Introduction to Gender
Gender a Social Construct
• All academic disciplines as they now
exist, whether sociology, psychology,
astronomy, physics, theology or
chemistry, have been developed largely
by men.
• It is men who run governments, control
education systems, who earn most of the
money, and who are generally consider
the movers and shakers of the society.
A Vindication of the Rights of
Woman (1792),
• In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, wrote a
book entitled, Vindication of the Rights of
Women in which she showed how women
have been historically influential in all of
the areas of above. The mainstream
should be deemed malestream.
Women sidelined
• Women have been sidelined in
history…Historical sociology questions
great man history, Sociology pretends to
be about people when in fact it is about
men.
1987 UN Report
• A 1987 United Nations report claimed,
“women constitute half of the world’s
population, perform nearly 2/3s of it work
hours, receive one tenth of its income, and
own less than one-hundredth of its
property.
• The need for more research into gender is
evident….Although we’ve had the
feminist movement….we still have Barbie
girls….Math is hard….I’m a Genie in a
bottle….
Objectification, reification…..
• Go to a club, what do you witness sex role
stereotypical behaviour….men flashing
their wallets, women selling their
sexuality. Objectification, reification…..
Gender Concepts Defined:
• In order to fully understand how society
and biology are combined in a social
order it is important to define concepts:
Sex• The biological aspects of an individual,
differences between males and females by
chromosomal, anatomical, reproductive,
hormonal characteristics.
Sex Status
• -Sex status is biologically determined but
socially constructed. All human
societies make distinctions based on
inborn (ascribed) characteristics of sex,
the physiological distinctions based on
biology and reproductive anatomy that
distinguishes male from female.
Gender• Gender is a status designation derived
from the physiological aspects link to
males and females physiological aspects
link to males and females to allow
individuals to function within particular
social contexts.
Gender• At the societal level, gender
differentiation is critical in
understanding the differential
distributions of
–
–
–
–
. roles
. tasks,
. resources,
. privileges and disadvantages bestowed upon
males and females.
Biological Sex
– Sex is made up of several components. In
fact, some babies (2-3%) each year are born
with ambiguous external genitalia. These
babies receive a sexual assignment as one of
the two sexes and if required, surgical
intervention is provided.
Sex Assignment• Sex Assignment- The categorization into
either male or female seems like an
irrefutable biological fact. However,
How do we know if these babies are male
or female???? One’s biological sex is in
fact multidimensional….
Several sex components
• There are several components which may
comprise BIOLOGICAL sex:
–
–
–
–
. chromosomal sex,
. gondola sex (sexual production organ),
. internal sex organs,
. external genitalia.
Video: Gender Tango
VIDEO 4322
• Anthropological Evidence:
• Three Contexts.. Papua New Guinea
• A. Sambians-war, patriarchy
• B. Trobrians-peace, matriarchy
• C. Mid West Plains Indian-Berdache
Gender: A Continuum?
• Transsexuals are individuals who have the
genotype of one sex but are convinced
they are in the wrong body, in other
words, they are really the opposite sex.
Transsexuals do not see themselves as
homosexual. They feel trapped by their
exterior.
Transsexual operations
• Sex change surgery to effect
reassignment is sought out by many to
this crisis. Transsexual operations tend to
flow more male to female than female to
male….(Perhaps this might suggest
something about our culture)
Sexual reassignment
• It has been argued that the dramatic choice of
sexual reassignment is the product of societal
intolerance. In societies where notions of
masculine and feminine are more flexibly
defined, such procedures might seem
unnecessary. For example, Australia with its
rigid gender role exceptions has a much higher
incidence of sex reassignment surgery than
Sweden.
Gender a Societal Construction
• In societies where notions of masculine
and feminine are more flexibly defined,
such procedures might seem unnecessary.
For example, Sambians of New Guinea
with its rigid gender role exceptions has a
much higher incidence of sex
reassignment surgery than Sweden.
flow more male to female than
female to male….(Perhaps this
might suggest something about
our culture) It has been
argued that the dramatic
choice of sexual reassignment is
the product of societal
intolerance. In societies where
notions of masculine and
feminine are more flexibly
Two polar theoretical
explanations of Gender:
• There are two explanations of sexual
orientation: Essentialist who believe that
biological disposition or the core self
develops in early life.
