Social Constructivism Flashcards
What was C. Wright Mills Definition of Sociology?
The Sociological Imagination; The intersection of biography and history, and it’s goal is to understand how individuals shape themselves in historical and social contexts
What do sociologist mean by “Gender is a social construct”?
Identities are a fluid assemblage of the meanings and behaviours we construct from the world around us. Gender is both voluntary and coerced
What are the 4 elements of a Social Constructionist Perspective of gender?
- Masculinity and Femininity vary from culture to culture
- Masculinity and Femininity vary in any one culture over time/throughout its history
- Gendered definitions vary over the course of ones life
- Definitions of masculinity and femininity will vary within any one culture at any one time (due to things like “race”, class, ability, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.)
How does Social Constructivism explain gender better than other perspectives?
It accounts for difference, power, and the institutional dimensions of gender
What is Sex Role theory?
Gender identity comes from the developmental patterns of individuals in their families and their early childhoods.
What are the 6 critiques of Sex Role Theory?
- The use of roles minimizes the importance of gender and implies that gender is easily changeable, which diminishes its power in structuring people’s lives
- It posits a single definition of masculinity and femininity. Is there really one male role and one female role, especially considering ethnicity, “race”, class etc. ?
- Sex role theory assumes the genders are two extremely different roles, instead of relational (i.e., men define masculinity in opposition to femininity)
- It ignores that gender is situational (between friends, in a professional setting, etc.).
- !Sex Role Theory depoliticizes gender, making it individual and not an aspect of social structures!
- Sex role theory cannot comprehend the dynamics of change. Instead, feminists and queer activists can only expand the role’s definitions and expectations for individuals
What is the Sambo Theory of oppression?
Victim blaming; That victims internalize the values of an oppressive system which leads to incompetent, self-degrading behaviour. In this worldview, social change is a future problem, as the oppressed today cannot learn to better the ways of their oppressors
What are the textbook’s views on power in relation to gender?
Gender is about power and inequality, as power is what produces gendered differences in the first place.
When it comes to relations, gender is a power men have over women as a group (or some men have over other men and some women have over other women)
Why do Sociologists no longer that family, school, and church are the 3 primary institutions?
It puts the weight of socialization on adults in a child’s life, when children learn a lot from their peers and media
Why do Sociologists no longer think gendered socialization ends at childhood?
Peer and media influences don’t recede after early childhood. Gendered socialization is not smooth of finite and definitions of masculinity and femininity change from 20s, 30s, 40s, etc.
Is the “mid-life crisis” true?
While a fact in pop psychology, there’s no empirical evidence that it is a universal experience for either men or women. People go through challenges in every stage of life
What is Confirmation Bias?
A single/a few cases of expected behaviour confirm ones belief, even when there are other cases to the contrary
What is Narrative coherence?
Believing something because it “feels right”
What does U shaped happiness mean?
Happiness around the world is high in early life, declines to its lowest levels around ones 40s, and climbs to higher levels as one ages
What is the social constructionist view of genders and institutions?
Institutions themselves are gendered, and people who enter those institutions have to take on gendered roles
What are the three themes of gender?
Identity, Interaction, and Institution
Goffman, bathrooms, and gendered differences
Institutions enforce the gender differences. Goffman pointed out that gendered bathrooms are structured differently even though bathrooms at home are not. These bathrooms reflect societies assumptions ( ex. Men’s bathrooms don’t have diaper changing stations)
What were Joan Ackers views on gender and corporations?
It is through experiences in the workplace that the differences between women and men are reproduced through “gendered processes” and inequality is legitimated
What are the 5 gendered processes within institutions?
- Gendered division
- Gendered images
- Gendered interactions between individuals
- Gendered thought processes
- Gendered logic of the institutions themselves
When was 1st Wave of feminism?
1850-1900
What other issues were first wave feminists involved in?
Abolition of slavery, Marital property, men’s sexual property, animal rights and class inequality
What did 1st wave feminists think of men and women?
They were bio essentialists that viewed men and women as inherently different. Still, women’s differences came from how they were raised
When was 2nd Wave of feminism?
1960s-80s
What 2 books influenced the 2nd wave feminism movement
Beauvior’s “The Second Sex” and Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique”
What was Connell’s main contribution to gender studies?
He coined the term Hegemonic Masculinity and Emphasized femininity. His focus on masculinity led to feminist and new ways to view men and do masculinity
