Gender and Sexuality
Chapter 11
Paula England
THE BIG QUESTIONS
• Where do the differences between men and
women come from?
• How have the lives of women and men
changed in the past 50 years?
• How are our sex lives shaped by biology and
society?
• How has sexual behavior changed in the last
50 years?
QUESTION 1
Where do the differences between men and
women come from?
What Do Differences Actually Mean?
Do males score higher than females on
standardized math tests?
• Male and female means and distribution on Math
SAT test
• More people score in the middle distribution than
at either extreme
• Males have higher average, but many members
will have higher average who are below average
of sex with lower average
Gender Socialization
What shapes gender differences in behavior
and preferences?
• Biological differences, including hormones,
anatomy, or brain structure
• Social construction of gender including parenting
and mass media
Sex versus Gender
Sex
• Biological grouping based on anatomy,
chromosomes, and levels of hormones
Gender
• Result of how society shapes differences and
inequalities between men and women
Transgendered Individuals
• Challenge assumptions about how sex and gender
and how these go together
Gender Differences by Setting and Time
Rationale for Social Construction of Gender
• Gender differences vary between social settings
• Gender arrangements have changed over time
• Lightdale and colleagues concluded that
gender-stereotypical behavior is more likely
when people believe they are being watched
What does the fact that gender differences vary
across situations and over time tell us about the
concept of gender?
Do you know? Check your text!
The Impact of Stereotypes
Stereotypes: Beliefs about group that are often
untrue or exaggerated as a description of the
group
• Research findings reveal that what people hear
from others about whether their sex is better at
something affects their confidence and even
their actual performance
• Social context determine how “macho” men act
QUESTION 2
How have the lives of women and men
changed in the last 50 years?
Rising Women’s Employment and Education
Of all the changes in the lives of women over
the last several decades, the biggest is the
increase of women in the paid workforce
• Increased wages
• Higher share of jobs in service work
• Feminist movement and laws against sex
discrimination
• Steady increase in women’s educational level
Change in Women’s Jobs
Occupational sex segregation measures
• Sex segregation declined substantially in 1970s
and 1980
• Declined more slowly since then
• Jobs still sex segregated partly due to
socialization and hiring discrimination
• In the last 40 years, occupational sex
segregation has declined significantly
Why do women earn less than men?
What does your textbook say?
What Do You Think?
Why haven't the changes in men's roles
been as dramatic as the changes in
women's roles?
Let’s find out!
The Impact on Men
• Women have entered traditionally male
employment more than men have taken on
traditionally female activities
• Greater stigma for men to engage in femaleidentified activities
• Men’s housework increased slightly
• Employed fathers spend more time caring for their
children than they did 50 years ago, but so do
employed mothers.
QUESTION 3
How are our sex lives shaped by biology
and society?
Drastic Measures
In the “Long Neck” tribe in Northern
Thailand, women are seen as more beautiful
if they have long necks, and some take
drastic measures to achieve this beauty
• Do American women take any drastic
measures to alter their bodies?
• If so, what are these?
Sexual Orientation
Terms and labels
• Sexual orientation
• Heterosexual
• Homosexual
• Bisexual
Does Biology Influence Sexual Orientation?
What the research tells us
• Higher percentage of identical twins of gay
men were also gay, compared to lower
percentage of fraternal twins of gay brothers
and even lower percentage of adoptive
brothers of gay men
• Similar pattern found for women
What conclusion can you develop from these
findings?
Sexual Behavior
Evolutionary theories
Specific sex-genes help men and women to produce
offspring
• For women: Number of surviving children will not
be enhanced by frequent sex with multiple
partners
• For men: Genes that encourage frequent, casual
sex would increase men’s number of offspringevolution led to more preference for causal sex
among men
Our culture supports double standard of sexuality
Sexual Minorities
Sexual minority
• Anyone who is not heterosexual, or who is
transgendered
Heteronormativity
• Situation where culture and institutions send
message that everyone who is normal is
heterosexual
Heterosexism or homophobia
• Bias directed at person because of sexual
orientation
Let’s Talk About It!
Same sex marriage
• What do you think is the future of samesex marriage in America?
• On what do you base your opinion?
QUESTION 4
How has sexual behavior changed in the
last 50 years?
Premarital Sex
Overview
• Increase in proportion of Americans have sex
before marriage
• American parents against teen children
having sex
Cohabitation
• Increasing numbers of young couples in
relationship living together as unmarried
couple
Hooking Up
• In recent decades sexual
activity in causal liaisons
with no expectation that a
relationship with ensue
• Do you think that hookups
often lead to relationships?
Gender Scripts
How much change has occurred in the
sexual and romantic behavior that are
scripted by gender?
• Sex before marriage has become more
acceptable
• Little change in gender differences in what is
expected in the romantic and sexual realm
• In hookups, women feel obligation to try to give
pleasure; men more selfish
Births Outside of Marriage
• Birth outside of marriage more common with
increase in all education, income, and racial
groups
• Highest rates occur among most disadvantaged
African Americans
• Reduction of stigma of pregnancy outside of
marriage related to acceptance of sex before
marriage
Generational Differences
• Younger generation more likely to have sex
before marriage, to have cohabited before
marriage, and to have more sexual partners
• Oral sex more accepted and appealing to
younger generation
• Married or cohabiting people reported more
frequent sex in the last year