1 - Gender and stereotypes Flashcards
What is the difference between sex and gender?
Sex: A biological category: Men (XY) and Women (XX) and Other
Gender: Refers to the social categories of male and female; These categories are distinguished from one another by a set of psychological features and role attributes that society has assigned to the biological category of sex
When people say that “gender is a social construct” they are usually referring to…
Gender roles
→ to say it’s a construct, doesn’t mean they aren’t real
→ to say it is a construct, means they are made up by people in society, it’s not a physical law of the universe
What are gender stereotypes?
- They are generalized beliefs and attitudes about masculinity and femininity
→ Including psychological traits and characteristics
→ p.ex: men are more aggressive, women are better at supporting others, etc.
→ As well as the activities appropriate to men or women
→ p.ex: “it makes sense that men are better at CEO positions because they’re more aggressive/assertive” - The stereotypes we have are often associated to biology, when they are in reality coming from society
What is the doctrine of 2 spheres?
- The belief that men and women have inherently different interests
- Arose in the early 1800s during the Industrial Revolution
- Previously agrarian and very egalitarian, now Men were taking jobs in town while Women became responsible for the home and childcare
→ this then became the norm
→ the men’s sphere is work, money and power, while women’s sphere was at the home
What is the cult of true womanhood?
- In the 1820, 1860s
- Glorified the Victorian image of women
- Combination of piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity
- Provided the promise of happiness and power to the Victorian woman
→ with control of the house, that is how she had happiness and power
→ Without these, no woman’s life could have real meaning (because that was their sphere)
→ anything outside of these characteristics were deemed unladylike
What are the 4 cardinal virtues of the cult of true womanhood.
1) Piety: more natural to women than men; Religious studies are compatible with femininity. Other studies, including (gasp) romantic (fiction) novels, would surely lead to ruin
→ they couldn’t teach religion, but to study it was expected
2) Women were fundamentally uninterested in sex but were vulnerable to seduction
- The loss of “purity” was a fate worse than death. Such a woman was without value or hope.
→ thus, as women were seen as “pure creatures” when lesbians lived together, there was no worry, but when 2 men lived together, it became a problem because they were the ones to seduce
3) Submissiveness: Women were weak, dependant and timid
- Men must never be weak, they always had to be strong, wise and forceful. Men should also never be sensitive, chicks hate that. They were the boss of the house
4) Domesticity: Your job was to make the home, be the light of the house, make babies, care for babies, care for the sick (especially sick men and babies)
What are the 4 themes that defined the male sex role identity?
1) No sissy stuff: Anything girly is bad
- anything can become “girly” once women start doing them
→ p.ex: men used to be the teachers, now it is a predominantly feminine job (because it seems weird and unmanly to want to spend time with children who aren’t his)
2) The Big Wheel: Success! Status!
- men have to be focused on success and strive to it, they can’t be happy with where they are, they have to be after more
3) Give ‘Em Hell: Aggression, violence, and daring are always a plus in any situation
- notion that if there’s something that’s blocking you, you attack it
- aggression is the default answer to problems
4) The Sturdy Oak: Toughness, confidence, and self- reliance
- should not need to ask for help, should not know vulnerability
Give examples of some characteristics which are prescribed by gender roles but are maladaptive for men.
- p.ex: men automatically being aggressive instead of trying to reason
- p.ex: men never asking for help when depressed
True or false: Violating gender roles has worse consequences for women than men.
False: Because society can appreciate a woman who wants to become a CEO but will see a man who wants to stay home while his wife works as bad
What is an intra-role conflict? Give some examples.
This is when your social category seems to expect two different things from you
- For example, a university student is expected by society to study. A student is also expected to go out late and party. If there is a party the night before an exam, the student will have some intra-role conflict
- Similarly, men are expected to be independent but also successful. So what do they do when they need help to succeed?
→ according to his gender role, he shouldn’t be asking for help, but humans generally do better in group settings
- Women are expected to be emotional and express their feelings, but also be sensitive to the needs of others. So what if they need to express that someone else is making them unhappy?
→ We all exist in many different roles; Daughter, son, friend, partner, parent, teacher, student, your job, your hobbies, your position in different groups, etc.
What is an inter-role conflict? Give some examples.
This is when your social categories expect two different things from you.
- As a lawyer and as a woman…
→ you are expected to have masculine behaviours in order to win cases, yet in order to be promoted for example, you need to be seen as more feminine
- As a kindergarten teacher and as a man…
- As a police officer and as a woman…
- As a student and as a man…
→ because men are supposed to know everything and not need to ask for help
True or false: Both genders are more likely to endorse proverbs that showed the tenuous nature of manhood compared to womanhood.
True: Both male and female college students were more likely to agree with proverbs such as “Manhood is hard won and easily lost” than “Womanhood is hard won and easily lost.”
→ the idea that manhood is something that you have to constantly maintain while womanhood is easy to obtain
True or false: Women feel more anxious than men when their gender role is threatened.
False: It is the other way around
- Students took a knowledge test and were told that they either scored very close to those of their same sex (no threat condition) or close to those of the other sex (threat condition). Men showed more anxiety following the threat than no threat condition, whereas women’s anxiety was not influenced by condition
Gender is something that people ___, not ___ (full end of sentence)
Do; not part of what they are
What is hegemonic masculinity?
- Our society has this one main masculinity
- It is everywhere and controls everything, it’s a solid concept)
→ This is held as superior to femininity as well as other types of masculinity
→ p.ex male homosexuality is more masculine than femininity, but less than male heterosexuality
