Gender
Chapter 2
Discussion Outline
1. Terminology of Gender Studies
2. Theories of Gender Role development
3. Socialization Agents and Gender
4. Consequences of Traditional Socialization
5. Gender Inequality
Sex and Gender
• What is the difference?
Sex
• Biological distinction between females and males.
• Factors used to determine biological sex:
– Chromosomes: XX for female; XY for male
– Gonads: Ovaries for female; testes for male
– Hormones
– Internal sex organs
– External genitals
• What does it mean if an individual is born intersexed?
Gender
• Gender is more fluid—refers to the social and
psychological characteristics associated with
being male or female
– it represents learned attitudes and behaviors that
characterize people as men or women.
– The nature-nurture debate?
• The story of David Reimer
• The work of Margaret Mead
Gender and Socialization
• Socialization
– The process through which we learn attitudes,
values, beliefs, and behaviors appropriate to the
social positions we occupy
• Gender roles: The social norms that dictate what is
socially regarded as appropriate female and male
behavior
• When does gender role socialization begin?
Gender Roles in the United States
• Gender-Role Socialization
– Boys must be masculine
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Active
Aggressive
Tough
Daring
Dominant
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Soft
Emotional
Sweet
Submissive
– Girls must be feminine
Gender Myths
• We tend to associate stereotypically female
characteristics with weakness and typically male
characteristics with strength.
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He’s firm, but she’s stubborn.
He’s careful about details, but she’s picky.
He’s honest, but she’s opinionated.
He’s raising good points, but she’s “bitchy.”
We tend to see men as strong, not emotional and women as
emotional and not strong.
Do these stereotypes continue to exist?
Gender Identity
• Gender identity is the psychological state of
viewing oneself as a girl or boy, man or
woman.
– Gender dysphoria
• Transexuals
– The pregnant man?
Gender Role Ideology
• Refers to beliefs about the proper role
relationships between women and men in a
given society
– What is traditional American gender role
ideology?
Traditional View and Gender Roles
• Instrumental roles tend to be occupied by
men in our society. They must be the provider
and protector of the family.
• Expressive roles in our society tend to be
played by women—they provide emotional
support to the family, nurturing, etc.
– Should the man be the boss of the family?
Theories of Gender Development
• Biosocial Theory (sociobiology)
– Parental investment
– controversial
• Social learning theory
– Reward and punishment
– modeling
Gender and Socialization Agents
• If sociology takes the stance that gender roles
are learned through interaction with the
environment, what agents influence the
individual to behave masculine or feminine?
Gender and Socialization Agents
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Family
Race/Ethnicity
Peers
Religion
Education
Economy
Mass media
Gender Stereotypes are expectations about how
people will look, act, think, and feel based on their
sex.
Such expectations can have negative
physical and psychological
consequences for males and females
Consequences of Traditional Female
Role Socialization
Negative
• Less income
• Higher Poverty rates
• Negative Body Image
• Less Marital Satisfaction
Positive
• Longer life expectancy
• Stronger relationship focus
• Keeping relationships on
track
• Bonding with children
Consequences of Traditional Male Role
Socialization
Negative
• Identity based on work
• Limited expression of
emotions
• Fear of intimacy
• Custody disadvantages
• Shorter lives
Positive
• Freedom of movement
• Greater pool of mates
• Norm of initiating a
relationship
• Higher income
The Problem of Sexism
• Sexism is the assertion that one sex is innately inferior
to the other
― Individual level: belief that one sex is superior to the
other
― Institutional level: policies, procedures, and practices
that produce unequal outcomes for men and women
― Patriarchy: system of social organization in which
men have disproportionate share of power
― Sexism supports patriarchy by claiming that men are
“better” than women and therefore should dominate them.
Gender Inequality Around the World
• “More girls have been killed in then last fifty years, precisely because
they were girls, than men were killed in all the battles of the twentieth
century” (p. 250)
• There is no nation where women and men are
equals.
• A History of global patriarchy
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Survival rates and gender
Discrimination and persecution
Sex trafficking
Violent and sexual victimization
Literacy rates
Male Domination
• The Economy-Women in the Workplace
– The Gender wage gap- Women earn 81 cents on
the dollar that men earn even with equal
occupation and level of education
• For women of color, earning discrimination is even
greater
– The Matrix of Domination- Social forces that contribute to the
subordinate status of many women
• What improvements have been made for the
status of women in American society over the
last half century?
– Why?
Emergence of a Collective
Consciousness
• Feminism: belief in social, economic, and
political equality for women
– Early 19th century feminists won many victories,
including 19th Amendment
– 2nd feminism wave emerged in U.S. in 1960s
– As women became aware of sexist
attitudes and practices, began to
challenge male dominance