Social constructionist
• The social constructionist who believes
that heterosexuality and homosexuality
are matters of mere definition that vary
across time and place
The Institution of the FamilyPatriarchy and Gender
•
•
•
•
Structural Approach-essentialist
Social Exchange Theory-essentialist
Social Conflict Theory-constructionist
Symbolic Interactionist-constructionist
Sexual Orientation as a Social
Construct
• Prior to groundbreaking research of
Alfred Kinsey, the research literature
equated sexual orientation with the
essence of that person...
• Sexual Behavior in the Human Male 1948,
• Sexual Behavior in the Human Female
1953.
Biology vs. Construction
• Kinsey criticized the rigid dichotomization
of homosexual vs. heterosexual. He
proposed that sexual behavior existed on
a continuum.
• Categories of sexuality are not
predetermined or universal.
Feminist Approaches to the Study
of Gender Inequality
1. Liberal Feminism -seeks to make
incremental changes to legislation and piecemeal
changes in attitudes. Aim is working towards
gender equality.
An example is Margrit Eichler and her concept
“monolithic bias,” she uses this to influence
piecemeal changes to family law
Socialist/Marxist Feminism• 2.Marxist Feminists believe that gender
inequality was given an added boost by the
capitalist mode of production.
Marxist Feminism 4 points
• Capitalism separates home and work,
• The public and the private spheres
• Women’s sphere is the private domestic
sphere, her labour in the home is devalued.
• The solution is transformation of the
capitalism
Socialist/Marxist Feminists
•
An example is M.Barret and Mary
McIntosh, The Anti-Social Family
• Shows that the bourgeoisie use family to
promotes an `Ideology of Familialism’ that
affects all institution in this culture.
Radical Feminists
• Radical Feminists - Believe gender
stratification is not just the result of
capitalism….
• The problem is capitalism and patriarchy.
• Patriarchy is much more pervasive and
historical..ie. Traditional religion-patriarchy.
Suzanne Keller/S. Firestone
• Firestone, The dialectic of sex: The
case for feminist revolution (1972).
• Suzanne Keller, “Ðoes the Family Have a
Future” (1971) each contend that radical
changes are required before women will
have equality.
Minority Anti Racist
Race, Class and Gender must be examined
together.
The experiences of white, middle class women
are not universal and monolithic.
Carol Stack (1974) research into impoverished
Black Families in Southern U.S.
Post Modernist Feminism
• 5. - Seeks to deconstruct old theories on family.
• Modernist theorizes are grand narratives which
limit understanding.
• Emphasis should be on uniqueness and diversity.
Jane Flax (1981) Thinking Fragments:
Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and
Postmodernism in the Contemporary West
Feminist Concerns
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Five Key
1. Social construction gender
2. Social Change
3. Family
4. Social theory
5. Social Justice
Social Construction: Gender
• The central concept of feminist theory is
the social construction of gender.
• Feminists all critique the essentialist view
of gender and family…
• Ie. T. Parsons-instrumental and expressive
role=nuclear family.
Commit to Social Change
• 2. Feminists are committed to gender
equality and social change.
• It is an analysis of women’s subordination
for the purpose of figuring out how to
change it.
Feminists question the family:
The personal is political
1. Feminist theories question the family
2. Capitalism and patriarchy thrive upon
traditional family (father as provider,
mother as homemaker)…
3. Nuclear family fits industrial
society…invisible labour in the home…
Feminist theory
• Feminist theory emphasizes women’s lives
and their experiences. The emphasis is
upon putting on a new set of glasses.
• For example, they do not study fathering
unless the construction of gender is the
central concept.
Feminism and Social Justice
4. Feminist theorists and researcher put
their beliefs into action.
5. Barbra Allen was one of the first who put
into practice a feminist pedagogy.
Feminist Sociology History
1. First Wave-Suffragettes –Maternal
2. Second Wave-Civil Rights late 60’s and
beyond-has various branches.
3. Third Wave-1990’s-more inclusive
Research
• Socialization is not as important as social
stratification
• THE SYSTEM (capitalism) IS DESIGNED
BY MEN (patriarchal) and is UNFAIR!!
Summary
• By the 1980's, writers identified liberal, radical
and socialist feminism.
• Important points to remember about the feminist
approach to family and gender:
• The central concept of feminist theory is the social
construction of gender.