Ch12.1 and 12.2: gender Flashcards
sex
refers to physical or physiological differences between males and females, including both primary and secondary sex characteristics (biological and physical distinctions)
gender
refers to social or cultural distinctions and roles associated with being male or female (sustained and recognized by others) (core status)
gender identity
the extent to which one identifies as being either masculine or feminine
Margaret Mead’s cross cultural research in New Guinea in 1930s
demonstrated that cultures differ markedly in the ways that they perceive the gender “temperments” of men and women
berdache
“two spirit person” term used by anthropologists in the past to refer to individuals who occasionally or permanently dressed and lived as the opposite gender
third gender
“Fa’afafine” which translates to “the way of the woman” is a term used to describe individuals who are born biologically male but embody both masculine and feminine traits
sexuality
refers to a person’s capacity for sexual feelings and their emotional and sexual attraction to a particular sex
heterosexuality
the attraction to opposite sex
homosexuality
the attraction to one’s own sex
bisexuality
the attraction to either sex
asexuality
no attraction to either sex
heteronormativity
the belief and practice that heterosexuality is the only normal sexual orientation
Alfred Kinsey’s continuum of sexuality
- among the first to conceptualize sexuality as a continuum rather than a strict dichotomy of gay or straight
- created a six-point rating scale ranging from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual
homosocial
coined by Eve Kosofsky, describing nonsexual same-sex relations to oppose homosexual, expanding on Kinsey’s notion, it was noted that males have clear divided between two sides of the continuum whereas females have more fluidity
homophobia
an extreme or irrational aversion to homosexuals
gender roles
refers to society’s concept of how men and women are expected to act and behave
gender identity
an individual’s self-conception of being male or female based on his or her association with masculine or feminine gender roles
cisgendered
individuals who identify their gender with the gender and sex they were assigned at birth
transgendered
individuals who identify with the gender that is opposite of their biological sex
transsexuals
transgendered individuals who wish to alter their bodies through medical interventions to better align with their gender identity (surgery and hormonal therapy)
cross-dressing
a form of self-expression, entertainment, or personal style, not necessarily an expression of gender identity
hypothesis as to why people are homosexual
suggest biological factors such as genetics, prenatal hormones levels, as well as social and cultural factors, like childhood and adulthood experiences could be possible factors
organizations that help, prevent, respond to violence against transgendered, transsexual, and homosexuals
- the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH)
- Trans Pulse
- the National Center for Trans Equality
dominant gender schema
- an ideology that serves to perpetuate inequalities in power and status
- states there is only two sexes
- one of the fundamental organizing principle that maintains the dominant societal order
schema
a cultural distinction that is imposed upon the diversity of world
Anne Fausto-Sterling
argues that a body’s sex is too complex to fit within the obligatory dual sex system
intersex
individuals with a mixture of male and female sexual organs or physical characteristics
herms
true hermaphrodites with both male and female gonads (testes and ovaries)
merms
male pseudo-hermaphrodites with testes and a mixture of sexual organs
ferms
female pseudo-hermaphrodites with ovaries and a mixture of sexual organs
gender display
conventionalized portrayals of the culturally established correlates of sex
patriarchy
the set of institutional structures (property rights, access to positions of power, relationship to sources of income) which are based on the belief that men and women are dichotomous and unequal categories
scripts
written by society that expect women and men to behave according to the expectations of their respective gender role, generally learned through socialization (children are socialized to become aware of gender roles by age two or three)
stereotypes
oversimplified notions about members of a group
gender stereptying
overgeneralizing about the attitudes, traits, or behaviour patterns of women or men
sexism
refers to prejudiced beliefs that value one sex over another
institutional discrimination
discrimination that is built into social structure which many sociologists tend to focus on
gender socialization occurs through what four major agents
family, education, peer groups, and mass media, each reinforcing gender roles by creating normative expectations for gender-specific behaviour
stratification
refers to a system in which groups of people experience unequal access to basic, yet highly valuable, social resources
George Murdock
state that all societies classify work by gender, found jobs assigned to men were given greater prestige
culture universal
when a pattern appears in all societies
four reasons for gender gap in wages
- gender discrimination in hiring and salary
- concentrated in unequally paid jobs
- unequal distribution of domestic duties
- women’s work are undervalued
history of power relations based on gender in Canada
- before 1859, married women were not allowed to own or control property
- before 1909, abducting a women who was not an heiress was not a crime
- before 1918, women were not permitted to vote (women’s right to vote was taken away in New France in 1849)
- before 1929, women were not legally considered “persons”
- before 1953, employers could legally pay a women lass than a man for the same work
- before 1969, women did not have the right to a safe and legal abortion
structural functionalist views on gender roles
- gender roles within marriage is functional as it was established well before the preindustrial era when men go out and women take care of the home, and passed onto subsequent generations as an effective means to keep family functioning properly
Talcott Parsons’s view on gender roles
argued that the contradiction between occupational roles and kinship roles of men and women created tension or strain on individuals as they tried to adapt to the conflicting norms or requirements
glamour girl pattern
the use of specifically feminine devices as an instrument of compulsive search for power and exclusive attention
critical sociology views on gender roles
- view men as the dominant group and women the subordinate
- social problems and contradictions are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress subordinate groups
- suggests that when women become wage earners, they can gain power and create more democratic arrangement in the home
Friedrich Engels’ study on family structure and gender roles
1880s, suggested same owner-worker relationship seen in labour force is also seen in household
feminist theory views on gender roles
- uses critical approach to examine the maintenance of gender roles and inequalities
- radical feminism considers the role of the family in perpetuating male dominance
- women’s primary status is defined by private and domestic roles while men are defined by their public activities and occupation
bifurcated consciousness
Dorothy Smith, the experience of a division between the directly lived, bodily world of women’s lives and the dominant, masculine, abstract, institutional world to which they must adapt
matriarchies
where women are the dominant group (women and men tend to work cooperatively rather than competitively, men do not experience bifurcated consciousness)
symbolic interactionist approach on gender roles
- how people react or act differently based on others’ gender (masculinity and femininity)
- shift in symbolic meaning in family structure (working mom)
Charles Horton Cooley’s “looking-glass self” theory on gender roles
- we are who others perceived us to be
- when people perform tasks or possess characteristics based on the gender role assigned to them, they are said to be doing gender
Which of the following is the best example of a “gender panic” as defined in the article “Bathroom Battlegrounds and Penis Panics”?
A group of parents becomes outraged when a school announces that non-binary students can request teachers use the pronoun “they” instead of “he” or “she.”
Which is the socialization perspective limiting?
- It does not fully account for variations of gender norms in different institutional contexts
- It does not consider change throughout a person’s life
- It assumes passivity in children
