Gender and Sexuality (Lecture 20&21) Flashcards
Sex
Distinguished by biological features (eg: chromosomes, ‘male’ and ‘female’)
Gender
Social and cultural ideas of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ behaviour
Vertical Differentiation
- Related to place in a hierarchy, or position of authority
* Men likelier to be managers, supervisors; women= less autonomy
Horizontal Differentiation
- Related to differences in careers of comparable prestige and pay
- Police officers, builders mostly men’ social workers, HR mostly women
Earning Gaps
Difference between average wage of women and of men, especially as seen when they do the same job
Glass Ceiling
Unofficial barrier to female promotion; whilst no rules forbid it, women often not promoted beyond a certain level, and blocked from rising
Sexual Harrassment
- Any form of bullying, pressure, intimidation focused on gender or sexuality of victim
- Constant comments on appearance, or unwanted sexual pressure
Unpaid Labour
- Work necessary for the family to operate and still predominantly carried out by women
- Includes housework, childcare, domestic work
Second Shift
Women are often expected to do a full-time job but also a ‘second’ job of housework– whilst their husbands relax on getting home
Emotional Labour
- The ‘work’ we have to do to control emotions and bring out the socially-accepted response, showing you ‘feel’ what you’re meant to feel
- Refers predominantly to jobs in which you ave present a certain positive emotion to customers
Double Ghetto
Women are exploited and excluded both AT HOME (where they must perform free labour) and AT WORK (where they’re often in low-paid, low-status, temporary jobs).
Sexism
Prejudice against one sex, belief that one sex is ‘superior’ in certain ways, or discrimination in favour of one sex. May include misogyny (hatred of women)
Patriarchy
- In the context of feminist theory, refer to the structures or systems of male domination
- Simply by virtue of gender, women are placed in relations of subordination and domination
Relations in State
Males dominate legislature; laws often have gender specific effects’ state reinforces male hegemony in civil society
Mode of Production
Women’s production took place in the household historically; focused on REPRODUCTION, not production
Relations in Paid Work
Women earn less than men, they do less paid and more unpaid work and they do different jobs
Relations in Sexuality
Female sexuality is treated as problematic– ‘the virgin or the whore’– in ways male is not
Relations in Cultural Institutions
Women are socialized in ways different from men; they learn gender-specific roles, defining femininity and masculinity in specific ways
Male Violence
Women are victims of rape, sexual assault, harassment, wife-beating; such crimes are not always punished
Legal Personality
- Recognition in law that you have rights and obligations of bringing legal cases to court etc..
- Historically, women didn’t have legal personhood– subject to coverture by husband
Suffrage
The right to vote, historically denied to women
Liberal Feminism
- Gender inequality is about LEGAL rights and political freedom
- If women have legal equality, access to education and employment, problem solves itself
Marxist feminism
- Gender inequality is like CLASS, based on male ownership of property
- Transformation of capitalist system to communism removes male power
Radical Feminism
- Men as a group always and inevitably benefit from domination of women, especially control of sexuality
- Direct action is necessary; possible dissociation from males completely
Socialist Feminism
- Criticizes both class (like Marxists) and control of sex (like radical feminism)
- Action is needed in a number of areas to counter patriarchy
Intersectionality
The interplay of gender, race, class, sexuality and other forms of inequality to create unique intersections of oppression
First- Wave Feminism (19th, early 20th century)
- Focus on DE IURE form of inequality; legal exclusion of women, lack of political and economic rights
- Removed legal barriers to women in politics, economy, and society. Won women legal rights
Second-Wave Feminism (1960s-1990s)
- Focus on DE FACTO inequality; position of women in workplace or family, violence against women etc..
- Won reproductive rights, protections, equality laws in workplace, outlawing of marital rape
Third-Wave Feminism (1980s-present)
- Emphasizes multiple experiences of female perspective, including class and race. Gender as performative, fluid
- Aims at individual expression and self-definition; multiple perspectives, no single ‘womanhood’
Sex Role Rigidity
Belief that male and female roles are ‘natural’ and thus unchangeable, so no blending possible
Gender Regimes
- Gender arrangements within smaller, localized settings (eg: family, school) rather than society as a whole
- Describes how specific roles in these setting shave gendered connotations (eg: wife must cook)
Gender Socialization
- The way children are taught socially-approved gender roles and identities
- Takes place in family, school, media etc..
Essentialism
- Belief in the unchangeable ‘essence’ or nature of something (eg: human nature)
- Any differences between genders explained by suppose inherent features of women
Gender Binarism
The general assumption that there are two and ONLY TWO possible manifestations of sex and gender; and that these are typically aligned
Heteronormativity
The expectation that sex, sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression should be ‘identical’, ‘conventionally’ aligned and social systems or structures that promote this alignment
Performativity
- Our genders and sexualities are ROLES that we play, acting according to socially-defined ideas of ‘male and female’ not inborn or ‘natural;
- Gender is non-binary; more than two possibilities
Appearance Norms
- Ideal standards of beauty in any society, to which we’re supposed to conform
- Wide variation across societies
Male Gaze
- Imaginary male onlooker who always judges women by masculine standards
- Conditions women to aspire to look good in the eyes of men
Objectification
Treating or portraying other people like inanimate objects, there to be used like tools, with no regard to their interests
Eternal Feminine
- Supposed essence of ‘pure female’ described in often-directly-contradictory ways by various male writers
- Treated as an almost magical quality
The Other
- In existential philosophy, the person you interact with as part of you self-realization
- Existence of Other confronts you with own limits
Slut Shaming
- Aggressive criticism of displays of female sexuality not condoned by males
- Particularly seen when blaming sexual assaults on the victims, for ‘asking for it’ by dress, behaviour etc..
Sexual Double Standard
Typically, men are rewarded and esteemed for sexual promiscuity, whilst women are stigmatized for the same behaviour
Homosociality
Socializing primarily or exclusively with people like you, particularly of the same gender
Sexual Scripts
The ‘accepted’ way to behave in sexual situations from who makes the first move and to what happens in bed
Paraphilia
Sexual attraction considered abnormal in any given society’ stigmatized and treated as abnormal or sign of illness
Kinsey Report (1947)
- Argued that Americans were much more sexually varied than previously believed
- Found hitherto-unadmitted prevalence of stigmatized behaviour such as oral sex, infidelity, extramarital sex etc..
- Introduced Heterosexual- Homosexual Scale of 0-6
Social Organization of Sexuality (1994)
- Argued that Americans were LESS sexually varied than Kinsey suggested; they still preferred monogamy in principle and practice
- However, confirmed that sexuality is socially constructed; most people sleep with those of similar class/ background
Biopower
- Foucault’s term for modern society’s use of science to control our lives and reproduction, encouraging us to stay alive as good workers
- Extends discipline to our very sexual organs
