Sex & Gender

Question 1

sex

Answer 1

biological traits of men and women

Question 2

gender

Answer 2

social, cultural, and psychological traits linked to males and females

Question 3

gender identity

Answer 3

how people feel in their bodies and how they’re expected to behave

Question 4

compulsory heterosexuality

Answer 4

when we talk to people in our daily life we assume most people are straight, but sometimes these assumptions go too far and we start to project

Question 5

The sexual continuum (Kinsley)

Answer 5

0 - exclusively heterosexual
1 - incidental homosexual
2 - more than incidental homosexual
3 - equally homosexual and heterosexual
4 - more than incidental heterosexual
5 - incidental heterosexual
6 - exclusively homosexual

Question 6

What did Kinsley’s research on men’s and women’s sexuality show?

Answer 6

Men are more often involved in premarital sex, extramarital sex, and sex with prostitutes, as well as more likely to have homosexual experiences

Question 7

David Reiner case

Answer 7

Sexual reassignment case, many different opinions on what it shows

Question 8

Essentialism

Answer 8

Belief that there are biological (essential) differences of gender & sexuality between men and women
left hemisphere of the brain is associated with language, right is associated with visual and spatial skills
Freud - oedipus and electra complexes -> Id, Superego, Ego

Question 9

Social Constructionism

Answer 9

welfare & conquest - Marx said that capitalism exaggerated the already seen stereotype in women of staying home and etc while men went off to toll in new economy as technology emerged
gender - made up to serve particular interests
separation of public and private spheres

Question 10

Critiques of essentialism

Answer 10

1. Essentialists ignore the historical and cultural variability - there are variations in gender across cultures, societies change without any corresponding genetic change*
2. Essentialists ignore the fact that gender differences are declining rapidly and in some cases have already disappeared
3. Research evidence employed by essentialism is often deeply flawed - no evidence of genes that cause male jealousy, female nurturance, etc
4. Essentialists exaggerate the degree to which gender differences are unchangeable - essentialists offer explanations for gender differences that ignore the role of power

Question 11

Economic Inequality

Answer 11

Women have “double work” days
Sex segregation is often seen in labour market

Question 12

Sex typing

Answer 12

Stereotyping based on gender, different jobs for different genders

Question 13

Glass ceiling

Answer 13

Executive positions are always male dominated

Question 14

Social Inequality & Gender Stratification

Answer 14

Gender stratification is a system in which men hold greater power, prestige, and wealth than women

Question 15

Power

Answer 15

the ability to impose one’s will on others

Question 16

Prestige

Answer 16

social ranking and respect

Question 17

Wealth

Answer 17

economic resources

Question 18

Why have women become more involved in labor force, especially, after 1961?

Answer 18

1. An increase in demand for service sector workers such as nannies
2. A decrease in the number of children born
3. Family finances

Question 19

Four reasons why women earn less than men

Answer 19

1. Gender differences in the characteristics that influence pay rates (education, experience, seniority)
2. Women are involved in sex-segregated, non-standard work.
3. Simple discrimination
4. A general devaluation of the kind of work performed by women

Question 20

Political power

Answer 20

Women are underrepresented in politics
One Canadian PM ever lost her PM status after 4 months - Kim Campbell

Question 21

Socialist feminism

Answer 21

Capitalism & patriarchy must be altered or eliminated to free women; capitalism benefits from women
Social feminists believe that the laws must change for positive social change

Question 22

Radical feminism

Answer 22

Capitalism has little to do with female oppression, women are oppressed because they’re women
The state is the male state, the state is the enemy
Men are more aggressive and need to dominate women

Question 23

Intersectionism

Answer 23

Oppression exists in many forms, and it is cumulative
Gender is a social construct
Activism based on outlining how gender is socially constructed can eliminate unwanted inequality

Question 24

Social images

Answer 24

Mass media made for women (cosmopolitan and etc) give women unachievable beauty norms

Question 25

Mathews (2000)

Answer 25

In “The Body Beautiful: Adolescent Girls and Images of Beauty” she found:
- Girls are not passive victims of beauty images
- Looking better means access to social groups and power
- Girls were the audience, not boys

Question 26

sociobiology

Answer 26

those who resolve their problems pass on the genes resulting in gene differences

Question 27

Mathews groups identified

Answer 27

The elite.
The “wannabees”.
“Life in the middle”.
The fringe.