CHAPTER 10 Flashcards
FEAR OF GENDER THEORY
Fear of gender theory looks at how society’s fear and discomfort with non-traditional gender roles and identities affect people’s behaviors, attitudes, and laws. It explains why people who don’t fit traditional gender expectations often face discrimination and pressure to conform.
essentialism
based on objective, stable, and fixed biological (or inherent) differences between men and women, gender is expressed differently (and again dichotomously)
social constructionism
It is a sociological theory that suggests that our understanding of reality is shaped through social interactions and shared beliefs. According to this perspective, many aspects of our world, including concepts, norms, and identities, are not inherent or natural but are constructed through collective agreement and cultural practices.
PATRIARCHY
a system that privileges men as a group while exploiting and oppressing women and non-binary people
masculinity and femininity
institutionalized packages of qualities that are expected to be found in a typical man or a typical woman
hegemonic masculinity
a social construction of gender that in the North American context traditionally includes stereotypical behaviours an attitudes such as being strong, brave, rational
hegemonic femininity:
a social construction of a gender in the North American context traditionally includes stereotypical behaviors and attitudes such as being emotional, caring and nurturing
sexual orientation
a term used that indicates the gender(s) that an individual is attracted to
sexuality
refers to feelings of sexual desire and attraction
gender performativity
the idea that sex and gender are socially constructed and that we constantly repeat – or perform – the norms associated with our assigned gender identities in order to be understood as “coherent” and “normal”
