Gender roles in the early years

According to Dr. Benjamin Spock, people are likely to appreciate girls' cuteness and boys' achievements. For example, a girl may receive the comment, "You look so pretty!" for the outfit she is wearing. While this compliment isn't harmful in itself, repeated over and over the message the girl gets is that she is most appreciated for her looks, not for what she can do. Boys, on the other hand, are praised for what they can do--"Aren't you a big boy, standing up by yourself!" Many parents encourage and expect boys to be more active, to be more rough-and-tumble in their play than girls. A boy who does not like rough play (and so goes against the gender role he has been assigned) may be labeled a "sissy." A girl who prefers active play to more passive pursuits may be called a "tomboy."

Children at a young age are socialized to behave in their right sexual manner. The girls are to be loving, caring, and compassionate. While the boys, are expected to be caregivers, protectors, and providers.

Females are associated mainly with their emotions, while males with their actions. Children see this at an early age and pick up on it. Girls automatically know that they will get pampered and be cared for, when on the other hand, boys expect punishment and responsibility is usually the last thing going through their minds.

Gender roles are seen everywhere and our children are being socialized to follow them. I went to the Aspire Park recently and noted how the children play and how they interact with others on the playgrounds. I noticed the girls stick to their corner and the boys take the centre stage in the sandbox. The girls held hands while the boys play football/soccer. After a long day, even my baby sister was conforming to their sociological rules. She revealed her emotions of sadness as we left the park.


It was very interesting to see that even when we don’t notice what’s going on around us or what’s happening to us, we’re constantly socialized and conformed to the rules set by society.

A Sociological look at the Brazil vs. Egypt Friendly Match at Al-Rayyan Stadium

After driving at snail speed in the midst of traffic on the road to Al Rayyan Stadium in Doha last Monday, I walked a considerable distance from my car to the stadium’s entrance. On my way to the actual stadium, I came across a few things besides screaming fan groups with painted faces and floating flags, and people trying to sell merchandise (flags, snacks, lights etc.). First, I come across stand-by police cars, and security officials waiting at the outer gate of the stadium parking lot. And what I didn’t expect to see is a line of security officials on horses (more like cavalry), perfectly aligned and still, and ready to be summoned at any moment. The number of spectators in the stadium that night was announced to be over 25,000 people. When there is such a large mass of people, there needs to be some sort of control.





Without some form of social control, there is a possible threat that too many people will deviate from the norms that regulate accepted and suitable behavior. To ensure that no people deviate from these norms and expectations, security officials inside and all around the stadium keep a diligent eye and sanction anyone who even attempts any mild deviant behavior like aggressive talk between two opposing groups (Brazilian fans and Egyptian fans) trying to vandalize property or sneak in without a ticket, or sit somewhere that is unauthorized to you.




Next, I reach the security screening of spectators, similar to an airport manual check-up that doesn’t include walking through a detector system. This is where I noticed strict gender segregation: female security employees checked women and young children in a separate section and men (including young boys if they were accompanied by a male adult) went to another section where they were screened my male officials. People tried to rush past without getting checked, but security guards at both ends of the separate sections pulled them back. Officials at the entrances told women to go to the women’s section, and men to go to the male section, constantly monitoring the flow of people to ensure conformity to the rules. Failure to conform these rules might result in formal sanctions – which are, according to Joan Ferrante, expressions of disapproval or approval supported by official laws, policies, rules that dictate how people should be punished or rewarded for specific behavior.



Finally after ticket processing, I was directed to the gate number that leads to the section my seat is in. More security meets people heading towards the gate entrance, and security staff and personnel open the door to the fenced area where my seat is located, and I am ushered to the seat number printed on my ticket. The view is unlike what I usually see on my television screen at home. No matter how “HD” you get with the broadcast of any game, this is different. This is the “real” experience. You get to absorb the game and the reactions of everyone around you; cheering fans, the excitement, the anticipation, and the thrill of the game.





In the area close to where I was sitting, there were a lot of families with young children, older children, and even infants, carried on parents’ shoulders. Many believe that there is so much more to football than a game of set tactics, skill and rules. Sociology would call part of that added meaning and “effect” the process of socialization. These children are socialized at a very young age, through experiencing watching a game, cheering for their team, and their country, to value the game, and their national team, and participate in this experience that shows belonging to a group, pride of belonging to that group, and the importance of support for that group. They develop a sense of self, a sense of the group they belong to and the ways of that group, and the way of society. Joan Ferrante defines games as “structured organized activities that usually involve more than one person and a number of constraints, such as established roles, rules, time, place and outcome,” (p. 96).




The players on both the Brazilian and Egyptian national teams were probably exposed to the game at a very young age, where they developed a system of expected behavior in the football game stage. This system is called the generalized other, (Ferrante, p. 96) It shapes and defines meanings, behaviors, and perspectives that go beyond those participating in the game. These expected rules, behaviors, and meanings were already pre-established by people before the players even started learning the game.




