0. Title of
the Report:
Gender Unity:
Annotated Bibliography
By Joshua Kent
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy20/g20lecturenotes459.htm
1. Preface:
This
class is focused on gender relations and the ideas and techniques needed in
order to achieve unity in the relationship, or harmony. It covers different ideas from authors who
have done research on the subject as well as opinions and views from
others. It allows students to discuss
their feelings towards the different ideas and in a sense, come to a unity with
each other of what they believe and agree with.
Being in
“Generation 20” means that I am in the 20th PSY 409 class taught by
Professor James. Although the subject
focused on may have been different throughout the generations, Professor James
still has had 19 other classes to polish his teaching concepts. This means that he is very knowledgeable and
able to express the ideas being brought being taught.
I do feel a sense
of relief that there were so many past generations to begin the generational
reports. It helps me to be able to get
an idea of what is needed and expected.
However, it is also a lot of pressure, since I am responsible to help
keep them going.
After reading
reports from students of the past generations, I am able to see what was
happening in society at the time the reports were written. In the earlier reports, there was a lot of
emphasis put on the internet. These
reports were written around the approximate time the internet was exploding
with use. The reports then begin to
focus on the psychology of the internet user, since there was a new social area
that had to be understood. Also included
were reports on different driving debates and subjects such as “road rage.”
- 3
Reports I have found relevant to the subject of Gender Unity:
1. The first report that I found relevant to the
idea was written by Linda Wong. The link
to the report is: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/psy409a/wong/labreport.html#pessimism
Linda wasn’t
writing about gender unity, but her report did touch up on a couple of concepts
that are important to understanding gender unity, or any other concept at
hand. The first was pessimism, which
basically is a sort of a bias that one can have. She says that sometimes you need to step back
and take a breather, which I believe is important in any situation that you
would like to take seriously. Once you
are relaxed, you may be able to see something you didn’t before. The second idea was depression, which can be
a result of pessimistic views. If you
are not able to step back and calm yourself, you may keep digging yourself into
a deeper hole and never understand what you could have.
2. The second report that I found touched up on
a key subject was by Krista in Generation 17.
The link to the report follows is: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409bf2002/krista/researchreport409.htm
She
touched up on another key concept that is important to remember when studying
gender unity. It was called “Self
Observation Data.” It is basically a way
of critiquing yourself after any type of exercise or concept learned. It has to do with self understanding, which
is important, because you can’t fully understand someone else and gain unity
without first fully understanding yourself.
3. The third report that I found useful was
written by Maylyn in Generation 16. The
link to her report is: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy8/g8r2gender459.html
She
touches up on different behavioral and personality traits that can be used to
describe the typical person. It is these
traits that make us who we are and contribute to the way we go about
understanding things. One point that she
made is “behavioral routines” which is basically the things that we do every
day without even realizing it.
2. Introduction:
The
topic of PSY 409b is Gender Unity. This basically means the concept of learning
enough about one’s self to be able to understand those in other genders. It covers the 3 basic principles which are
included in gender relations that are essential in order to form perfect
harmony in a relationship. This is
called “The Three-fold Self” and they are: 1) Sensorimotor (Dominance); 2)
Cognitive (Equity); and 3) Affective (Unity) conjunctions.
Sensorimotor
basically covers the physical contact and relationship you have with your
partner. Sensorimotor could also be
looked at as all the interaction that occurs which is visible by the outsiders.
Cognitive
is basically the interaction between a couple in an effort to communicate their
feelings. This is where they communicate
with each other what they like and don’t like and express their feelings
towards each other. It is also where one
or the other strives to understand the other person and gain and instinctive
feeling about how they will react.
