Gender and Sexualities Flashcards
Sex vs. Gender
Sex: Biological differences between males and females
Gender: Attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that we commonly associate with each sex
Essentialists views on gender differences
- gender roles and identities develop naturally by biological differences
- ignores power and limits by just looking at “average” differences
Social Constructivism views on gender differences
- gender is socially constructed and varies historically
- inequality is reinforced through warfare, plough agriculture and separation of private and public spheres
Criticism of Essentialist Views
- ignores the historical and cultural variability
- ignores that gender differences have decreased
- generelizes from average
- exaggerates how gender differences are unchangeable
Main Agents on Gender Socialization
- families
- schools
- mass media
Gender Identity
- identification with, or a sense of belonging to, a particular sex, biologically, physically and socially
Gender Role
- comprises the repertoire of behaviours that match widely, shared expectations about how males and females are supposed to act
Queer Theory
- queer theorists challenge the idea of fixed sexual orientations
- “heterosexual” “gay” “lesbian”, are adopting official or socially acceptable labels that fail to capture fluidity and variability of actual identities
Sexuality
Actions intended to produce arousal (capacity for sexual feelings)
Sexual Orientation
The way a person derives sexual pleasure, and whether desirable partners are of the same or different sex
1) Heterosexual
2) Homosexual
1) The “norm” attracted to opposite sex
2) Attracted to those of the same sex
Intersex People
Do not fit conventional male or female sex categories
Ex. Do not fit the XX or XY chromosomes, or genitals, reproductive system, etc are not distinct to a sex
Transgender
- depart from normative roles about being men or women
- identify as opposite sex as one assigned at birth