At a young age, the players learn more than just passing the ball, and scoring goals, they learn to see things from a particular perspective. By performing their roles (striker, defender, goalkeeper, mid-fielder), in a shared activity, with a common goal, and interacting with each other to achieve that goal, the players learn to anticipate other peoples’ moves, their views, and their expectations of how to behave.




The game can result in the creation of ingroups and outgroups. The Egyptian team for example is a group in which its members feel a strong sense of belonging, and in many different cases when playing against a particular team, they share a strong sense of opposition for that team, that goes beyond the sense of competition in the game in itself. Similarly, the same concept can expand to all the Egyptians and Egyptian fans in the audience. To the Egyptians, the Brazilian team can be regarded as the outgroup (the group towards which the ingroup – the Egyptian team, feel opposition). The Egyptians in this case is the ingroup, and Brazilians the outgroup. In another sense, the Brazilians in the stadium could feel a strong sense of separateness towards the Egyptians and hence, the Egyptians in this case is the outgroup, and Brazilians the ingroup.




There are many past incidents where ingroups and outgroups clashed during a game in a stadium, and outside a stadium all around the world. Luckily, at this game, the horses at the front gates didn’t have to charge, and neither did the fans around me. I thoroughly enjoyed the match, and all the surrounding spectators and fans showing support for their team in many different ways; singing songs, cheering (with a combination of drumming on seats, apparently an Egyptian specialty), painted faces, waving flags, funny wigs, and not a favorite of mine – the screeching loud cheering horns that echo in your ear drums till the end of the night.

Gender Benders

We had a very interesting Sociology class last week in which we learned about gender roles and conformity. Everyone has been socialized from a young age to follow these socially constructed rules; girls and the color pink, playing with stuffed toys, mini houses and Barbie dolls and wearing dresses; boys and the color blue, playing with action figures, video games and wearing shirts and jeans.








Agents of socialization can be found everywhere; in religion, retail stores, bathrooms, greeting card stores, jobs, and even in the family. Societies tend to be extremely gender polarized, which means that social life is based around ideals of the male and female gender. This is why people tend to make gender-schematic decisions. The term, gender-schematic, means that an individual is influenced by a polarized society’s ideas of males and females.


Although a couple of decades back there were no opportunities for women to be treated as equals to men in society, today women have the chance to secure top positions. However even today women experience the glass-ceiling concept at the workplace, in which case they can see the top of the hierarchy but cannot reach it because of this “ceiling.” This results in the creation of feminist groups and ways of thinking. Feminists are women who believe women should be treated as equals to men, rather than being treated as inferior.


As with all aspects of society, there is deviance from gender too. Not all individuals fit perfectly into the categories of a society’s definition of male and female. An example of a movie that portrays deviance of gender well is “She’s The Man.” It is a modern day adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” Basically, the lead character, Viola, wants to play soccer for her high school, but the girls’ team was cut, leading her to disguise herself as her twin brother and play on the boys’ soccer team of a rival high school. Viola, when dressed as a male, gets negatively sanctioned when she accidentally acts like a girl. This just shows what the behavioral and physical norms for men are, and that feminine behavior is considered to be emasculating.












Gender benders are considered to be deviant in particular societies. In Western societies it would not be odd or unusual to see a female dressed as a male, or vice versa. However in a country like Qatar, such acts would not just be negatively sanctioned, they may even be formally negatively sanctioned, in which case the authorities get involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8_tYRcJe6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA_OLPb70xk

Conformity

As human beings our lives are centered on a thin line that separates conformity and individuality. Conformity is essential to life. Humans, being very complex species live in a society that functions based on rules and obligations by an audience. If anyone commits a mistake, the society may crumble. Therefore, we are obliged to stick to the rules and respect the laws. This is what binds the people living in the society.

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy theory states the most fundamental and basic human needs in four layers, which is shaped like a pyramid. Physiological, safety, belonging, esteem and self- actualization needs are fulfilled when we are a part of a group and conform to the group norms.

When we conform to a group’s norms, we tend to get a sense of security, belongingness, self esteem and acceptance. Therefore, it is normal human tendency to conform to group pressure as we feel we belong to something bigger. In the modern society, acceptance can be obtained only by going further than natural conformity and rather leaping into popular conformity. At that stage we tend to follow the trends rather than personal taste, whether it be music, movies or even personal morals. Conformity is like psychological shelter. If we do not know what to do and are scared, we can blindly follow the steps of others and eventually find a group to take shelter. Therefore, conformity becomes a remedy for isolation.

Below is a video that is an excellent example of conformity. This experiment was conducted by a social psychologist Solomon Asch that demonstrated the power of conformity in groups. This is also known as the Asch Paradigm.



As seen from the video, the group was told to announce their answers to each question aloud. The confederates always provided their answers to each question before the real subject. The real subject always gave the same answer as the others. They answered a few questions correctly but eventually began providing incorrect responses. It is understood that when an individual is surrounded by other individuals all voicing an incorrect answer, they usually provide incorrect responses on a high proportion of the questions. This is because individuals do not want to be deviant from the group. What we can understand from the third paradigm is that one confederate has virtually no influence and two confederates have only a small influence. When three or more confederates are present, the tendency to conform is relatively stable. The third paradigm introduces unanimity of the confederates. It can be seen that when the participant’s answers are anonymous, they tend to not conform to group pressure as they aren’t exposed to criticism or any kind of discomfort from other participants in the group.