Affective
is basically when a couple change their attitude into one that focuses on one
or the other. It is thinking 100% about
the other person and doing actions that benefit the other person. These benefits can be both positive and
negative, but the two are now in synch or harmony.
|
Level of
Unity |
Name of
Model |
Threefold
Self Involved in the Relationship |
|
3 |
Unity |
Affective (inmost) |
|
2 |
Equity |
Cognitive (internal) |
|
1 |
Dominance or Traditional |
Sensorimotor (external) |
Personally,
this course has already helped to open my eyes and give me perspective on my
own life and relationship. Arguments that
I have had in the past with my girlfriend are now a little clearer and I have
been able to relate to the discussions multiple times. I realize where I go wrong and also where I
go right in my mode of thinking towards the relationship. I will most likely become a better person by
the end of the course and hopefully prevent further conflict with my girlfriend
since I should be able to understand her better.
3. Annotated Bibliography on Gender Unity:
Category
1:
·
Article #1
Rage-Depression Survey Results--Gender by Leon James and Diane Nahl
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/driving/surveys/rage_depression-gender.htm
1. Men and women both perceive themselves as
more compassionate then others (Table 1).
This shows that
both men and women are alike in their thinking and do have common
thoughts. I feel that this is important
to remember since society raises us with beliefs that men and women are much
different. I also feel that this
expresses the idea that people are generally self-focused. It is hard to find someone who does not think
that they are better then others or feel that problems are a result of their
own doings, rather then someone else.
People seem to be quick to blame others.
2. Both men and women differ in the amount they
experience rage (Table 8).
There
is a clear difference in the ways that men and women react to situations. It’s hard to judge whether this is a genetic difference
or something that society has raised us to believe. I believe that both are involved, but I think
the way society influences us is the greatest factor in the reason for this. I know that although men are labeled as the
more aggressive gender, there are many women who also are aggressive. It would be hard to come to any solid
conclusion that one is more aggressive then the other, since it all
varies. Environmental differences, such
as location, economic situations, etc. all play a part into the way a person
reacts.
3. 35% of women feel competitive with others on
a daily or hourly basis. 56% of men feel
the same (Table 11).
There
is a clear difference in the thoughts and motivations behind actions done by
the different genders. I believe that
this has to do with the environment and beliefs that men and women grow up
in. Men and women are both held by
different criteria of what is expected of them and stepping out of this norm
means to cause controversy and be labeled as “weird.” Personally, I feel that men are generally
more competitive, especially since society seems so interested in it. It’s not a secret that the most popular
sports are male sports, such as football, baseball, basketball, etc. Men make much more to play sports then women;
they seem to be rewarded for their competitive nature.
·
Article #2
Masculine and Feminine by George H.
Woodard
http://www.newchurchissues.org/wip/MF/mf88gw.htm
4. CL 125 On the Marriage of the Lord and the
Church and its Correspondence
This
portion focused on the idea that both the husband and the wife together
combined represent the church. It is
interesting to me that in on the spiritual level, both men AND women combined
make things complete. This can be
related to the 3-fold self, in which perfect unity can be gained with two
people. I had a little bit of a hard
time understanding and agreeing with this concept, since it is not something I
have encountered before. The concept is
focusing on the idea that a married, unified couple is one person. I always thought that a married couple is
looked at as 2 people joined together.
5. CL 174-176 On the Conjunction of Souls and Minds by Marriage
This idea focused on gender
duties. Men have their own set of duties
and women as well. It says that men
can’t do women’s duties properly and vice versa. Although this sounds very sexist, I believe
that this is true to a certain point. I
believe that men and women do have their own ways of doing different things and
the same thing; but it’s important to remember that one or the other may or may
not be the better way. I have a hard
time fully accepting this, since I do believe duties should ultimately be shared
between two people.
6. HH 369 Marriages in Heaven
This basically spoke of marriages in
heaven. Basically it says that the
couples are conjoined and that everything is equal. I felt that this was interesting because it
basically showed that unity is carried through into the spiritual sense and
that relationships now can reach that type of a level. I also looked at the topic as saying that two
unified people become one person in heaven.
This is a little different from what I am used to hearing. I am a little skeptical about all these
beliefs, but I do respect the ideas that they express.
