(or what society thinks about those pesky genitalia)

 The social construction of gender
 Sociological perspectives on gender
 Sexism and sexual discrimination
 Women in the U.S. workforce

 Sex: the biological characteristics associated with men and women
 Gender: the social expectations associated with masculinity and femininity
 Gender roles: expectations regarding proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females
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We socially construct our behavior to create or exaggerate male-female differences
U.S. focuses on “masculine” and “feminine” characteristics

 Homophobia: fear of and prejudice against homosexuality
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Adults, older siblings, mass media, religious institutions, and educational institutions exert important influence
Parents are normally the first and most crucial agents of socialization
 Women and men’s gender roles are c reated in part by identifying with females and males in families, neighborhoods, and in the media
 Women experience a mandate to marry and become mothers

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Society defines men’s roles in terms of economic success
Brannon and Doyle: male gender role
 Antifeminite element
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Success element
Aggressive element
Sexual element
Self-reliant element
Increasing numbers of men in U.S. criticized restrictive aspects of traditional male gender role
 Multiple masculinities: men play variety of gender roles, including a nurturing-caring role and effeminate-gay role, in addition to traditional gender role of dominating women

 Anthropologists have documented highly diverse constructions of gender that do not always conform to out own ideals of masculinity and femininity
 There appear to be no innate or biologically determined gender roles for men and women

 Contributes to overall social stability
 Instrumentality: emphasis on tasks
 Expressiveness: maintenance of harmony and internal emotional affairs of family
 Dividing tasks between spouses was functional for the family as a unit

 Functionalist approach masks underlying power relations between men and women
 Relationships between females and males are traditionally one of unequal power
 View gender differences as reflection of subjugation of one group (women) by another group (men)

 Engels argued women’s subjugation coincided with rise of private property
 Many contemporary theorists view subordination as part of overall exploitation and injustice inherent in capitalist societies
 Matrix of domination: convergence of social forces that contribute to subordinate status of poor, nonwhite women
 Intersectionality

 Tend to examine gender stratification on micro level of everyday behavior
 We “do gender” by reinforcing traditionally masculine and feminine actions
 Clothes, expressions, the way we talk
 Continuing investigation of role of gender in crosssex conversations (crosstalk)

 Sexism: Ideology that one sex is superior to the other
 Individual acts of sexism and institutional sexism occur
 Sexual Harassment: Behavior that occurs when work benefits are made contingent on sexual favors or when touching lewd comments, or the appearance of pornographic material creates a hostile environment in the workplace
 Generally occurs between men and women
 Sexually harassment also often happens to homosexual men and women

 Gender bias limits women’s opportunities for employment outside of home and forces them to carry disproportionate burden inside the home
 Increased labor force participation
 Glass ceiling
 Clear gender gap in the performance of housework, although differences narrowing
 Second shift: work outside the home followed by child care and housework
 Triple shift: