Gender and Sexuality Chapter 11 Paula England

Where do the differences between men and women come from? THE BIG QUESTIONS Where do the differences between men and women come from? How have the lives of women and men changed in the past 50 years? How are our sex lives shaped by biology and society? How has sexual behavior changed in the last 50 years?

Where do the differences between men and women come from? QUESTION 1 Where do the differences between men and women come from?

What Do Differences Actually Mean? Do males score higher than females on standardized math tests? Male and female means and distribution on Math SAT test More people score in the middle distribution than at either extreme Males have higher average, but many members will have higher average who are below average of sex with lower average

What shapes gender differences in behavior and preferences? Gender Socialization What shapes gender differences in behavior and preferences? Biological differences, including hormones, anatomy, or brain structure Social construction of gender including parenting and mass media Definitions: Gender: Way in which social forces structure how being male or female affect what is expected of you, what opportunities you have, and the results for individual men and women. Social construction of gender: Entire system of social processes that create and sustain gender differences and gender inequality. Patriarchy: Gender system in which men have more power than wormen in politics, the economy, and the family.

Sex versus Gender Sex Biological grouping based on anatomy, chromosomes, and levels of hormones Gender Result of how society shapes differences and inequalities between men and women Transgendered Individuals Challenge assumptions about how sex and gender and how these go together How do we distinguish the concepts of sex and gender?

Gender Differences by Setting and Time Rationale for Social Construction of Gender Gender differences vary between social settings Gender arrangements have changed over time Lightdale and colleagues concluded that gender-stereotypical behavior is more likely when people believe they are being watched How do social expectations affect the interactions between men and women when they know they are being watched by others?

Do you know? Check your text! What does the fact that gender differences vary across situations and over time tell us about the concept of gender? Gender-stereotypical behavior is more likely to happen when people believe that they are being watched. Some of how women and men act results from trying to live up to what they think others expect from someone of their sex. Social pressure, even with no rewards or punishment, has an effect. Do you know? Check your text!

The Impact of Stereotypes Stereotypes: Beliefs about group that are often untrue or exaggerated as a description of the group Research findings reveal that what people hear from others about whether their sex is better at something affects their confidence and even their actual performance Social context determine how “macho” men act Correll: Women’s assessment of their math skills were influenced by disclosures of male superiority on tests Spencer and colleagues: Differences in math test performance influenced by disclosure of male higher performance or male equal performance on tests. These studies do not prove that biological influence have no influence on gender differences. Gender difference fluctuations indicate influence of social situations.

How have the lives of women and men changed in the last 50 years? QUESTION 2 How have the lives of women and men changed in the last 50 years?

Rising Women’s Employment and Education Of all the changes in the lives of women over the last several decades, the biggest is the increase of women in the paid workforce Increased wages Higher share of jobs in service work Feminist movement and laws against sex discrimination Steady increase in women’s educational level What are some of the reasons that women’s employment increased dramatically between 1960 and 1990? Increased wages offered incentive to work for pay Economy changed to include higher share of jobs in service work Feminist movement and the laws against sex discrimination were influential Women steadily increased their share of degrees over time More women than men now receive degrees Financial support for college has changed

Occupational sex segregation measures Change in Women’s Jobs Occupational sex segregation measures Sex segregation declined substantially in 1970s and 1980 Declined more slowly since then Jobs still sex segregated partly due to socialization and hiring discrimination In the last 40 years, occupational sex segregation has declined significantly In the last 40 years, occupational sex segregation has declined significantly One example of this is that more women have entered into engineering, still a largely male-dominated field.

Why do women earn less than men? What does your textbook say? Women earned about 60 to 65 percent of what men earned from the 1950s to the 1980s. After 1980, this began to equalize so that by about 2000, women earned 76 percent of what men did. Since 2000 there hasn’t been much more progress toward equality.

What Do You Think? Why haven't the changes in men's roles been as dramatic as the changes in women's roles? Let’s find out!

