Chapter 8 - Constructing Gender, Sex and Sexuality

Question 1

Cisgender

Answer 1

People whose gender identities correspond with the sex assigned to them at birth

Question 2

Sex

Answer 2

Biological construct and is defined by our external genitalia, chromosomes, and internal reproductive organs.

Question 3

Intersex

Answer 3

1 in every 1,500 babies are not clearly biologically male or female.

Sometimes these biological characteristics result in ambiguous genitals, but other times, intersex conditions are evident only later in life

Question 4

Transgender

Answer 4

Concerns identity and is thus a social construct. Transgender people identify as a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth. They may or may not choose to have surgery but do not typically present themselves in a way that is traditional for their assigned sex.

Question 5

Gender

Answer 5

Unlike sex, is a social concept and must be taught to us and continually created by us through interactions with others. This process varies across time and cultures as our assumptions about men and women change, but gender and gender identity, or the way we define ourselves as women or men, exist in some form or another in every society.

Question 6

Gender: Structural Functionalist Perspective

Answer 6

Structural functionalists typically equate sex and gender and see men and women as essentially different and complementary. Men play instrumental roles in society, being leaders and breadwinners, and women play expressive roles, supporting men and providing nurturance for children and the elderly.

Structural functionalists assume that these complementary roles contribute to order and stability in society and ignore the unfairness and inequalities inherent in this perspective.

Dominant perspective from the 1940s into the 1960s.

Question 7

Gender: Conflict Perspective

Answer 7

Conflict theorists who study gender are referred to as feminist theorists.

Analyze examine the seven institutions—family, religion, economy, education, government, health care, and media—and how they influence our lives through their unequal distribution of resources to each gender, the roles they assign to girls and boys and women and men, and the messages they convey.

Question 8

Gender: Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Answer 8

Focus on the gender socialization lessons we learn as children, that is, how we define and present ourselves as boys and girls and, later in life, as men and women.

Sociologists who study socialization see gender as socially created rather than biologically based but assume that gender is difficult to modify once we have learned it.

assume that gender is social, fluid, and, to some extent, chosen by individuals—but that choice is constrained by cultural norms. It is very hard not to follow the gender norms of our society, because the penalties can be harsh if we violate our culture’s rules about the definitions of masculinity and femininity.

Question 9

Gender: Social Constructionist

Answer 9

Symbolic interactionists who place emphasis on the ways we actively create our genders.

These theorists argue that we create or “do” gender on the basis of what we think is appropriate for our “chosen” gender in a given context

Question 10

Gender as Social Structure

Answer 10

A recently developed theory provides us with an inclusive and overall view of how gender operates in our lives. Barbara Risman (2004) argues that gender should be studied as a social structure itself, just as we would study race or social class. She explains that instead of choosing one perspective on gender over another, we should make use of all of them as we seek to understand gendered behavior

Question 11

Gender as social structure

Answer 11

Barbara Risman

Theory emphasizes that gender incorporates socialization, social interactions, institutions, and organizations and that these are all dimensions of every society’s gender structure.

We learn gender when we are children, but also as we interact with others over our lifetimes—resulting in structural (institutionalized) disadvantages for women.

Question 12

Gender socialization

Answer 12

The process by which we learn to be a man or a woman in our particular place and time.

Question 13

Learning Gender in School

Answer 13

Part of the hidden curriculum or the latent functions of our schools.

The hidden curriculum consists of the attitudes, behaviors, and values the educational system transmits outside the formal curriculum.

In elementary school, when girls and boys are asked to line up separately or encouraged to compete against one another in classroom contests, the lesson is clear: Boys and girls are different.

Question 14

Peers, Gender Socialization, and Sexualities.

Answer 14

Gender socialization continues during high school, and our peers are powerful agents of socialization.

Question 15

Gender scripts

Answer 15

Expectations for behavior appropriate for our assigned genders can be harsh.

Question 16

C. J. Pascoe’s book Dude, You’re a Fag

Answer 16

(2007, 2011) now classic.

Describes the strict adherence to gender scripts boys must embrace and the penalty of failing to reject any stereotypical feminine behavior.

Question 17

Gender segregation in the workplace

Answer 17

The practice of labeling certain fields of employment as for either men or women—has led to relatively few women in high-paying jobs. Many women also face a gender wage gap, earning less than men for the same work.

The U.S. labor force continues to be segregated by gender. There has been no significant change in the extent of gender segregation since the 1990s

Question 18

Sexuality

Answer 18

Refers to our emotional and physical attraction to a particular sex.

The categories for sexualities include:

heterosexual/straight (attracted to a different sex)
homosexual/gay/lesbian (attracted to members of one’s own sex)
bisexual (attracted to both sexes)
asexual (not attracted to either sex)

You probably know the acronym LGBT (originally signifying lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual people). As more non–heterosexual/straight people have gained recognition (e.g., those who are asexual and/or intersex), people began to add additional letters (e.g., LGBTQAI+ for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and all other people who are not heterosexual/heterosexual/straight).

Most people, however, now use the shorter LGBT when referring to everyone included under the longer and more cumbersome LGBTQAI+ label.

Question 19

Gender segregation

Answer 19

Prevents some people from doing work they would be good at and would enjoy. That hurts both individuals and society as a whole.

Question 20

The Gender Wage Gap

Answer 20

Has not decreased very much since the 1990s.

Women who work full-time earn on average between 80 and 83 cents for every dollar men earn.

The gender wage gap varies by race and ethnicity, with Asian women earning 75 percent of what Asian men make and White women earning 82 percent of the wages of White men.

The wage gap between Black women and Black men and Hispanic women and Hispanic men is somewhat smaller (with the women earning, respectively, 93 percent and 87 percent of the men’s wages).

Question 21

The glass ceiling

Answer 21

The unofficial barrier women and minorities face when trying to advance to the upper levels of an organization. The glass ceiling is called “glass” because it is invisible and not openly acknowledged. There are no formal rules that say that women cannot advance.

Question 22

Sexual harassment

Answer 22

Legally defined as verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature when the harassment creates a hostile work environment or when the victim’s advancement at work is affected