By: Ishita Bahl
Gender polarisation is a sociological concept that states that society tends to define the two ends of the gender binary: i.e. femininity and masculinity as polar opposites, and that behaviours and attributes that are acceptable for and expected from men are inappropriate for women and vice versa. Gender polarisation as a concept was first given by the American psychologist Sandra Bem.
Gender polarisation is an extension of the distinction between biological sex and gender in sociology, wherein gender refers to the "socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women." Sex is defined as the biological difference between men and women. Bem states that gender polarisation begins when these biological differences are exaggerated in culture and when cultures construct differences that make the sexes “more different from one another than they would otherwise be." Examples of such exaggerations of biological differences in cultural spheres are women having less body hair than men, men having more muscles than women, women removing their body hair, and men engaging in bodybuilding exercises to emphasise their muscles. When such distinct differences are established, there is no room for overlap and shared behaviours and attitudes displayed by men and women. This dictates not only how both sexes are expected to behave or dress, but also how they experience emotions and sexual desires. Bem sees gender polarisation as the organising principle upon which many basic institutions of a society are built. She further adds that rules based on gender polarisation have been codified into law, such as the case of women prevented from voting, holding a political office, going to school, owning property, serving in the armed forces, entering certain professions, and playing specific sports. The first modern Olympics was a male-only event, which serves as a prime example for gender polarisation.
Gender polarisation begins in early childhood when children are taught to prefer one colour over the other, such as blue for boys and pink for girls, or one toy over another, such as trucks for boys and dolls for girls. Children also learn the ideas of such rigid distinctions between men and women by observational learning and direct instructions to behave certain ways according to their gender. Bem states that gender polarisation “defines mutually exclusive scripts for being male and female,” which can have a powerful influence on how a person develops. A male would develop in specific ways dictated by the roles assigned to him, exhibit behaviors that are considered masculine and dress, talk, think, and view life in a way that would be deemed appropriate for men. Deviation from these scripts is seen as problematic, immoral, defying religious customs, and even "psychologically pathological." Because of the practice of gender polarisation, women were restricted to family-oriented and domestic roles historically and were excluded from the public sphere. However, the extent to which gender polarisation is present in a society varies according to its culture and so do the expectations associated from each sex.
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