Gender Identity

Question 1

Define sex

Answer 1

Refers to the biological deference between men and women

Question 2

Define gender identity

Answer 2

An individuals own sense of their gender. Their private sense of whether they feel masculine, feminine, both, or neither, irrespective of their biological sex

Question 3

Define gender

Answer 3

Refers to the cultural differences between sexes. It’s to do with social norms surrounding masculinity and femininity.

Question 4

What is the feminist view of gender identity?

Answer 4

They believe gender is a social construct.
They argue that gender identity is constructed by the patriarchal society

Question 5

What does a contemporary feminist believe about gender identity?

Answer 5

They criticise the binary opposition between males and females, arguing that every aspect of sex and gender are sliding scales rather than opposites

Question 6

Stratham (1986)

Answer 6

By the age of 5, most children have acquired a clear gender identity. They know what gender they belong to and they have a clear idea of what constitutes appropriate behaviour for that gender.

Question 7

Hey

Answer 7

Studied friendship groups among teenage girls and looked at the power the female group has to enforce patriarchy

Question 8

Ann Oakley

Answer 8

do we socialise our children into gender roles?

1) manipulation- rewarding/discouraging behaviour if it’s appropriate to the specific gender

2) canalisation- parents direct children’s interests into toy play activities that are seen as appropriate for that sex

3) domestic activities- e.g girls do housework and boys clean the cars

4) verbal appellations- parents use stereotypical masculine/feminine language

Question 9

Connell (1995)

Answer 9

Range of masculine identities:

1) hegemonic- macho, dominant, aggressive, breadwinner. Seen as only real masculinity

2) subordinate masculinity- homosexual males

3) marginalised masculinity- unemployed men

Question 10

Canaan (1996)

Answer 10

Unemployed men felt that jobs defined their identity

Question 11

Mac an Ghaill (1994)

Answer 11

Crisis of masculinity

Boys are socialised into thinking that they must have a job and be breadwinning for the family. But, there has been a decline in working class ‘masculine jobs’ which previously defined their self-identity

Question 12

Wilson (1975)

Answer 12

Men need to ‘spread their seed’ whilst women need to nurture

Question 13

Faludui (1999)

Answer 13

Men behave badly towards women (domestic and sexual violence) as a result of the rise of feminism ‘it’s their one remaining power’

Successful women are blamed for a range of social problems