Week 7: Gender and Sexuality Flashcards
Social Roles Based on Sex and Gender
- Every culture has norms and expectations for how people of different genders should behave
- Natural human development allows for a spectrum of gender and sexuality
- The idea of 2 sex 2 gender
Sex
biological and physiological differences
Sexuality
romantic or physical attraction
Gender
Internal experience of identity as male, female, both, or neither, and the expression of that identity
Gendered Speech
- Language use is shaped by expectations of gender
- Forms of acceptable speech in English for different genders demonstrate sexism
Gendered Occupations
- Some occupations are strictly gendered, even today
- Those in gendered occupations may face social stigma
Gender ideology
- A system of thoughts, attitudes, and values that legitimize gender roles, statuses, and customary behaviour
- Advertising, toy stores, and clothing embed gender ideologies in Western societies
- Statuses and hierarchy
Margaret Mead
Research along the Sepik River, PNG
A rapesh, Mundugumor, Tchambuli people
Gender Inequality
- Gender stratification refers to the dominance of men and subordination of women (and other genders) in society, in dress, opportunities, social restrictions
- Male dominance is linked to control of (protein) resources
- Not all societies demonstrate gender inequality
Gender and Status
- Anthropologists first became interested in this question with the rise of feminist thought in anthropology
- They sought to challenge the notion that women are “naturally” inferior to men
Gender Stratification
The degree to which human groups allocate material and social rewards to individuals based on their gender
Gender scripts, roles, and traits
- Refers to the ways that people are expected to speak, think, and behave according to the cultural or socially constructed genders of their group
- Includes comportment, jobs and tasks, responsibilities, and ideas about their “nature”
- Emotional, rational, moral, nurturing, strong, weak, active, and passive are some familiar traits in a two-sex, two-gender type gender system
- Stereotypical traits
- Linguistic, language you can speak, act, dress, ways of moving
- The way you carry yourself
Sexual Identity
- Heterosexual
- Homosexual
- Bisexual/pansexual/polysexual, among others
Permissiveness of a society may be based on ancient ecological factors or the imposition of colonial norms, including religion
Masculine and Feminine
- Gender roles are the culturally appropriate roles of individuals in society; norms of behaviour
- Gender roles are not universal
- Gender roles can change over time
- Women were not allowed certain clothing
Gender can change over time
Gender Identity
- Gender identity is a person’s internal experience of their identity as male, female, both, or neither
- Gender expression is the external representation of one’s gender identity
Cisgender
When a person’s gender identity matches their assigned sex at birth
Transgender
When a person’s gender identity differs from their assigned sex at birth
Two-spirit
Do not identify as a man or woman
Hijras
- “Neither man nor woman”
- Said to be “born that way” but most likely some are anatomically male and some hijra have had surgery