#43-63 for Final Exam: Gender and Sex Flashcards
(12 cards)
What does it mean to differentiate gender, sex, and sexuality and treat them as social constructions?
it involves understanding that while they all refers to human behavior and identity, they are influenced a lot by cultural, social, historical, and political contexts rather than
being biologically fixed or determined
What is heteronormativity?
The idea that heterosexuality (and being cisgendered) is the default/standard. It’s due to the societal norms and institutions that give a lot more visibility, importance, and validity to heterosexuality than any other sexual orientation or identity.
What’s the issue with dichotomization? what does it imply?
Dichotomization is the act of dividing things into 2 distinct opposing groups. And while it helps with simplicity and clarity, it’s an issue because it tends to force complex and multifaceted ideas and concepts into a binary framework, which leaves out any nuance or ambiguity that the concept may and probably have
for ex/ the simple categories of gender identity being “male” and “female” that society has set up to make things easy, fails to capture the differences and complexities of individuals with other gender identities like non-binary, genderqueer, intersex, etc
Explain how sexuality and gender are social constructions
Sexuality as a social construction: societies establish norms about what is considered “acceptable” sexual behavior and identity and these norms shift and change overtime. the recognition and acceptance of more sexual orientations and identities now is mainly shaped by historical, legal, and cultural influences rather than coming only from biology
Gender as a social construction: it refers more to the behaviors, expectations, and identities society assigns to ppl based on their assumed sex. the norms and roles on “what it means to be a man/woman” is different across cultures and historical periods, meaning it’s not fixed or from biology
What do the terms intersex and transgender mean?
Intersex - refers to anyone born w/ both “male” and “female” characteristics; they may identify w/ the either the male/female sex category terms or “non-conforming” or “non-binary” to show their resistance to conform
Transgender - refers to anyone whose current identity doesn’t align with the gender role/identity linked w/ their assigned sex
what do the terms two-spirited and hijras mean?
They are both more alternative gender identities that some ppl identify w/
Two-spirited - an umbrella term in the Indigenous community to those who identify with one of the many gender roles beyond male and female
ex/ The Navaho ppl recognize four genders: the term “nadleehi” to describe male-bodied two-spirit ppl, the term “dilbaa” to describe female-bodied two-spirit ppl, and the term “Ninauposkitzipxpe” meaning ‘manly-hearted’ ppl
Hijras - term for a third gender in Asia; (neither man nor woman or transitioning) has played important roles for over 2000 yrs; responsibilities at birth and marriages
What are some ways that society is organized in a gendered manner?
-In malls, clothing stores are organized through the gender identity binary of men’s and women’s clothes
-In the education system, ppl according their assumed assigned sex, are pushed to pursue different career paths; students whose assigned sex and gender identities are male are usually pushed to pursue more STEM fields, while students whose assigned sex and gender identities are female are pushed toward more humanities and care-giving fields. It’s due to the expectations that women are more fit for nurturing and service jobs, while men (seen as supposedly smarter and stronger) are fit more for STEM, construction, lawyers, etc.
How does relations of power and inequality affect gender and sexuality? (think about patriarchal and other normative structures)
- In terms of the patriarchal system, power and inequality stem from the idea of power mostly by held by men over women, and it influences a lot of the ways society structures roles and responsibilities surrounding gender and sex; traits such as assertiveness, rationality, and control are associated with masculinity because of it, so male dominance gets more reinforced in spaces, while femininity was seen as under it, it got more associated with traits like nurture, passiveness, and supportiveness.
-Other normative structures like the education system, family, and law reinforce these patriarchal-stemmed gender roles to maintain normative standards. In the education system, boys are pushed toward more STEM fields careers, while girls are pushed toward caregiving/taking and humanities careers; in family, the man is seen as the head of the house and breadwinner, while the woman has more of a domestic and emotional labor role
Why are examples of “boys will be boys” harmful, yet continuously perpetuated?
The examples are harmful because it excuses their behavior by suggesting that toxic traits like aggression, recklessness, and abuse are inherently apart of men, so they can’t be held accountable for their actions. When misbehavior is shrugged off as natural, it creates no room for behaviour change and growth, which makes it more likely to occur in more instances.
What is intersectionality?
It’s a framework for understanding how diff systems of power and forms of oppression (like racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, etc) overlap to shape individual and collective experiences w/ marginalization
Who was the thinker behind intersectionality? How does intersectionality help us understand social problems more clearly?
It was developed by Kimberle Crenshaw in the late 80s, and it helps us understand social problems better because from the overlaps, we can see how different inequalities can exist when other factors of one’s identity are included
How does the case of Emma DeGraffenreid illustrate intersectionality?
The case was that, Emma DeGraffenreid, an African-American woman sued the company, General Motors, that she was fired from (as well as four or five other black women) for discrimination against their race and gender. But the case was dismissed w/ the explanation that the company hired white women and black men, so in their minds, they didn’t understand how they were discriminating against race or gender. The case clearly shows how intersectionality works; by the overlap and combination of the identity markers of race and gender identity (in this case, black women) it showed a hidden reality of more specific individual experiences of discrimination.
