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To what extent does biology influence maleness and femaleness?
Are males dominant over females in all societies?
How similar are gender roles throughout the world?
Do women and men in the same culture communicate differently?
How can extreme gender ideology lead to the exploitation of women?

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Gender refers to the way members of the two sexes are perceived, evaluated, and expected to behave.
Sexual dimorphism refers to the physiological differences between men and women.
U.S. culture recognizes only two genders, male and female, but other cultures recognize a combined male/female gender.

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Masculinity
• The social definition of maleness, which varies from society to society.
Femininity
• The social definition of femaleness, which varies from culture to culture.

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A nine year old girl from Vermont in camouflage is being taught to hunt black bear with her own 20gauge shotgun.
This is certainly an atypical definition of femininity in the
United States.

• This Hijra man, who presents himself as being “like a woman,” is an excellent example of the socially constructed basis for sexuality.

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The sexual practices of humans, usually varying from culture to culture.
Extramarital activity
• Sexual activity outside marriage.
Sex drive
• Desire for sexual activity.

• _______ refers to cultural ideas concerning the way members of two sexes are perceived, evaluated, and expected to behave.
a) b)
Gender
Masculine and feminine c) d)
Sexual dimorphism
Sex

• Gender refers to cultural ideas concerning the way members of two sexes are perceived, evaluated, and expected to behave.

• In some cultures, ________ are rigidly defined, while in others they overlap to a considerable degree.
a) b) gender definitions gender roles c) d) sexual roles sexuality rules

• In some cultures, gender roles are rigidly defined, while in others they overlap to a considerable degree.

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Heterosexual
• A person who is sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex.
Homosexual
• A person who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex.

• Gentlemen, start your engines. Such performance enhancing drugs as
Viagra —designed to treat impotence in older men —are being used today recreationally by men of all ages.

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Men have greater body mass and strength and are better equipped for hunting, warfare, and land clearing.
Women do tasks that are compatible with pregnancy, breastfeeding, and child care.

• This baseball player engaged in child care in the locker room is just one example of changing gender roles in the United
States.

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Hunting large animals
Fishing as a primary task
Tending large animal herds
Mining, smelting, and metalworking
Conducting warfare
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Boat building
Working wood and stone
Clearing/preparing the land for crops
Making musical instruments
Making nets and ropes

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Fishing as a secondary task
Tending small animals
Planting and harvesting crops
House building
Making certain craft items
Local market trading

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• Childcare
Collecting fuel and water
Food preparation
Gathering wild plants, fruits, and nuts
Making clothes
Household maintenance

• Traditional gender roles are sometimes reversed in 21st century America, as with this female fire fighter.

• In the United States, it is estimated that approximately 20% of all preschool children are cared for primarily by their fathers.

• The universal tendency of women to be in a subordinate position in their social relationships with men.

• Linguistic gender differences.

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A division in society where all members are hierarchically ranked according to gender.
Purdah
• Rules involving domestic seclusion and veiling for women in small towns in Iraq,
Iran, and Syria.

• In some societies women are excluded from certain areas that are “for men only,” such as this all men's bar in Perth,
Australia.

• Among the
Minangkabau of west
Sumatra, decision making among wives and husbands is relatively equal and cooperative.

• Thoughts and values that legitimize gender roles, statuses, and customary behavior.
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In some African societies, men’s physical well-being is thought to be jeopardized by contact with a woman’s menstrual discharge.
• In Bangladesh, men are associated with the right side and women with the left side, a dichotomy that also denotes purity –pollution, good –bad, and authority– submission.

• This boy from
Gambia (west Africa) is much more likely to attend school than his younger sister.

• Refers to the high proportion of femaleheaded families below the poverty line, which may result from the high proportion of women found in occupations with low prestige and income.

• ______ is a system of thoughts and values that legitimize gender roles, statuses, and customary behavior.
a) b)
Gender ideology
Gender asymmetry c) d)
Gender identity
Gender roles

• Gender ideology is a system of thoughts and values that legitimize gender roles, statuses, and customary behavior.

Countries with Highest and Lowest Scores on the Gender Empowerment Measure
Norway
Iceland
Sweden
Denmark
Finland
Netherlands
0.84
0.83
0.82
0.82
0.80
0.78

Countries with Highest and Lowest Scores on the Gender Empowerment Measure
Canada
United States
Sri Lanka
Egypt
Bangladesh
0.78
0.76
0.27
0.26
0.22

• Although they assume a subordinate position in their family lives, some
African women are able to maintain considerable powers, authority, and autonomy by virtue of their economic activities, as with this vegetable vendor in Ethiopia.

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Male gender bias
• A preference found in some societies for sons rather than daughters.
Female infanticide
• The killing of female children
Nutritional deprivation
• A form of child abuse involving withholding food; can retard learning, physical development, or social adjustment.

• A euphemism referring to a practice found in various Middle Eastern cultures whereby women are put to death at the hands of their own family members because they are thought to have dishonored the family.

• The killing of a wife by her in-laws if the wife’s parents fail to pay additional dowry.

• Physical violence against women, the result of gender ideology, continues to be a problem in the United
States.

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Breadwinner
• A traditional gender role found in the United
States that views males as being responsible for the economic support and protection of the family.
Housewife
• A traditional gender role found in the United
States that views females as responsible for child-rearing and domestic activities.

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Double workload
• Situation in which employed married women, particularly those with children, are both wage employed and primarily responsible for housework and child care.
Occupational segregation
• The predominance of one gender in certain occupations.

• Men tend to have a shorter life span than women, in part because they engage in more high-risk occupations.