Gender & Sexuality

Question 1

sex

Answer 1

• Biological (nature)
• Anatomy, hormones, fertility
• Ascribed

Question 2

gender

Answer 2

• Cultural and social (nurture)
• Norms and values
• Achieved

Question 3

gender socialization

Answer 3

• Socialization is the process by which an individual learns to integrate into their culture
• Most of our social behaviour in society doesn’t operate on the differences of biological sex
• Rather, our social behaviour is mostly guided by gender which guides our basic social identities as either men and women, both of which are socially constructed
• Social expectations that are guided by these identities are called gender roles

Question 4

gender roles

Answer 4

• The social definition of men and women
• Expectations regarding the proper behaviour, attitudes, and activities of men and women
• They guide our everyday behaviour and interaction with others - “doing gender”
• Gender roles are achieved through socialization

Question 5

agents of gender socialization

Answer 5

• Family: gendered clothes (blue for boys, pink for girls); gendered toys (boys get trucks = power, strength; girls get dolls = self-preservation, nurturing) -> encourage different types of behaviour
• School: children’s books encourage gender roles (ie. Doctor characters are male, nurse characters are female); more male school sports teams (especially at college level)
• Peer group: doing gendered activities with friends (ie. Shopping for girls, playing video games for guy)
• Mass media: movies and TV - stereotypical female roles, female happiness dependent on men
• Workplace: “female” caregiver-style jobs vs. “male” non-emotional jobs
• State: most countries only have maternity leave

Question 6

consequences of living in a gendered world

Answer 6

• Men and women have different opportunities and access to resources
• In most societies, men enjoy a higher social position and economic power
• Contributes and maintains a patriarchal system

Question 7

patriarchy

Answer 7

A male-controlled system of power in which the males processes superior power and economic privilege

Question 8

gender inequality women experience

Answer 8

• Women have lower levels of education
• Women have lower earnings (wage gap) - women make 75 cents for every dollar a male makes
• Women are more likely to experience violence
• Women have less power in society

Question 9

why do women make less money than men?

Answer 9

• More men enter higher-paying STEM fields
• Females have less job opportunity, so lose any negotiation leverage; men are more likely to have mentors
• More men work full-time or run their own business

Question 10

why is it untrue that women experience inequality because “they’re biologically inferior”?

Answer 10

• Women live longer than men
• No difference has been shown in IQ
• Men and women can perform the same tasks
• Biological differences cannot account for social differences

Question 11

functionalist perspective on gender differences

Answer 11

• Gender differentiation contributes to social stability
• Men take on the instrumental role goal oriented task, concerns for external relationship between one’s family and other social institutions
• Women take on the expressive role emotional oriented task, concern mostly for internal affairs within the family i.e. maintenance of harmony

Question 12

conflict perspective on gender differences

Answer 12

• Gender differentiation contributes to social inequality
• Instrumental and expressive roles are not equally rewarded; the relationship between men and women is therefore one of unequal power
• Men are in a dominant position over women; men are like the capitalists (with resources) while women are like the proletariat who are exploited for their labour (little paid for work done)

Question 13

historical advancements of gender equality

Answer 13

• World wars: women joined the labour force due to a shortage of men in the country
• Expansion of the university system: women were also pursuing higher education
• Contraceptive technology: women have more control over fertility

Question 14

Canadian women in the workforce today

Answer 14

• Majority of women over 16 have jobs
• A third of women 18-24 are in university (there are more women going to university than men)
• Over a quarter of women are senior managers

Question 15

Women in Canada today

Answer 15

• Women still experience oppression as a group
• • Under-represented in positions of power
• • Under-represented in high-paying jobs
• • Expected to perform domestic labour
• • Continue to be seen as sex objects
• • The prevalence of rape culture

Question 16

rape culture

Answer 16

where sexual violence or violence against women is normalized

Question 17

glass ceiling

Answer 17

• Invisible barrier that blocks promotion of qualified individuals in work environment because of a person’s gender, race, or ethnicity
• Has a maximum earning capacity; not unlimited

Question 18

second shift

Answer 18

• Double burden that working women face
• Work outside the home followed by childcare and housework
• Few men share this equitably

Question 19

status of women worldwide

Answer 19

• Gender disparities exist in access to education, work opportunities, health, personal security, and leisure time
• Fewer girls attend school than boys in the developing world
• Feminization of labour has become a global phenomenon (ie. Nannies and live-in caregivers)
• Women usually work in occupations with lower status and pay than men; female proletarianization
• Women are continuously being exploited in other areas, including the sex industry

Question 20

how gender equality affects social change

Answer 20

• Change in family structure (less people getting married, cohabitation increasing, divorce more common, decreased fertility)
• Consumption habits: more power within the household (women are more likely to buy new cars than men)
• Criminal behaviour: proportion of female offenders is increasing

Question 21

gender identity

Answer 21

the extent to which one identifies as masculine or feminine based on how much they associate with gender roles

Question 22

dichotomous view of gender

Answer 22

• notion that one is either male or female

- not universal -> some cultures have multiple genders

Question 23

sexual orientation

Answer 23

• one’s emotional and sexual attraction to a particular sex
• typically divided into 4 categories: heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and asexuality (no attraction to either sex)
• We live in a heteronormative society

Question 24

Kinsey Scale

Answer 24

created by Alfred Kinsey to conceptualize sexuality as a continuum rather than a dichotomy

Question 25

homosocial

Answer 25

• non-sexual same-sex relations (ie. hugging, holding hands, closeness, etc.)
• women experience more fluidity and freedom to express homosocial feelings than men

Question 26

Legal milestones for LGBT community in Canada

Answer 26

• Civil Marriage Act (2005): Legalized same-sex marriage by describing marriage in gender-neutral terms
• Canadian Human Rights Act amendment (1996): Explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation

Question 27

transgender vs. transexual

Answer 27

• transgender: identify with the gender role that is the opposite of their biological sex
• transexual: transgender people who alter their bodies so they’re aligned with their gender identity

Question 28

institutional discrimination

Answer 28

discrimination that is built into the social structure

Question 29

feminist theory

Answer 29

• type of critical sociology that examines inequalities in gender-related issues
• uses the critical approach to examine the maintenance of gender roles and inequalities

Question 30

bifurcated consciousness

Answer 30

when women perceive a disconnect between their personal experiences and the way the world is represented by society as a whole (ie. they experience the world one way but they’re also forced to see it through the way of the dominant group - men)

Question 31

“doing gender”

Answer 31

• when people perform tasks or possess characteristics based on the gender role assigned to them
• gender is something we do or perform, not something we are

Question 32

influence on sexual behaviour

Answer 32

• historically, religion has been the greatest influence on sexual behavior in most societies
• in more recent years, peers and the media have emerged as two of the strongest influences

Question 33

double-standard of sex (men vs. women)

Answer 33

• belief that men have more sexual urges, and that it’s more acceptable for men than for women
• prohibiting premarital sexual intercourse for women but allowing it for men
• allowing women to engage in premarital sex only within committed love relationships, but allowing men to engage in sexual relationships with as many partners as they wish

Question 34

dominant gender schema ideology

Answer 34

• serves to perpetuate inequalities in power and status -
• states that people can be only male or female, and you can’t change gender without medical intervention (ie. gender is a social expression of sex)

Question 35

queer theory

Answer 35

• a perspective that examines the way we’ve been taught to think about sexual orientation
• rejects the dichotomization of sexual orientations into either homosexual or heterosexual
• highlights the need for a more flexible and fluid conceptualization of sexuality—one that allows for change, negotiation, and freedom