Gender and Social Divisions

Question 1

sex

Answer 1

the biological distinction between males and females

Question 2

gender

Answer 2

• the social aspects of differences and hierarchies between male and female
• social construct
• traditionally described on a masculinity/femininity spectrum

Question 3

gender norms

Answer 3

• social and cultural attitudes/expectations about the behaviors, preferences, knowledges, etc. that are appropriate for women v. men v. gender-diverse individuals

Question 4

gender identities

Answer 4

• how individuals/groups perceive and present themselves in relation to gender norms

Question 5

gender relations

Answer 5

• how we interact with people and institutions in the world around us, based on gender identity

Question 6

gender socialization

Answer 6

• learning of gender roles appropriate for the particular culture or society

Question 7

“doing” gender

Answer 7

• West and Zimmerman
• person’s gender is not just an aspect of what one is, but is something that one does recurrently in interaction with others
• performative… gender is imposed on us

Question 8

gender order

Answer 8

• ways in which societies shape the notions of masculinity and femininity into power relationships
• works through a gender regime (institutional structures)

Question 9

patriarchy

Answer 9

• “the rule of fathers”
• social organization form in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women
• supported by particular gender norms

Question 10

masculinities

Answer 10

• dominant (hegemonic): set of socially-constructed preconceptions around what it means to be a real man
• complicit, marginalized, and subordinate are other forms

Question 11

femininities

Answer 11

• no femininity exists that is hegemonic in the same sense as dominant/hegemonic masculinity
• emphasized: standard/conventional form of female behavior… focus on caring/beauty, submission to males, emotion (princess, mother, virgin)
• new, pariah, ‘hegemonic’ femininities

Question 12

challenging gender binaries

Answer 12

• masculinity-femininity spectrum utilizes categories that reinforce stereotypes about women/men, ignoring outside-of-tradition gender binaries
• any given individual might experience configurations that aren’t traditional

Question 13

other gender identities

Answer 13

• transgender: umbrella term, describes a range of identities like those whose gender identity differs from that associated with assigned sex at birth
• cisgender: describes individuals whose self-identified gender matches their birth sex assignment
• others refuse the concept of gender as binary altogether

Question 14

gender inequalities

Answer 14

• refer to disparities between individuals based on their gender
• such as… paid work, housework, health, politics, violence, sexuality, etc.