Modern life is confusing, so sometimes our vision is so blurred and our choices are endless that we in a midst of confusion. We often force ourselves in two extreme directions of either conformity or individuality. To chose a path, is our choice.

Surveillance in Qatar: A Mechanism of Social Control

Among many things, the basic human experience involves the interaction with other human beings. From the moment we take our first screaming gasp of air in the world to the moment we part it, we behave, interact, and communicate with other people for a specific purpose, in a particular way in any given time and place. How we behave, interact, and communicate with each other differ between two people, two groups, two societies, two nations, and so on – and these differences are part of the reason why human experiences all over the world are not identical. But just how different are they? How similar could they be? Well, we do not just decide to behave or act in a certain way. And we certainly do not come up with our own rules of behavior individually. Norms are socially constructed. And we are socialized to accept them and act upon them.





What is considered “right” or “wrong” in any given society, such as Qatar, is socially constructed, and there are mechanisms that enforce conformity to these socially constructed rules of behavior or norms. Mechanisms of social control include formal and informal sanctions. If you happen to be the employee of the month at a McDonald’s for example, your picture would be hung up on the wall in the restaurant, and you would receive a star badge. These are formal sanctions or expressions of approval that are supported by written rules by the organization. Formal sanctions can be expressions of disapproval as well.



Another form of social control is surveillance. Surveillance is everywhere in Qatar. In public places, malls, shopping centers, buildings, offices, streets, highways, petrol stations, restaurants, etc. Ferrante defines surveillance as a mechanism of social that involves “monitoring the movements, activities, conversations, and associations of people who are believed likely to engage in wrongdoing; catching those who engage in it; preventing people from engaging in it; and ensuring that the public is protected from wrongdoers,” (p. 176). Qatar has strict laws and guidelines about public behavior, and dress code. Surveillance is a method of ensuring that people follow these laws and do not deviate from them. If people sense that they are being watched, they are likely to refrain from performing any illicit or prohibited behavior.



Even though the cameras shown in the pictures that are commonly found all over Doha do not really show a camera perspective; meaning that you wouldn’t really know if the camera is watching you or not, people regard them as though they are constantly monitoring them regardless of whether they are in fact doing so. The effect is all the same. It prevents people from engaging in deviant behavior and helps catch those in the act of deviance if it occurs.




For example, in the convenient store, Sidra at Woqod petrol station, if someone attempts to shoplift or in my case take photos in the shop you are likely to be caught and negatively sanctioned. When I was pointing my phone around to snap some photos, the manager, who was nowhere in sight when I came in, came up to me and asked me if I belonged to some organization that had the authority to take pictures inside. He told me it was prohibited to take photos in the store, and that they will confiscate my phone if I continue to take any pictures. I withdraw from the scene and quietly put my phone away. However, that does not stop me from taking some more pictures inside the next-door McDonalds, outside the car wash, and other areas of the petrol station and food complex.




The purpose of these surveillance cameras inside McDonald’s would be to ensure that workers are not slacking on the job, are not stealing any food, and not eating or chatting while on their shift. Cleaners must diligently complete their work, servers must serve customers their food according to the written rules of the company, and even customers are monitored in case of any prohibited or illegal behavior such as vandalizing restaurant property, violence, theft, etc.




Universities in Education City are also packed with these cameras. You are likely to come across them in almost every corner, in front of every staircase, elevator, and around classrooms, offices and in hallways. They can also be found outdoors at entrances, in parking lots, and on the roads. There are important norms and rules that students, faculty and staff and even visitors (excluding members of education) should follow in education city.



The following list was forwarded via email to all Northwestern in Qatar students by the Associate Dean of Students:
“General reminders about appropriate conduct in Education City and generally in Qatar.

1. Interactions with the opposite gender which may be deemed culturally inappropriate (examples include but are not limited to public displays of affection, holding hands, kissing, etc.) are prohibited.
2. Eating, drinking or smoking in public spaces during the times of fasting in Ramadan are prohibited.
3. Clothing or lack thereof that is culturally inappropriate (e.g. shorts and skirts that reveal the knees, sleeveless or thin-strapped tops, clothing that is too revealing, being shirtless for males or females, etc.) is prohibited.
4. Residents and visitors must comply with reasonable requests/directives from QF officials and branch campus staff.
5. Residents and visitors may not obstruct QF Officials or law enforcement officers in the execution of their professional duties.
6. Language that is disrespectful or inappropriate directed towards members of the Education City community is prohibited.”



These cameras are a powerful mechanism of control that helps to prevent deviance from these norms, ensure conformity to them, and allow officers and security guards to deal with deviant people in the situation where the breaking any of these rules of behavior occurs.