Need an argumentative essay on Gender Socialization Across the Life Span. Needs to be 9 pages. Please no plagiarism.Gender socialization refers to the acquisition of gender identity and the roles expe

Need an argumentative essay on Gender Socialization Across the Life Span. Needs to be 9 pages. Please no plagiarism.

Gender socialization refers to the acquisition of gender identity and the roles expected of the different sexes (Stockard, 2006). UNICEF (2007) reported that gender socialization starts at birth with children learning to identify and comply with gender roles according to cultural prescriptions. These gender expectations continue throughout the life span (UNICEF, 2007). Gender is thus perceived as deeply entrenched in virtually all social spheres of daily life and within social units (Risman, 2004). There are three main theories used to explain gender socialization processes. Psychoanalytic, social learning and cognitive developmental theories offer explanations of gender socialization and help us to understand how gender socialization endures throughout the life-span (Bern, 1983). However, gender schema theory is often presented as an alternative to the three theories (Bern, 1983). This paper analyzes the four theories and identifies the implications of gender socialization.

Psychoanalytic Theory of Gender socialization

Bern (1983) informed that Sigmund Freud was the first psychoanalyst to inquire into how males and females were “transmuted into masculine and feminine” (p. 598). Freud was primarily concerned with explaining the eventual subordinate roles of women (Bern, 1983). Psychoanalytic theorists have drawn on Freud’s inquiries and developed psychoanalytic theory as a means for explaining and understanding gender socialization.