The Impact on Men Women have entered traditionally male employment more than men have taken on traditionally female activities Greater stigma for men to engage in female-identified activities Men’s housework increased slightly Employed fathers spend more time caring for their children than they did 50 years ago, but so do employed mothers. Women have entered traditionally male employment more than men have taken on traditionally female activities Greater stigma for men to engage in female-identified activities Attitudes towards female employment improved Men’s housework increased slightly Employed fathers spend more time caring for their children than they did 50 years ago, but so do employed mothers. Women’s hours of paid work have increased much more than men’s hours in household work. Norms of masculinity seem relatively unchanged in insisting that married men are supposed to have a job—so much so that when men aren’t employed, couples more often divorce

How are our sex lives shaped by biology and society? QUESTION 3 How are our sex lives shaped by biology and society?

Do American women take any drastic measures to alter their bodies? In the “Long Neck” tribe in Northern Thailand, women are seen as more beautiful if they have long necks, and some take drastic measures to achieve this beauty Do American women take any drastic measures to alter their bodies? If so, what are these? What Drastic Measures Do American Women Take to Alter Their Bodies?

Terms and labels Sexual Orientation Sexual orientation Heterosexual Homosexual Bisexual Definitions: Sexual orientation: Refers to whether individuals are attracted to members of the other sex, the same sex, or both Diamond Showed that behavior (which sex one has sex with), attraction (which sex one is attracted to), and identity (whether one refers to oneself as lesbian, bisexual, or heterosexual) are not always consistent

Does Biology Influence Sexual Orientation? What the research tells us Higher percentage of identical twins of gay men were also gay, compared to lower percentage of fraternal twins of gay brothers and even lower percentage of adoptive brothers of gay men Similar pattern found for women What conclusion can you develop from these findings?

Our culture supports double standard of sexuality Sexual Behavior Evolutionary theories Specific sex-genes help men and women to produce offspring For women: Number of surviving children will not be enhanced by frequent sex with multiple partners For men: Genes that encourage frequent, casual sex would increase men’s number of offspring-evolution led to more preference for causal sex among men Our culture supports double standard of sexuality Nightclubs and college parties often feature women showing more skin than men. Why is this?

Sexual Minorities Sexual minority Anyone who is not heterosexual, or who is transgendered Heteronormativity Situation where culture and institutions send message that everyone who is normal is heterosexual Heterosexism or homophobia Bias directed at person because of sexual orientation

What do you think is the future of same-sex marriage in America? Let’s Talk About It! Same sex marriage What do you think is the future of same-sex marriage in America? On what do you base your opinion? Gay rights movement Queer Nation: group highlighted the concerns of nonheterosexual persons of color, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered persons, and those who didn’t like pigeonholing people into any of these categories and preferred the umbrella term queer. Strong backlash: Religious institutions, local and state government groups opposed gay marriage; DOMA at federal level

How has sexual behavior changed in the last 50 years? QUESTION 4 How has sexual behavior changed in the last 50 years?

Overview Increase in proportion of Americans have sex before marriage Premarital Sex Overview Increase in proportion of Americans have sex before marriage American parents against teen children having sex Cohabitation Increasing numbers of young couples in relationship living together as unmarried couple How have relationships in which premarital sex occurs changed in recent decades in the U .S.?

Hooking Up In recent decades sexual activity in causal liaisons with no expectation that a relationship with ensue Do you think that hookups often lead to relationships?

Gender Scripts How much change has occurred in the sexual and romantic behavior that are scripted by gender? Sex before marriage has become more acceptable Little change in gender differences in what is expected in the romantic and sexual realm In hookups, women feel obligation to try to give pleasure; men more selfish

Births Outside of Marriage Birth outside of marriage more common with increase in all education, income, and racial groups Highest rates occur among most disadvantaged African Americans Reduction of stigma of pregnancy outside of marriage related to acceptance of sex before marriage

Generational Differences Younger generation more likely to have sex before marriage, to have cohabited before marriage, and to have more sexual partners Oral sex more accepted and appealing to younger generation Married or cohabiting people reported more frequent sex in the last year