User:Sshack2/Gender script

Lead
A gender script is a concept in feminist studies that refers to structures or paths created by societal norms that one is supposed to follow based on the gender assigned to them at birth. The American Psychological Association defines gender script as "a temporally organized, gender-related sequence of events". Gender script is also closely related to the concept of gender roles.

Furthermore, gender scripts have been called a demonstration of the social construction of gender.

Concept
Feminist theorist Judith Butler writes "gender ought not to be construed as a stable identity or locus of agency from which various acts follow; rather, gender is an identity tenuously constituted in time, instituted in an exterior space through a stylized repetition of acts." This notion of gender as performative acts relates to gender script as gender script determines the necessary acts required to be a man or a woman. Butler also notes, "that the gendered body is performative suggests that it has no ontological status apart from the various acts which constitute its reality." That is to say, gender is constructed by these scripted acts and performances society places on its members. Psychology Jean Malpas writes that children as young as two "have a good grasp of social norms and, in accordance with the developmental stages of gender constancy (Cohen-Kettenis & Pfafflin, 2003), are able to differentiate between a man and a woman, understand how boys and girls are supposed to look and behave, and pinpoint when something is out of line." Authors of the paper "Scripting Sexual Consent: Internalized Traditional Sexual Scripts and Sexual Consent Expectancies Among College Students" assert that "sexual scripts reflect the gendered power differentials in traditional gender roles." Gender scripts are created by societal influences, like media, sexuality, tradition and family. It is notable that gender script enforces heterosexual norms.

(keeping the examples section in the original article the same)

Critique
Gender scripts can be considered problematic because of its binary, exclusionary nature. Those who feel as though they cannot fit themselves into the specific societal requirements assigned to them, like non-binary or trans* individuals, are left either feeling ostracized by society if they do not conform or they conform and are accepted, but are left unhappy.

Looking specifically at product and technology design, scholar van Oost notes, many objects are designed for "everybody", with no specific user group in mind. However, some studies have demonstrated that even in these cases, there may be an unconscious bias where designers base their choices on a one-sided, default male user image. This can be due to many factors. One factor could be the result of who is involved in design and engineering. On teams where men are the majority, they may use the I-methodology, where they only see themselves as the intended users. This can create a bias toward male-oriented symbols and interests. This can also happen at the level of user testing if the user testers are all male and nobody considers the user needs of all potential users.