Exam 1: The social construction of gender Flashcards
Define gender attribution? How does it work?
The interactional process of reading the many different cues people present in order to decide whether someone is a woman or a man
What does the text mean by “seeing gender?”
to reveal the ways in which gender works, which are not always apparent on the surface of our lives
Know the sociological definition of gender.
Gender is our cultural interpretations of a social practices associated with not caused or determined by our biological system of sexual reproduction.
What does it mean to refer to gender as a social and cultural construct? Be able to identify examples.
What does the social construction of gender refer to? Be able to apply the concept.
Define cultural genitalia.
The outward performance of gender that is assumed to match up with biological genitalia
Know the four areas of evidence that support the social constructionist approach and give an example from each area.
a. Understand how historical and cross-cultural comparisons commonly used to
support the social constructionist perspective.
- Sex and gender are social creations
– Sexual dimorphism is not true
*Intersex
*Transgender
*History
*culture
–Gender produces sex
–Gender shapes biology
Compare and contrast the biosocial approach and social construction approach to gender.
What are their key similarities and differences?
a. For ex., the biosocial perspective argues that sex indicates the existence of two different kinds of people—male and female.
b. The social constructivist approach suggests biological differences can be influenced by social reality.
–Sexual dimorphism
–Sex precedes gender
–Sex produces gender
–Sex limits gender
–Intersex and transgender must fit into male/female categories
Define sexual dimorphism. How is this concept central to the biosocial approach? How have social constructivists challenged sexual dimorphism?
The belief that there are two discrete biological and objectively real categories called male and female.
Does the text and readings generally embrace a biosocial perspective on gender? i.e., do
the authors argue that contemporary gender differences are a product of evolutionary
processes such as natural selection? If not, why?
Know what the Thomas Theorem/Principle is and how to apply it to gender.
“If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”. Take categories of race as an example: Anthropologists and biologies have definitively shown that there is no biological basis for what we think of as racial categories.
What is self-fulfilling prophecy? How does it relate to gender? Be able to identify examples.
According to the lecture, what is the difference between gender identity, gender expression, sex, and sexual orientation?
Define intersex. How do intersex individuals pose a challenge to conventional binary beliefs about sex and gender?
Anne Fausto-Sterling suggested five sex categories instead of two. Know what Fausto-Sterling meant by this and the differences.