·
Article #3
The enjoyment of sexist humor, rape attitudes, and relationship
aggression in college students by Kathryn Ryan and Jeanne Kanjorski
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m2294/n9-10_v38/20914088/p1/article.jhtml
7. “Attitudes are important predictors of
aggression in men”
I
thought that this was interesting in that they can link something like a
person’s attitude with their personality traits. I believe that this is true since we all have
predicted in the past how a person we have met is going to act. It could be a new boss who seems to be
excited and perky, in which we would predict that they will work
enthusiastically. Or a boss who seems
really serious, we can predict that they will be very “by the book in the work
environment.
8. Freud believed that humor can express
hostility
Freud’s
theories have always intrigued me because although some are far fetched
sometimes, some of them make sense. He
comes up with ideas that are just unique in their own way. I can think of instances where a joke wasn’t
meant to be funny…where it was meant to hurt someone rather then make them
laugh. Most of the jokes in American
society base themselves upon making fun of others. He makes a good point that males are more
likely to make jokes that are hurtful towards others in a humoristic way. I felt this way true, since I do realize that
many jokes I have encountered are based upon putting others down.
9. Women may be more attuned to the hostile
nature of jokes or humor more then men.
I
believe this to be true since men can tend to be rather insensitive to many
things. It is appropriate that women,
who tend to think deeper about things, would catch the negative implications of
such humor. This also relates to the
standards that society sets, men are “supposed” to be less caring while women
are “supposed” to be bothered by such jokes.
It is hard for me to really choose what to believe since I am a male and
haven’t looked into the female perspective in depth. I am only able to see what I can by
observation and it wouldn’t be fair for me to come to any solid conclusions
about women since I am not one.
·
Article #4
Teacher's Classroom
Strategies Should Recognize that Men and Women Use Language Differently by Deborah
Tannen
http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/tannend/chronicle061991.htm
10. Women who go to same-sex schools do better in
life.
I
thought this was interesting because it emphasized the point that when women
sit next to men, men tend to talk more.
When women are isolated from this environment, they become used to
taking charge and the role of the leader.
This learned behavior is carried on into the real world, where they can
now take charge and become successful. I
know from personal experience that the girls I know who have attended same-sex
schools are doing very well in life.
They are noticeably more outspoken and confident with themselves. I can understand how not having boys to distract
them or intimidate them in school may have gotten them more involved in
activities and material.
11. Most faculty members figure that having one
person speak in front of the class is the most beneficial.
The
article said that this may not be true, since men are more dominating and have
it easier then women do speaking in front of groups. I feel that this is another reason why
same-sex schools are so effective; it gets rid of this aspect of
discomfort. It allows women to be
involved and potentially learn more from the situation and curriculum at
hand. I could also use the example of
the girls I know personally who are doing well.
It seems that our society is based in a way where being shy prohibits
you from learning to your fullest potential.
It’s not fair that some get better treatment then others just because
they talk more. If teaching strategies
were more focused on learning (and funding provided it), numerous teachers with
different styles would probably be more effective.
12. Men tend to avoid sensitive types of readings
while women tend to avoid hostile types of readings.
This
is a society based characteristic that is brought up upon us by the way we grew
up. Women aren’t supposed to be hostile
and men aren’t supposed to be sensitive.
I believe that as time goes on and gender equity is further emphasized,
this belief will eventually be abolished.
It isn’t fair that men and women are limited to what they can read and
how they can act, since we all should be entitled to act naturally. I know that I personally can be interested in
sensitive issues, but I would be very hesitant to bring it up with my guy
friends. I also know that many times, I
fit into the typical “guy” role, where I feel that I have to act rough and
tough and care about nothing (seemingly).
I also have a few close female friends who wish they could, at times,
just shed the nice girl image and go crazy.
·
Article #5
The Conjunction of Souls and Minds by
Marriage by Emanuel Swedenborg
http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/CL/conjunc.htm
13. Men are the carriers of wisdom and this is
passed onto his wife.
