User:Lpaez23/Gender and emotional expression

The development of Social Stereotypes and Darwinian Theory
There are different expectations for men and women that ultimately lead to the development of stereotypes. However these stereotypes have mainly been developed over time through the Darwinian Theory. The theory focuses on the difference between women and men in all different aspects. In the Darwinian Theory women are responsible for producing children and taking care of them. With women being the symbol of reproduction they are thought to be “nurturing” and “caregiving”(11,Rudman). They were responsible for “child-rearing” which required “communication between a developmentally more advanced caretaker”(108, Brody). Women are the ones biologically capable of producing children which made them the caregivers. They are labeled as the caregivers because women are able to communicate efficiently. They develop this skill because their emotions help “communicate about survival-related approach withdrawal processes”(108, Brody). This essentially means that emotions work as a signal that lets people know how to react in a certain situation. So since women are left with children they “should be more sensitive to nonverbal cues” since “nonverbal sensitivity is adaptive for child rearing”(109, Brody). Women’s emotions let them know how to react with children.They act kind and caring to children because they are small and vulnerable. However their nurturing skills is what leads to the stereotype that women are emotional. Women show less anger because anger is “non adaptive for interaction with children”(109,Brody)They act kind and nurturing which results in the stereotype to develop that women are too emotional and are expected to only take care of children.

Men are often portrayed the opposite of women, they are expected to be cold and aggressive. The way men act is also ironically due to their emotions, “each emotion has an underlying neural or hormonal substrate with an adaptive social function.” (108, Brody). People act a certain way emotionally because it's their way of handling a certain situation. For example in the past men were responsible for “gathering and hunting food” it required “communication among peers who were at relatively similar levels of physical, cognitive and social development”(108, Brody). While women display more emotional communication for being caregivers, men display more physical communication which is necessary on their part because they are responsible for hunting. Men are often known for being more angry opposed to women this is due to the fact that “anger is theorized to be a precursor of aggressive behavior”(Brody 109). Men have to be aggressive in order to hunt and gather, it was because of the situation they were in back then that it was expected for men to be strong and aggressive. However men being hunters and gathers has led to the stereotype that men are responsible for taking care of the family which leads them to act and be seen as “competitive and aggressive”(11,Rudman). It is because of the situation that men and women were back then that has led to these stereotypes to develop.

Ultimately these old fashion ideals have led society to continue to adapt them and dictate the proper way a woman and men should act. They’ve been passed down from generation to generation. This concept often begins with children because “the quality of the situational context (which may vary over time) affect the course of children’s abilities to recognize, express, experience and cope with emotions”(110, Brode).This essentially means that the environment in which children grow up in affects the way they express emotion. Since most of them are growing up in an environment with gender stereotypes, “children learn gender exceptions”(19, Rudman). Children simply learn by observing and trying to “live up to society’s predetermined gender ideals and stereotypes”(19,Rudman). The goal for children is to essentially please or satisfy societal expectations which is what ultimately results in children to “observe to differ” and “imitate those differences”(110 Brody).

Pressure of Stereotypes and Emotional Expression
Women are known for being emotional and sensitive while men are known for being aggressive and competitive. These expectations lead to women and men to act a certain way in order to please these societal stereotypes. For example in a study conducted by Floyd and Mikkelson they found that “facial expressions was strongest for MD women, and weakest for MD men.”(431, Mikkelson) Women have stronger facial expressions because of the fact that they are move free to feel they are expected to be emotional so for them it’s normal for them to express their emotions. While men have weaker facial expressions because they aren’t expected to be emotional society only allows men to be aggressive and competitive. Men aren’t expected to be as emotional therefore it wouldn’t be common for them to have as many facial expressions. It has in fact been found “women express emotions more frequently and to a greater extent than men”(433, Mikkelson). The expectation of women being more emotional has actually developed into a social pressure. For example when it comes to relationships women are expected to “care more about their relationships with others than men do”(111, Brody). Since women are expected to show more care about relationships the responsibility of handling the relationship falls on them. When the relationship fails “women experience more negative feelings about themselves because of the importance they place on the approval or disapproval of others”(112, Brody). Women experience more guilt and shame when a relationship fails because they are expected to be better at handling situations involving communication and emotion. Therefore they feel society looks down upon them when a relationship falls apart.

While women carry the responsibility of being happy, cheerful and emotional men carry the responsibility of having to be cold, competitive and aggressive. The men are expected to have these “manly characteristics such as being heterosexual, competitive, dominant, rational and physically strong”(258, McAllister). It has been shown that men “show slightly better at inhibiting and masking emotion than women”(434, Mikkelson). In fact in an interview conducted on military men and masculinity culture by McAllister it was mentioned that “the emphasis on training as a men test also excludes the feminine and the emotional positioning both as too weak for military life.”(262). This is mostly due to the social influence that society has on men. When it comes to men “the reification of emotion” is treated “as something to be controlled and regulated neglects affective context”(258, McAllister). Men’s emotions are often ignored; they aren’t allowed to cry, or be depressed.They aren’t expected to express any happiness or sadness because “people face negative outcomes when they do not act in accordance with gender prescription”(448, McCarty). If a man shows any emotions they will be labeled as weak and vulnerable. Men are shamed and punished by society for showing any emotion. while women if they act competitive or angry they are described as dramatic and are shamed upon for not acting like a proper lady.

False Emotional Stereotypes
Women aren’t expected to be hostile and aggressive however this common persecution isn’t exactly true. Just because social stereotypes say that women shouldn’t be angry doesn’t mean they aren’t. A study has actually shown that “females are more relationally aggressive than males” and that “hostility-related difference were more pronounced in females than in males”(509, Plusnin)  and that “women have better inhibitory control.”(509, Plusnin). These common stereotypes that women are emotional can be argued to be false due to the fact they in fact have to suppress emotions such as anger or competitiveness. However women just like men are aggressive and get angry, but when women act this way it is viewed negatively which results in them hiding or controlling their emotions.Another stereotype that can be proven false is the women having motherly instincts. Society often expects almost every woman to have children because they have natural born motherly instincts. However, this isn’t entirely true in a study done by Katherine Young about sensing emotion through voice she showed that “Female listeners also rated infant cry vocalizations more negatively than male listeners” (974). It was expected for men to vocalize more negatively because they don't deal with children but instead it was women who vocalized more negatively. Women vocalizing more negatively at the sound of an infant crying shows how not all women are natural nurtures. It shows how not all women are born with motherly instincts or are destined to become mothers.

It is ideal that men don’t get very emotional and aren’t as skilled with emotions as women are. However this isn’t exactly true, since it has been “found men to be better encoders of facial expressions than women.”(433, Mikkelson). Men are in fact capable of understanding emotions, they can read emotional expressions just as well as women because they do feel sadness and vulnerability. A study has actually found that “participants who were told they were being observed showed less pain related facial expressentivity than participants who were not told they were being observed”(449, McCarty). Men do actually express emotions however they mainly express what they feel when they are not being watched. They mainly do it privately or when nobody isn’t looking to avoid the shame of breaking social stereotypes.