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1. Living Up to a Name: Gender Role Behavior Varies With Forename Gender Typicality

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.604848  

   Alexander, Gerianne M.; John, Kendall; Hammond, Tracy; Lahey, Joanna (January 2021, Frontiers in Psychology)

   null (Ed.)

   Forenames serve as proxies for gender labels that activate gender stereotypes and gender socialization. Unlike rigid binary gender categories, they differ in the degree to which they are perceived as “masculine” or “feminine.” We examined the novel hypothesis that the ability of a forename to signal gender is associated with gender role behavior in women ( n = 215) and men ( n = 127; M = 19.32, SD = 2.11) as part of a larger study evaluating forenames used in resume research. Compared to individuals endorsing a “gender-strong” forename, those perceiving their forename as relatively “gender-weak” reported less gender-typical childhood social behavior and a weaker expression of gender-linked personality traits. Our findings suggest that forenames strengthen or weaken gender socialization, gender identification, and so contribute to the variable expression of gender role behavior within binary gender groups. 

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2. The Influence of Messaging on Perceptions of Careers in Veterinary Medicine: Do Gender Stereotypes Matter?

   https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme-2020-0143  

   Morello, Samantha L.; Rogus-Pulia, Nicole; Branchaw, Janet L.; Brauer, Markus; Schwakopf, Jordan M.; Carnes, Molly (June 2022, Journal of Veterinary Medical Education)

   The veterinary medical workforce is increasingly female; occupational feminization often transfers stereotypes associated with the predominant gender onto the profession. It is unknown whether within veterinary medicine a feminized public image is a possible contributor to the reduction in male applicants to training programs. The influence of stereotypically gendered messaging on how male and female undergraduate students perceive veterinary medicine was investigated in 482 undergraduate students enrolled in five introductory or second-level biology courses. Two short videos introducing the field of veterinary medicine were developed with imagery and language selected to emphasize either stereotypic feminine ( communal) or masculine ( agentic) aspects of the field. Participant groups were randomly assigned one of the two videos (feminine/communal or masculine/agentic) or no video (no exposure). An outcome survey elicited impressions of the field of veterinary medicine and gathered demographic data. There was a significant linear trend of condition on perception of the profession as feminine or masculine and on perception of the activities of a veterinarian as feminine/communal or masculine/agentic. Female participants were significantly more likely to agree that someone of their gender would be valued in the profession. Male participants reported significantly higher self-efficacy scores for performing the tasks of a veterinarian when they viewed the feminine stereotype video. These results demonstrate that gendered perceptions of the field can be manipulated. Intentional gendered messaging should be further explored as one strategy to broaden the talent pool in the workforce by attracting men back to the field. 

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3. Does gender structure social networks across domains of cooperation? An exploration of gendered networks among matrilineal and patrilineal Mosuo

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2021.0436  

   Mattison, Siobhán M.; MacLaren, Neil G.; Sum, Chun-Yi; Shenk, Mary K.; Blumenfield, Tami; Wander, Katherine (January 2023, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   Cooperative networks are essential features of human society. Evolutionary theory hypothesizes that networks are used differently by men and women, yet the bulk of evidence supporting this hypothesis is based on studies conducted in a limited range of contexts and on few domains of cooperation. In this paper, we compare individual-level cooperative networks from two communities in Southwest China that differ systematically in kinship norms and institutions—one matrilineal and one patrilineal—while sharing an ethnic identity. Specifically, we investigate whether network structures differ based on prevailing kinship norms and type of gendered cooperative activity, one woman-centred (preparation of community meals) and one man-centred (farm equipment lending). Our descriptive results show a mixture of ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ features in all four networks. The matrilineal meals network stands out in terms of high degree skew. Exponential random graph models reveal a stronger role for geographical proximity in patriliny and a limited role of affinal relatedness across all networks. Our results point to the need to consider domains of cooperative activity alongside gender and cultural context to fully understand variation in how women and men leverage social relationships toward different ends. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Cooperation among women: evolutionary and cross-cultural perspectives’. 

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4. Changes in Gender Stereotypes Over Time: A Computational Analysis

   https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684320977178  

   Bhatia, Nazlı; Bhatia, Sudeep (January 2020, Psychology of Women Quarterly)

   null (Ed.)

   We combined established psychological measures with techniques in machine learning to measure changes in gender stereotypes over the course of the 20th century as expressed in large-scale historical natural language data. Although our analysis replicated robust gender biases previously documented in the literature, we found that the strength of these biases has diminished over time. This appears to be driven by changes in gender biases for stereotypically feminine traits (rather than stereotypically masculine traits) and changes in gender biases for personality-related traits (rather than physical traits). Our results illustrate the dynamic nature of stereotypes and show how recent advances in data science can be used to provide a long-term historical analysis of core psychological variables. In terms of practice, these findings may, albeit cautiously, suggest that women and men can be less constrained by prescriptions of feminine traits. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ’s website at 10.1177/0361684320977178 

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5. Category X: What does the Visibility of People who Reject the Gender Binary Mean for the Gender Structure?

   Risman, Barbara J.; Travers; Fleming, Colby (June 2022, International journal of gender studies)

   In this paper, we address the growing visibility of people who reject gender categories and identify as neither women nor men. We begin with a brief overview of how we conceptualize gender as a social structure. We use this theoretical framework to theorize how the increased visibility of people who reject the gender binary influence how we understand the gender structure, social change, and social justice. While we offer no empirical analysis in this article, we do draw upon interviews with 120 non-binary people in three metropolitan areas in the United States and interviews that are in process in Italy and Spain. We discuss the possibility that those who reject gender categories may increase freedom from gendered expectations for everyone, but also the possibility of backlash to increased visibility of gender non-conformity. We conclude the paper with an argument that the future of feminism as a social movement should be aimed at liberation from gender itself. 

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