I
thought that this was a little unfair and that it sounds a little sexist. I believe that both men and women have a lot
of wisdom in them and that it is passed on equally between the two sexes. The two learn from each other and are able to
interact from the teachings that they receive.
Swedenborg covers a lot of topics that are new to me, and like I said
earlier, I am trying to keep an open mind.
His writings are so unique, but yet much of it makes sense. I feel that if I was to learn more about it,
I would be able to make a much fairer conclusion about what I believe.
14. A wife thus receives into herself an image of
her husband, and from it perceives, sees and feels his affections
This
sounded like the Affective portion of the Three-Fold Self. I believe that this holds true, but like my
last explanation, I believe that the husband also receives an image of his
wife. Men do tend to take a little
longer to come to this realization, but I would think that they could still
eventually come to this understanding.
Women are given a lot of credit and it seems to me that men have to make
much of the changes to reach unity.
Although some men are worse off then others, I do feel that it should be
more equal. Perhaps it all equals itself
out, but some of the topics do seem to be one sided.
15. Conjugal
love joins two souls and thus two minds into one.
I thought this was interesting
because it sounds exactly like Gender Unity.
Two people are now one, in perfect harmony. As far as the 3-Fold Self goes, this is what
the goal is. You want to become one with
your partner and have perfection. One or
the other doesn’t feel any more or any less for the other and you are totally
happy. I think that altogether this
sounds a little unrealistic in today’s world and it is very hard to
accept. Then again, it could be
something that can’t be understood until it’s reached and it could be worth
trying.
Category 2:
·
Article #6
Gender Differences In Driving Norms. Are Men More Aggressive Drivers Than Women?
by Sheri Lieberman
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409as99/lieberman/report2.html
16. Aggression- deliberate action or behavior
that is intended to cause physical or psychological pain (Aronson: 457).
I
chose this idea because it is important to fully understand what aggression in
before you can relate it into a concept.
Society emphasizes fighting for your rights and history has shown that
Americans tend to be very aggressive in their behavior. It is an important component of a person and
it’s important to know where their motives may be coming from. I know that I am personally a pretty aggressive
person and I have been working to change that for a while now. The more I am able to educate myself of what
is open and what causes it, the better I will be at being able to prevent it. I don’t want to be an aggressive person all
my life because it handicaps me from opportunities I would otherwise be able to
take advantage of.
17. Causes of Aggression
It
gave examples of what scenarios and reasons that can cause aggression. Many of these examples are common to what we
all have experienced and I am sure we can all think of a situation we were
involved in where aggression played a part.
I feel that road rage may be one of the most common and extreme forms of
aggression that many people experience.
I have been guilty of road rage on numerous occasions and I really don’t
like it, nor did I realize why I did it at all.
I am typically more patient walking around then when I am in the
car. Why is that? I feel horrible at the actions I have done in
the past as a result of road rage, such as yelling, waving my arms, and even
breaking a windshield. After the rage
passes, I felt like such an idiot because it is such a dumb reason to be
mad. Nothing is so important that you feel
the need to yell or fight with another driver.
18. Gender Differences In Aggression
The
point was made that because males have testosterone (which has been linked to
aggression), they tend to be more aggressive.
What was not clear was if social life could also cause such aggression
in the same or greater form. I believe
that society can be a greater influence then genetics. I believe that there are many women out there
who are much more aggressive then men, but it would be hard to prove. I have heard of old grandmas flicking other
drivers the bird or swearing at them. I
have also seen personally a middle aged lady swerving to try and run a slower
driver off the road. The reason behind
this appeared to be the fact that he was driving slow and holding her up from
whatever important place she had to be at.
I do believe that men may be more aggressive then women, but this would
be very hard to judge.
·
Article #7
Gender
Differences in Driving by Inkyung Yang
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459f98/yang/report1.html
19. Gender differences in driving attributed more
to social influences and environment in which person grew up.
