Ch 1. Doing Gender Flashcards
The study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performances (ex. we are always performing our status/gender/role to present ourselves to others)
Dramaturgical Analysis
the process by which people act and react in relation to others (through interaction, we create and reinforce the reality we perceive)
Gendered Social Interaction
social position in society with expected ways of behaving
Status
any relatively stable pattern of social behaviour
Social Structure
An individual’s efforts to create specific impressions in the minds of others (impression management)
The Presentation of Self
Gender as…
- biology vs gender as socialization
- from social interaction
- an institution
- a result of social structure
- an integrative approach to gender
Ways of Theorising about Gender
As an institution, gender is embedded in all social processes in everyday life
gender as a social institution
Persist over time and space
Characteristic of groups
Includes social practices
Constraints and facilitates practices
Includes expectations
Is rife with conflict
Dynamic
Organized by those with power
Occurs at different levels of analysis
Characteristics of a Social Institution
The idea of gender performance is based on the symbolic interaction paradigm. Gender is so deeply ingrained in our societies, we can’t help but perform gender in our interactions.
Gender as Social Interaction: Doing Gender (West & Zimmerman)
“managing occasions so that whatever the particulars, the outcome is seen and seeable in context as gender-appropriate” is a definition of…
Doing Gender
when we don’t know the person’s sex, we place people in these categories based on outward appearances - a lot of which are socially constructed. What is this called?
Sex Category
Suggests that gender is a socially constructed stratification system and that gender is deeply embedded in our social structures and provides the foundation for stratification.
Gender as a Social Structure
we have agency/choice within society of how we present ourselves as male/female in society BUT…
…we only have choice within a structure/bounds. (gender as a social structure)
An integrative approach to understanding gender realises that social structures shape us but we also shape and alter social structures whether…
intentionally or unintentionally
Differences are more often representative of the social context and the roles assigned by…
…society than the different gender (ex. men as breadwinners and women as relational/caregiver)
