5.1: Gender Socialization

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In previous chapters, we’ve explored the differences between sex and gender as well as the importance of socialization in our prescribed gender roles. In this chapter, we’ll be exploring how language and the media often reinforce or exacerbate the gap in the United States. For example, one could ask, “What are gender differences?” But consider for a moment the question, “What differences does gender make?” While the questions might seem very similar to one another, the first question is evoking a description of the concept of gender, while the second question is evoking an exploratory descriptive of inequality resulting from gender construction.