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Gender policing is the imposition or enforcement of normative gender expressions on an individual who is perceived as not adequately performing, through appearance or behavior, the sex that was assigned to them at birth (see gender performativity). Gender policing serves to devalue or delegitimize expressions that deviate from normative conceptions of gender, thus reinforcing the gender binary. According to Judith Butler, rejection of individuals who are non-normatively gendered is a component of creating one’s own gender identity. Gender mainstreaming is a public policy concept, whereas gender policing is a more general social phenomenon. It is common for normative gender performances of gender to be encouraged and rewarded, while non-normative performances are discouraged through punishment or generally negative reactions. Policing of non-normative performances ranges in intensity from relatively minor discouraging comments to brutal acts of violence. Tactics of gender policing also vary widely, depending in part on the perceived gender of the individual target. Males are generally policed more frequently and harshly. It is possible for gender policing to occur in any environment, and to occur at any age (of those policing and being policed). However, much of the relevant scholarly literature focuses on its occurrence in public environments (due to relative practicality of research), as well as the policing of young children by their parents or teachers. ==In childhood== An individual’s expression of gender is often first policed by their parent(s), as well as other elder authorities such as teachers and day care providers, at a very young age. Gender policing is part of the process of “gendering” children, or socializing them in a way considered conventionally appropriate to their assigned sex. Once children are taught gender norms and experience their enforcement, they are likely to begin policing others – both their peers and their elders. Substantial literature regarding gender and parents’ behavior toward their sons and daughters indicates that two patterns of gender typing by parents are well documented. First, fathers are more likely than mothers to enforce gender boundaries, or police the gendered expressions of their children.〔Kane, E. 2006. "No Way My Boys Are Going to be like That!" Parents' Responses to Children's Gender Nonconformity. ''Gender and Society'', 20(2), 149-176.〕 Second, both fathers and mothers enforce gender boundaries more frequently with sons than with daughters.〔 Research on the topic of parental gender policing has shown that female children who display traditionally masculine traits or behaviors receive more social and parental acceptance than male children who exhibit traditionally feminine tendencies.〔〔Carr, C. L. 1998. Tomboy Resistance and Conformity: Agency in Social Psychological Gender Theory. ''Gender and Society'', 12(5), 528-553.〕 Many scholars on the subject argue that this is due to the greater value assigned to “masculine” traits or behaviors compared to “feminine” ones, and/or beliefs that “tomboyism” is temporary.〔〔 At least one study indicates that parents across various social locations celebrate and encourage their preschool age daughters to engage in gender nonconformity, such as wearing sports-themed clothing and participating in traditionally male activities.〔 However, other research indicates that in part due to peer and parental pressures, “tomboys,” or female children with “masculine” traits or behavioral tendencies, frequently either abandon these tendencies in adolescence, or adopt a more feminine performance but retain many masculine skills and traits.〔 Pressures to conform to gender norms increase with age, and often manifest in these children being “instructed or shamed to conform to traditional femininity – in dress, appearance, posture, manner, interests, and dating.”〔 Ethnographic research in preschools has also contributed to the body of knowledge related to gender policing. This research has suggested that teachers give their students gendered instructions about what to do with their bodies. Across several schools, teachers gave boys explicit bodily instructions more frequently than girls, indicating that boys’ bodies are policed more often than girls’.〔Martin, K. 1998. Becoming a Gendered Body: Practices of Preschools. ''American Sociological Review'', 63(4), 494-511.〕 However, this may be because teachers were more forceful with their instructions to girls, who were also usually quicker to follow instructions, thus teachers did not need to repeat themselves as often. Teachers were also more likely to direct boys to cease behaviors (e.g. running, throwing objects), whereas they were more apt to instruct girls to alter them. For example, girls were given directive bodily instructions such as “talk to her, don't yell, sit here, pick that up, be careful, be gentle, give it to me, put it down there.”〔 As a result, a wider range of potential activities is available to boys than girls, because although they are dissuaded from some, they are not directed to engage in specific activities as often as girls are. According to Martin, the scholar and sociologist who conducted this research, "Gendering of the body in childhood is the foundation on which further gendering of the body occurs throughout the life course. The gendering of children's bodies makes gender differences feel and appear natural, which allows for such bodily differences to emerge throughout the life course.”〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gender policing」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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