SEX & GENDER
SEX AND GENDER
 Sex
 Largely defined in biological terms
 Male – Female
 Gender
 Largely defined in social/cultural terms
 Masculine – Feminine
“Being female may be biological and thus unavoidable,
but being woman is cultural and therefore changeable”.
– Ricki Wilchins
ROLES AND PERFORMANCE
 Gender role: The patterns of socially defined
behaviors and expectations, associated with being
female or male
 Gender Theorists:
 West & Zimmerman: “doing gender”
 Butler: “performativity”
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= CU040Hqbas&feature=related
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av -4OFRj2LQ
HOW DO WE PERFORM GENDER?
 Attire
 Language
 Interests
 Gender is realized through interaction!
 It’s not what we are, it’s what we do .
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES ON GENDER
 Structural functionalism suggests social roles are better
suited to one gender than the other; divisions and
differences lead to stability.
 Conflict theory suggests that men have historically had
access to most of society’s material resources and
privileges.
 Patriarchy refers to male domination over women in all
aspects of a society.
 Symbolic interactionism suggests that gender identities
arise through our everyday interactions, such as
performativity.
WHAT IS SEXUALIT Y?
 L.G.B.T. = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Trans(gender/sexual).
 Identity related to our sexual desires
FORMS OF IDENTIT Y
 “Gender-Normative”
 Transgender –no surgery/hormones
 Transsexual –surgery/hormones
 Transvestite –“Drag Queen”
 Intersex –“hermaphrodite”
 Genderqueer
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= yAHCqnux2fk
DRAG
 “ We’re born naked and the rest is drag”.
SEXUAL DIVERSIT Y IN NATURE
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Multiple-sexed organisms (fish)
Dif ference in body size
Who gives birth (geese)
Chromosomal Diversity (chickens)
Multiple-gendered species (primates)
Lack of appearance dif ferentiation
Who lactates (bats)
Homosexuality in nature
Females with penises?!?!
SEXISM
 Sexism: the belief that there are innate psychological,
behavioral, and/or intellectual differences between
women and men and that these differences connote the
superiority of one group and the inferiority of the other
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= yyDUC1LUXSU
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= tC1XtnLRLPM
GENDER & WORK
 The second shift refers to the unpaid housework and
childcare often expected of women after they complete a
day of paid labor.
 There is a definitive gender pay gap in the U.S. where the
average full-time female worker earns only 77% of what
a full-time male worker makes.
 The feminization of poverty refers to the economic trend
that women are more likely than men to live in poverty.
 There is a sharp division of gendered jobs; those jobs
that are labeled as strictly for women are referred to as
pink-collar jobs.
FEMINISM & INTERSECTIONALIT Y
 A feminist is a person who believes in the social,
political, and economic equality between the sexes.
 The concept of intersectionality suggests that our
race, class, gender, and sexuality are interconnected
aspects of our identities.
 Identity Conflict
 Matrix of Domination
INEQUALITIES
 Institutionalized discrimination
 Glass ceiling: invisible barrier that prevents women from moving up
the corporate ladder
 Laws
 Religion
 Double standards
 A standard that is used to measure
one gender and/or sex differently than
another
 Sexual activity
 Female authority
MASCULINIT Y
 Masculinity is largely defined in OPPOSITION to
femininity
 Boys and men “should” continuously distance
themselves from anything considered feminine and
follow a heterosexual imperative.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc45 -ptHMxo
 Can we change masculinity for the better?
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRRBvrZpKZo
MASCULINIT Y
 Homosexuality is framed as the antithesis of
masculinity, thus Homophobia not just anti-gay but
also anti-woman.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZxRDAREjD4
CLASS ACTIVITIES
 In 1 minute, write down 5 things you did to gender yourself
before you left your house this morning.
The WALK:
1.
One male-bodied and man-identified individual and one femalebodied and woman-identified individual needs to volunteer.
1.
The woman is going to “walk like a man” and the man is going to
“walk like a woman”. The rest of the class will “coach” the person
walking, giving them instructions and suggestions to “improve”
their performance and and make it more believable.