Lifelong Social Programming 

So if we built on what was researched by researchers and theorists such as Mead and Cooley, we are constantly pushed to behave in a gender-appropriate way throughout our lives. Society will egg and push us to behave as a young, older and aged male or female through a system of rewards and punishments. If we behave in a way society accepts, we are "rewarded" with praise and then gain more social acceptance.  If we do not, then we will be labelled as a deviant (someone who doesn't follow rules) and punished (denied benefits). 

One of the key reasons behind such a deep level of social programming is tat society hopes that it will acheve more stability if it could programme us in socially expected way. These socially expected" behaviours are known to sociologists as NORMS. Norms come from the vocabulary of maths. It can be somewhat synonymous with the world "average" In a "Bell" curve, it is the bulging centre portion coloured in Orange in the linked diagramme. In the context of this discussion, the left and right of the bulge would be seen as "deviant" or deviating from the average. Extreme right would be exaggerated masculinity or femininity while the extreme left might be a rejection of gender behaviour by the individuals. 

Often society enforces by creating generalised behaviours known as "stereotypes". What are Gender Stereotypes?  Here is a cute little cartoon to explain what are these (Amaze.Org, 2018).