I
believe that social environment plays just as big of a part in driving style
then biological causes as far as different genders go. It is common for a person to drive just like
their peers. A teenager involved with
others who street race will tend to drive dangerously, just as they do. I don’t believe it would matter biologically
how the person is made, since it seems that peer pressure can over rule
it. Although I don’t know where I got my
impatience from, I believe that it was heavily influenced by my father, who is
very impatient as well. Since I was
around him so much and learned to drive from him and his style, I believe I
adopted the good and bad. Perhaps I
wouldn’t be such an aggressive driver if I wasn’t taught to drive that
way? It’s hard to say, since I am now at
an age where I have control over changing it if I wanted to. But change is hard, especially when you have
had the habit for so long.
20. Stereotypes of accepted behavior are
reinforced by society.
This
is true and is part of every day life.
Men and women are expected to act a way and strongly influenced by society
to do so. Failure to comply with these
stereotypes can result in ridicule and embarrassment. This reinforcement is emphasized everywhere,
from friends, television, media, and books.
There are so many gender stereotypes, it is hard to keep track of and
avoid. The media is so influential, yet
they use them all the time. It is no
wonder why they are so common, since most people adopt much of their behavior
from what they see on television. It
takes a really strong person to look past what’s shown to us and unfortunately,
there seems to be more people who would rather just accept whatever is given to
them.
21. Women aren’t becoming more aggressive, just
more open to discussing and expressing it.
I
believe that this could be true. They
may just be more open to showing it since society is leaning so much toward
gender equality. We are just noticing it
more now since that sort of topic is always on the table. On the other hand, some women may be
encouraged by this new freedom and could be over-emphasizing their new freedom
beyond what is needed. It’s human nature
to take advantage of opportunities that are given to you and encouraged in
society. However, there is a limit,
which many times are not clear cut.
Whenever new freedom is given to you, it’s very hard not to abuse it,
since it is so tempting. The aggressive
behavior with women may be just a form of abusing the new freedom and they may
just have to balance it out over time.
Category
3:
·
Article #8
Instructions for Studying Discourse in
Talk: Topic, Argument, Setting and Relationship by Dr. Leon
James
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/instructor/talk/talk1.html
22. Talk is a key factor in understanding the
setting, any setting.
This
makes a lot of sense, since communication is most commonly done through
speaking, you can get a feel of the situation through the comments and tones of
the other person. You can find out a
persons attitude very quickly through just a few words. If their response is quick and straight to
the point, it would be common to think they are busy. On the other hand, if they were to nicely say
things in a pleasant tone, you can expect that they would like to chat. I know I am really sensitive to the tones in
people’s voices and am quick to pick up on the attitude they have. This also works to my disadvantage, since I
am quicker to get irritated if I feel someone is being disrespectful to
me. I try my best to monitor my own
tones and speech so that I don’t give off the false impression that I am not
interested.
23. Analysis of Talk
Some
methods are covered of how you could go about observing or documenting talk
between people, such as topics and charts.
This would be especially useful in an experiment setting in which you
would like to observe the relationship between people. You could also use the techniques to analyze
different types of talk between cultures of people of different locations. I feel that this would take a lot of time,
but would be beneficial if observing those you care about. The results could also be used to better your
own life, since you can use the effective techniques in your own speech. If you can communicate effectively, you are
open to many opportunities that others would not be. You could also use this new knowledge to help
others and help them to receive opportunities they otherwise may not have
received as well.
24. Analysis of Argument
This
covers a step by step “play” of the situations leading up to a conversation as
well as the conversation itself, then ultimately the aftermath. It is easy to see the language used between
the people, but it is impossible to experience the full effect of it, since you
are unable to hear the tones the words are being spoken in. The tones people speak in make a huge
difference in the point they are trying to make, since you can sense things
like sarcasm in it. I feel that this is
why observing people talking in their true state, rather then just reading
dialogue, is extremely important. You
must be able to hear for yourself, since there is a lot left open in speech to
translation. This is also why television
is such an effective form of entertainment and why comics tell jokes in
person. Jokes written in books are
funny, but hearing them in person is much better. Also, television shows rely on the dialogue
to give it life; if that wasn’t the case, everyone would just read the
manuscripts.
