Gender
Sex vs Gender
• Do you think differences between masculine and
feminine behavior are culturally or biologically
defined?
• Why do many people resist the idea that it is
cultural?
• Analyze how your own gender role has been
shaped by your family, peers, school, and the
mass media.
• Which seems to have had the most impact on
you?
• Why do you think it has been especially difficult
to convince men to share the housework?
• How did your parents divide up housework?
• How do you plan to do this in your own marriage
(or relationship)?
• Is structural-functional or social-conflict
analysis of gender-role inequality more
convincing?
• Why?
Sexual harassment
• Why could it be difficult to eliminate sexual
harassment from our culture?
• What is the effect on the job?
• What is the effect on the victim?
• How would you suggest reducing this?
Female genital mutilation
• Is FGM a medical procedure or a means of social
control?
• What could, or should, be done about this
practice?
• Should the U.S. accept another country’s
culture?