Ch8: Gender Flashcards
Sex
Socially accepted, perceived biological differences that distinguish males from females
Gender
Social position. Behaviors and attitudes associated with sex identities.
Sexuality
Desire, sexual preference, and sexual identity and behavior
Essentialist views on gender
Explaining social phenomena in terms of natural, biological, or evolutionary inevitabilities. Views gender traits as innate and unchanging, determined by biological sex.
Social Constructivist Views on Gender
Gender as cultural and social construct
Hegemonic Masculinity
Condition in which men are dominant and privileged, and this is invisible.
Feminism
Movement that aims to get people to understand that gender is an organizing principle in society and to address gender-based inequalities
Patriarchy
System involving the subordination of femininity to masculinity
Sex Role Theory (Parsons)
Men and women perform their sex roles as breadwinners and wives/mothers because the nuclear family is the ideal arrangement in modern societies, fulfilling the function of reproducing workers.
Tautological. Explains the existence in terms of its function.
Matrix of Domination (Collins)
Intersecting domains of oppression create a social space of domination and a unique position within that space based on someone’s intersectional identity along the multiple dimensions of age, race, class, sexuality, location, etc.
Sexism
Judgement, discrimination on the basis of sex/gender
Gender Discrimination
Unfair treatment because of gender identity or gendered expectations surrounding perceived sex
Sexual Harassment
Illegal form of discrimination revolving around sexuality that can go from inappropriate jokes, to sexual “barter”, to sexual assault
Glass Ceiling
Invisible limit on women’s climb up the occupational ladder
Glass Escalator
Accelerated promotion of men to the top of a work organization, especially in feminized jobs
