In many societieswhenan individual violates social norms such as transgressing gender roles,they are likely to be punished. The male gender transgressor is considered to be of a lower social status as compared to the female gender transgressor. It has been established that the normsrelation to gender roles are among the most powerful social norms which individuals can violate,and these are internalized when people practice socialization through gender roles. Usually, the social norms are what determinethe various roles and habits that individual of either sex adopt and then enact; if anyonefails to act according to the gender roles, which they are perceived to, they will be considered to be acting negatively. This paper critically evaluates if the male gender transgressor will be punished more than the female transgressor.

Purpose of the study

This study was seeking to explain if an adult male individual,who is described to bear female traits will be considered to have a lower social status, has higher chances of being homosexual, and have values that are dissimilar to a female individual who is said to have traits that are considered masculine. It was also meant to explain if the male individual who has been observed to have feminine characteristics will be considered to have a lower social class, has a higher probability of being homosexual, and be of less value than a female individual who is described to have more masculine behavior. This simply means thata female with male traits will be consideredhomosexual just like the malecounterpart with female traits is, but to a much less extent.

Hypothesis testing

The main hypothesis tested here is if an adult male individual to be used in the study and whose traits will be feminine will be considered to have lower social status, be more likely to be homosexual, and be considered to have a value higher or lower than that of a female individual who has masculine traits.The study will also test the hypothesis that the male who is described to have feminine traits will be considered to be of lower social status, have more chances of being homosexual, and be having more or less value to a female individual who has behavior considered masculine.

Structure of the study

The independent variables are gender and traits; dependant variables are homosexuality and social status.Qualitative research method is used because the parameters involved cannot be measured.

This study included 59 students as participantsfrom a North American college. The students involved were taking a developmental psychology course and included 29 men and 30 women. Most of them are white and participated by completing research material in small groups.

Personal perception paradigm is employed in this study. Each of the participants was to rate two hypothetical target persons (TPs). Of the TPs one is described through personalities described by gender and is labeled (TP1), while the other was described through behaviors attached to the sex of an individual, and this individual was labeled (TP2). TP1 are masculine typed and are obtained from the agency and the female typed subscales of the PAQ. PAQ were chosen because they are qualities for either sex but are considered more masculine or more feminine.

TP1 had completely masculine descriptions while TP2 had purely masculine traits descriptions on it. The descriptions on the behavior labeled in TP2 were a combination of various dominant and submissive traits that are borrowed from earlier on research that was carried out on gender based nature of these traits. Just like in the PAQ, the behavioris either submissive or dominant for both males and females, just as shown in the corresponding scores on social desirability scores; however, they are closely associated with dominant behaviors common in men or to submissive behaviors which are attached to women.

The masculine typed TP, which was dominant,is typed with men traits including contributing positively to group discussions, settling disputes successfully, encouraging other people to expresstheir feelings and air their opinions, being strong willed, refusing to take in other people’s ideas, embarrassing other people publicly, arguing with security guards in an attempt to get through, making sexual advances to the spouse, not refusing when needed. The other one is typed with female traits including avoidingconversations unless invited, avoiding conversations at parties, protecting self form verbal abuse, avoiding statements and things that anger others, taking opinions from parents and friends, going out with others, and letting the partner choose where to hang out.

The study has been based on the argument that men who are described in gender-based ways are said to be higher in socialstatus than women who are gender-typed, and that individuals of either sex who are gender typed are likely to be heterosexual. This implies that the major aim of this study is to compare the perceptions that people have on individuals who transgress gender and not to make comparisons of the perceptions on gender transgressors.

The participants are male and females who are assigned to make a reading on the way that two either male or female participants were described. The descriptions based on traits are always presented first. A provisional adjustmentis to balance the number of either sex to 15. The participants are then asked read the underlying scenario and make a response to questions, which were inquiring about the type of person they though the person described could.

Statistical methods used in the analysis

The Perceived Social Status (PSS) test in TP1 and TP2 social status is measured using socio-metric variables that had been applied in earlier studies. The participants are to rate four items, which measured the importance, competence, and general regard of the individuals who participated.

The Perceived Homosexuality (PH), which was measured using three, items which have been successfully used earlier on in related studies. The participants rate how they thinkeach of the traits on the TP isrelevant to homosexuality, the extenteach TP was close to homosexuality and the probability that the TP was homosexual. The first two were rated on a Likert scale with ten points where the magnitude increased as one moved towards ten. The third one is rated on a percentage scale and then transformed into Z scores (Sirin, 2010).

Perceived value Dissimilarity (PVD) thatis measured using the short version of Schwartz’s values Survey.

Haddock et al. (19930 outlined eleven value types to be used in this 22^nd measure and they includebenevolence, stimulation, self-direction,universalism, conformity, achievementtradition, hedonism,spirituality, power and security.

Statistical analysis

The Perceived Social Status indicated that there is considerable effect or whether the participant was male or female. More males than femalesperceived TP1 negativelyregardlesswhomit targeted. The male gender transgressor is attributed a lower social status than the female counterpart. He is also perceived more negatively. When the individual targeted is described it terms of behavior, there is a significant effect for just the sex of the individual transgressing the role of gender. A man with submissive behaviorsis judged more negatively than a woman with dominant behaviors.

Perceived Sexual Orientation indicated no significant effect for the participant’s sex in the trait based TP. However, there is some effect on the transgressors sex. Females with male traits are less considered homosexual than men with female traits.

Perceived Value Dissimilarityproduced figures which are analyzed to show and that,for TP1,there is no significant effect on the transgressor or the participants’’ life. For PT2 there is nosignificant effect for the participant’s sex. However, there is a considerable effect for the transgressors (Sirin, 2004).

Limitations and strengths

The participants are selected randomly from a group of 59 college students undertaking psychology in a North American Institution. In the course, there are 29 men and 30 women and a large percentage are white. The students participated by filling in the material in small groups.

They make use of various measures of the required qualitative data to quantify the aspects in question. These include the perceived social status, the perceived homosexuality and the perceived dissimilarity. After obtaining the data, it is then analyzed using the right tolls such as the ANOVAs, Fishers analysis and the Z score. This helps them to make conclusions.

Various measures are taken into consideration to reduce the errors and level of inaccuracy in the figures obtained since the wrong figure should result in poor results and incorrect conclusion. The methods used had been used in earlier studies and thus were chosen based on the merit of reliability and accuracy.

The researchis instigated by the fact that men are usually punished highly by the society or deviating their gender role than the women committing the same offence. The study has clearly explained if that the two have a significant effect for committing the offence using a sample of 30 individuals, 15 men, and women.

These results may not be very significant to the entire population because the sample used is small as compared to the whole population.

Recommendations

I would increase the sample population and use individuals from various occupations rather than involving just one group of people. Each individual will be picked from another group of people.

The study has involved only students, which mean they have not included people of older age, yet they will face the same wrath if they go against the expected gender roles as well. I will include people of all age groups in order to validate the relevance of the study.

Conclusion

This research reveals that males with feminine traits are considered more of homosexual than women who have masculine traits thus the first hypothesis cannot be rejected. The study has also validated the conclusion that men with feminine behaviors are perceived to have lower social status as compared to females with male typed behaviors thus we cannot reject the hypothesis.

Reference

Sirin, S. R., McCreary, D.R., & Mahalik, J. (2004). Differential reactions to men and women’s gender role transgressions: Perceptions of social status, sexual orientation, and value dissimilarity. Journal of Men’s Studies, 12(2), 119-132.

Sirin, S. R. (2010). Meta analysis. In N. J. Salkind (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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