·
Article #9
The Three-Fold Self by Wittrock
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/409as97/atakahas/499/wittrock.html
|
25.
The Sensorimotor State |
What a person can taste, touch, see,
smell, and hear |
|
26.
The Cognitive State |
What a person can reason, think, and plan |
|
27.
The Affective State |
Where the inner self or spirit of a person
is |
~These 3 concepts are focused greatly in the
course and it’s important that they are covered and understood. The sensorimotor and cognitive state seems to
be the most common and easiest to witness and achieve. The affective state seems to be much harder
to witness and much harder to achieve.
An outsider would not be able to observe the affective state or know for
sure when it is influencing a person’s actions.
Only the person themselves would be able to recognize when the affective
state is the driving factor in their life.
Although it is the hardest to realize, it does seem to be the most
important.
Category
4:
·
Article #10
Generational Curriculum: Analysis of Talk by morifuji
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/409af96/morifuji/499/dinner1.html
28. Conversation has multiple meanings and you
must take into consideration who’s involved.
A
statement made to your wife could be taken much differently then if you were to
make the same statement to a stranger.
If you were to tell a stranger to “take off his shoes” before entering
your house, it would be understood. If
you were to tell your wife, “take off your shoes,” she would take it as you
being a jerk since she already knows to do it.
The point could also mean that the history between the two involved in
the conversation plays a big part in how it will be taken. This is apparent in every day life, since we
have all experienced a couple laughing at something that would not seem to be
funny to us. They then explain that it
is an “inside joke.” The humor is based
upon something that they have experienced in the past.
29. The conversations are different between those
who are not involved with each other.
You
tend to be closer and more comfortable with your significant other and more or less
can be said to get the point across.
Your partner tends to know you better and is able to fill in the left
out parts in the conversation or contribute their own thoughts to help get the
point across. They can also include
their own input in order to help you fully understand other things that may
have been overlooked. When speaking with
those you do not know, you tend to be more formal and polite. You also tend to be less likely to joke
around and get to the point much quicker.
Speech can be a lot different, since things like nervousness get
factored into the conversation. A person
who would normally speak fine with there girlfriend may now speak erratically
and shaky.
30. The other person in the relationship is
picked on more then people not involved.
You
know what the other person can handle as far as teasing goes and aren’t worried
about them taking it seriously. On the
same note, you can also negatively use this, by targeting what you know bothers
them and really getting them mad. It is
easy for someone to take advantage of their significant other by doing
something that they know will get them angry in order for themselves to feel
better. This has a lot to do with the
fact that many people tend to take those closest to them for granted. You get comfortable with your partner and
tend to be quicker to mess up. When you
don’t know a person as well, you are more cautious and give more thought to
your actions towards them. If you are a
jerk by nature, chances are you’ll be a jerk to your partner once with them for
a while. This is when self-evaluation
becomes especially important, since you must now change yourself if you want
the relationship to be fair.
4. Conclusion
After writing this
report, I have gained a deeper understanding of what is needed to create and
maintain a unified relationship. I
realize that although it’s hard to achieve a perfectly unified relationship,
the rewards are worth it. I have an idea
of what I would have to change with myself in order to reach unity in a relationship. After doing this report, I found that I am
guilty of some of the things that prevent unity, but at least now I realize
it. I think we all have our own problems
that we have to realize and change for the betterment of a relationship; it’s
all part of being human.
5. Future Generations
To
everyone in the future, I would like to wish you all good luck in this
class. I have already learned so much in
such a short time and I am sure the same will hold true for you. I hope that you all can keep and open mind
and make the most out of what is taught.
Many of the topics are hard to understand and accept, but at least try
to take something away from each of them.
If you learn more about yourself and are able to better yourself thru
this class, then it will prove to be very beneficial.
PSY 409b Generation 20 Homepage