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Gender

Chapter 5

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Sex and Gender

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Sex and Gender: Sex

§ Sex• One’s biological category -- male or

female -- based on anatomy, physiology, hormones, and chromosomes

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Sex and Gender: Sexual Identity

§ Sexual Identity• The recognition, or internalization, of a

biological sex category

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Sex and Gender: Gender

§ Gender• The social realization of biological sex• Social and cultural characteristics, like

attitudes and behavior, that characterize people as girls/women or boys/men

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Sex and Gender: Gender Identity

§ Gender Identity• The identification with the social

category boy/man or girl/woman• Represents the perception of oneself as

masculine or feminine

§ Can a person’s gender identity be modifies?• Brain forms gender identity on response

to biological and social cues

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Sex and Gender: Gender Expression

§ Gender Roles§ One’s pattern of outward behavior in

relation to common standards of a gender category

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§ Masculine - Exhibiting characteristics associated with being male

§ Feminine - Exhibiting characteristics associated with being female

Masculinity & Femininity

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The Sex-Gender System

§ Sex-gender system: Transformation of biological differences between women and men into social order that supports male domination• Organized so that men can make or have

access to more money, privilege, and power

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Sex and Gender: Differences

§ How Different Are We?§ Sex differences made social§ Sexual dimorphism: physical differences

between the sexes

§ Sexual diversity

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The Nature-Nurture Debate

§ Sex Hormones — all males and females share three sex hormones• Estrogen (dominant in females)• Progesterone (present in high levels

during pregnancy in women)• Testosterone (dominate in males)

§ Cross-cultural research shows much variation in characteristics that are deemed male or female

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Height Distribution of Married Men and Women, 2009

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Sex and Gender: Height

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Common Restroom Symbols

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Sex and Gender: Intersex

§ Sexual Diversity• Intersex

§ A condition in which a person’s chromosomal composition does not correspond with his or her sexual anatomy at birth, or the anatomy is not clearly male or female

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Sex and Gender: Transgender Identity

§ Sexual Diversity• Transgender

§ A term to describe individuals whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex

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Gender Myths

§ We tend to associate stereotypically female characteristics with weakness and typically male characteristics with strength§ He’s firm, but she’s stubborn§ He’s careful about details, but she’s picky§ He’s honest, but she’s opinionated§ He’s raising good points, but she’s

“bitchy”

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Gender and Personality Traits

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Androgyny and Gender

§ Androgynous• Neither exclusively masculine nor

exclusively feminine

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Perspectives on Gender

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Why Do Gender Roles Differ?

§ There are many theories to explain for the differences in gender roles from culture to culture:1. Biology and Sociobiology 2. Social learning theory3. Cognitive development theory4. Symbolic interaction theory5. Feminist theories6. Masculinity

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Perspectives on Gender: Biological

§ Biological perspective has influenced the structural functionalist view

§ Emphasizes the complementary and natural roles of men and women

§ Focuses on stability§ Doesn’t consider processes of social

change and variation

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Perspectives on Gender: Social Learning Theory

§ Social learning theory argues that people learn attitudes, beliefs and behaviors through social interactions § Learning is a result of reinforcement§ Learning also occurs through imitation

and modeling the behavior of others

§ Gender roles are culturally created expectations that are learned and transmitted through socialization

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Perspectives on Gender: Cognitive Development Theory

§ Cognitive development theory argues that that children acquire female or male values on their own by receiving, reasoning, and interpreting information in their environment

§ Cognitive processes intervene between stimulus and response, by ascribing meaning to situations

§ Children learn gender schemas

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Perspectives on Gender: Feminism

§ Feminism argues that gender identity and gender inequality is central to social order and family life§ Rigid gender categories and roles

benefit a male- dominate society§ Interactions between men and women

reflect men’s dominate position and reinforce these differences

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Perspectives on Gender: Masculinity

§ Masculinity in gender studies began in the 1980s to provide an explanation of the "dominant" gender group§ Focuses on the characteristics that

society defines as being typical of boys/men

§ Argues that rigid gender roles hurt both women and men

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Perspectives on Gender: Symbolic Interaction Theory

§ Symbolic Interaction focuses on the social construction of gender that emerges in social situations§ Individuals must enact own social roles

and receive feedback from others to build and maintain their identity

§ Individuals enhance or suppress aspects of their gender identity to conform to the norms of masculinity and femininity

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Gender Socialization

§ Socialization:• The process by which individuals

internalize elements of the social structure, making those elements part of their own personality

§ Gender socialization:§ Children rewarded for appropriate

gender behavior; punished for inappropriate

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Gender: Male

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Gender: Female

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Agents of Gender Socialization

§ Parents and siblings§ Toys and games§ Interactive circles of socialization§ Mass media

§ School§ Peers• Activities • Neighborhoods

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Gender Socialization: Parents and Siblings

§ Parents are the first and most influential agent of childhood socialization§ Males and females are treated differently

from birth on

§ Siblings:§ Reinforce gender differences§ Can also make gender socialization more

complicated

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Interactive Circles of Gender Socialization

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Gender Socialization: Toys

§ Same toys until about age 2§ After age 2, toys become gender-specific• Girls get more passive toys: § coloring books, toy appliances, dolls (baby

dolls then Barbie dolls)

• Boys get more active toys:§ weapons, action figures, mobile and

creative toys

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Gender Socialization: Games

§ Girls: • play in smaller groups• emphasis on cooperation• same-sex groups; ages vary

§ Boys:• play in larger groups• emphasis on both cooperation and

competition• mostly same-sex groups; ages vary

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Gender Socialization: Mass Media

§ Popular Culture and the Mass Media• Children learn from what they see• Books, TV, videos, movies, songs, etc.• As recently as the 1960s, children’s media

was most likely to have male main character• Since feminist movement, more equal

treatment is evident

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Gender Socialization:Schools and Teachers

§ Messages teach children gender roles from preschool through high school§ Boys:

§ Aggressive behaviors may have biological basis

§ Reinforce competitive, dominant interaction

§ Girls:§ Encouraged to stay close to teacher§ Rewarded for helpful, cooperative behavior

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Gender Socialization: Peers

§ Peers are people in a similar social situation and of similar social status with whom an individual interacts§ Activities§ Neighborhoods§ Same-sex peer and play groups§ Try out behaviors/get feedback

§ Play behaviors reinforce adult life emphasis

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Gender-Typed Activities

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Gender and Religion

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Gender at Work

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Gender at Work

§ Educational and occupational segregation remains pervasive

§ Gender affects hiring practices, as well as status and pay differences at work

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The Gender Pay Gap

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Benefits and Costs of Traditional Gender Roles

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The Story behind the Numbers: Male-Dominated Fields

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The Story behind the Numbers: Female-Dominated Fields