2- Assignment Paper

Please do the following:
• Review the paper you prepared for me (attached titled Week3FINAL)
• Please follow the highlighted instructions when responding to Natalie & Kristyn’s posts.
• Please respond with a thoughtful response.

Add to the conversation by contributing additional support of the student’s claims and your opinion on those claims. You do this by adding specifics (film, cinematic and/or historical) as well as elaborating on your reaction to the student’s claims (whether good or bad). Simply, stating that you completely “agree” with the other student’s post will not earn you full credit.

Natalie’s Response
1. How do parents, schools, and the media help socialize people to conform to gender role expectations?
All three of these groups further emphasize the existing gender role expectations in different ways. Parents begin the process by reinforcing these stereotypes through how they have their children do chores and the activities they enroll them in. However, children are more likely to imitate the models that their parents are showing them, so parents may unintentionally be reinforcing these role expectations. Schools help socialize people to conform to gender role expectations through the kind of attention paid to students, boys may have more behavioral issues and are therefore paid more attention to while girls often are more respectful of rules and rarely act out in class leading to less attention and furthering the gender role of quiet and disciplined. Media helps socialize peiple by teaching children the behaviors that are expected of each gender through tv and commercials as well as giving children a new worldview.
2. Do you feel that the functional paradigm is still relevant today? why or why not?
I don’t feel that the functional paradigm is still relevant today because now more than ever there is a push for men to be more involved in the home life as well as it being more acceptable for women to be the breadwinners of the family. It is now encouraged for both men and women to take financial responsibility as well as have a role in the lives of their family members. Male and female segregated roles are becoming more blurred as each gender takes on more roles of the opposite.
3. Name a company that you feel is employing the structuralist perspective? Describe what makes it different.
I believe that Google is employing the structuralist perspective as it allows for both male and female workers to take time for maternity/paternity leave as well as offering child and petcare within their offices. The company is offering the same services to both genders, making the female employees equal to the male employees and lifting both genders in the process as workers are more inclined to work harder and do better work with these incentives. Not all employers offer paternity leave or childcare within their offices so Google is taking the necessary steps to ensure that their employees are ready for work and that regardless of gender they are prepared for the work that they are going to be doing.

Kristyn’s Response
1. How do parents, schools, and the media help socialize people to conform to gender role expectations?
Parents affect gender roles by emphasizing gender stereotypes in the household when it comes to chores and play activities. Schools affect gender roles by the adult role models and sex segregation of position, the stereotype that girls get better grades than boys and are better well behaved is a big one within schools. The media affects gender socialization by providing perceptions of social reality and also providing educational programs that have effects on gender roles to children who watch it.
2. Do you feel that the functional paradigm is still relevant today? Why or why not?
I personally don’t care for the idea of functional paradigm because one of its main components is that women focus on the private life of the relationship such as housework and children while the men focus on the public life such as working and politics. I think it could still be relevant in some households but in today’s society I feel like more women prefer working rather than staying home all day.
3. Name a company that you feel is employing the structuralist perspective? Describe what makes it different.
An example of a company that is employing the structuralist perspective is Netflix. Netflix recently made it so both parents have the opportunity for unlimited parental leave after birth or adoption for the first year.