Sex, sexuality and gender - cultivating a sociological imagination Flashcards
What is sex?
bodily characteristic used to define someone as male or female
What is gender?
“A matter of culture: it refers to the social classification into ‘masculine’ and feminine’” (Oakley, 1972)
Essentialist understanding of gender differences
- men and women are naturally/biologically different
- biological differences (sex) can cause social differences (gender) e.g women as carer, men as breadwinner
Examples of how we construct gender in everyday life
learned practices reproduced by society) (7
- names we give people
- colours
- alcohol we drink
- hobbies
- the way we speak/walk
- body alteration practices (e.g makeup and shaving)
- the toys children play with
Simone de beauvior argues in The Second Sex (1949) that gender is socially constructed, what does she say that signifies this?
“one is not born, but rather becomes, a women”
What are the key features of postfeminism? (4)
- the most significant institutional barriers to women’s participation in politics and culture have been removed in the west
- anti-foundationalist movement
- women are able to enjoy cultural life as they choose
- any inequalities left are brought upon oneself, rather than being the result of a overarching structure
Explain the Ancient Greece example that sexuality is to do with social status, rather than biology
Adult males could have sex with anyone provided they were his social inferior, and provided he maintained an active role during intercourse.
Who claims that gender and sexuality are political?
Gayle Rubin
Why are gender and sexuality seen as political?
Sexuality is ordered into positions of power which reward some people and suppress others
Outline Sex role theory
- gendered expectations: defines and measures traits of masculinity and femininity
- binary division between men and women
- men socialised into breadwinning roles
- women socialised into domestic roles
