs about gender abilities and careers.

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