Culture & gender roles
- Culture refers to the shared beliefs, values, and practices of a particular group or society that shape individual behaviour and attitudes
- If gender is learnt through socialisation, identification and internalisation then the surrounding culture will influence gender development, lending support to the argument that gender is a social construct
- While the sex categories ‘male’ and ‘female’ are recognised in all cultures, suggesting a universal understanding of gender, the gender roles associated with these sex categories can vary cross-culturally
- In Sweden, many fathers raise small children during a generously paid paternity leave, while their wives or partners go back to work, giving the children they are raising a non-traditional view of the male gender role
- In modern-day India there is the gender identity of Sadhin, which refers to person born as a female who adopts men’s clothing, physical appearance and behaviour, but identifies as neither male nor female, living a celibate life
Fathers from a range of cultures may adopt non-stereotypical gender roles.