Chapter 9 Sexuality and Gender

Chapter Outline Sex Versus Gender Theories of Gender Homosexuality Gender Inequality The Women’s Movement

Intersexed People Intersexed people have ambiguous genitals resulting from a hormone imbalance in the womb or some other cause. About 18 out of every 100,000 babies are born with this condition.

Sex and Gender Your sex depends on whether you were born with male or female genitals and a genetic program that released male or female hormones to stimulate the development of your reproductive system. Your gender is your sense of being male or female and playing masculine and feminine roles as defined by your culture and society.

Consider this… What are some things you would do, that you don’t feel comfortable doing now, if you were the other gender? What are some things you wouldn’t do if you were the other gender?

Gender Identity Gender identity is one’s identification with, or sense of belonging to, a particular sex— biologically, psychologically, and socially. A gender role is the set of behaviors associated with widely shared expectations about how males or females are supposed to act.

Theories of Gender Essentialism - gender differences reflect naturally evolved dispositions. Social constructionism - gender differences reflect the different social positions occupied by women and men.

Functionalism and Essentialism Functionalists reinforce essentialists claim that traditional gender roles help to integrate society

4 Criticisms of Essentialism They ignore historical and cultural variability of gender and sexuality. They generalize from the average, ignoring variations within gender groups. No evidence directly supports their major claims. Their explanations for gender differences ignore the role of power.

Distribution of Aggressiveness among Men and Women Essentialists ignore variation within groups and only focus on the mean differences. Within group differences are much greater than between group differences.

Social Constructionism and Symbolic Interactionism The apparent natural or innate features of life, such as gender, are actually sustained by social processes that vary historically and culturally We learn our gender through socialization through toys, treatment by and expectations of parents and teacher, etc.

Gender Segregation, and Interaction Sociologist Barrie Thorne observed a fourth- and fifth-grade classroom. The findings made important contributions to understanding gender socialization: Children are actively engaged in the process of constructing gender roles. While schoolchildren tend to segregate themselves by gender, boundaries between boys and girls vary depending on social circumstances.

Gender Ideology A set of ideas about what constitutes appropriate masculine and feminine roles and behavior. We learn these in the classroom, at home, from the media, from our role models

Polling Question Do you approve or disapprove of a married woman earning money in business or industry if she has a husband capable of supporting her? Approve Disapprove No opinion

Women and Occupations, 2010 Insert Table 9.1 HERE (pg. 207)

Body Dissatisfaction across World Regions INSERT FIGURE 9.2 HERE (pg. 209)

Glass Ceiling A social barrier that makes it difficult for women to rise to the top level of management.

Polling Question If you were taking a new job and had your choice of a boss, would you prefer to work for a man or a woman? Man Woman No preference

Transgender and Transsexual Transgendered people defy gender norms and blur accepted gender roles. 1 in every 5000 to 10,000 people. Transsexuals want to alter their gender by changing their appearance or medical intervention. 1 in every 30,000 people.

Non-heterosexuality Homosexuals prefer sexual partners of the same sex. Bisexuals enjoy sexual partners of either sex.

Homosexuality Indicators in U.S. INSERT FIGURE 9.4 HERE (pg. 212)

Homophobia Research suggests that some antigay crimes may result from repressed homosexual urges on the part of the aggressor. Aggressors are homophobic, or afraid of homosexuals, because they cannot cope with their own, possibly subconscious, homosexual impulses.

The Earnings Gap In 2001, women over the age of 15 working full-time in the paid labor force earned 81.2% of what men earned.

The Earnings Gap: Four Factors Gender discrimination. Heavy domestic responsibilities reduce women’s earnings. Women tend to be concentrated in low-wage occupations and industries. Work done by women is commonly considered less valuable than work done by men because it is viewed as involving fewer skills.

Gender Discrimination A practice that involves rewarding men and women differently for the same work. Female–male earnings ratio Women’s earnings expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings.

Male Aggression Against Women The majority of acts of aggression between men and women are committed by men against women. In 2009, 88,097 rapes of women were reported to the police in the United States.

Male Aggression Against Women In a survey of acquaintance and date rape in American colleges, 7% of men admitted they attempted or committed rape in the past year. 11% percent of women said they were victims of attempted or successful rape.

Sexual Harassment Quid pro quo sexual harassment takes place when sexual threats or bribery are made a condition of employment decisions. Hostile-environment sexual harassment involves sexual jokes, comments, and touching that interfere with work or create an unfriendly work setting.

Gender Inequality Index (GII) An indicator of the progress of women that takes into account inequality between men and women in terms of health, participation in the paid labor force, and political influence

Labor Force Participation in the U.S. INSERT FIGURE 9.5 HERE (pg. 220)

GII, Top and Bottom 10 Countries, plus U.S. INSERT FIGURE 9.6 HERE (pg. 220)

Affirmative Action Involves hiring a woman if equally qualified men and women are available for a job, thus compensating for past discrimination.

Child Care An additional barrier for women’s participation in the paid labor force High-quality, government-subsidized, affordable child care is available in most western European countries, but not in the U.S.

Comparable Worth Refers to the equal dollar value of different jobs. It is established in gender-neutral terms by comparing jobs in terms of the education and experience needed to do them and the stress, responsibility, and working conditions associated with them.

The Women’s Movement First Wave: 1840s. Made a number of demands including the right to vote. Second Wave: mid-1960s They advocated equal rights with men in education and employment, the elimination of sexual violence, and women’s control over reproduction.

Quick Quiz

1. Which of the following is not a determinant of one's sex? whether one is born with male or female genitalia feelings and attitudes associated with being a man or a woman behaviors associated with being a man or a woman the feelings and attitudes associated with being a man or a woman, and the behaviors associated with being a man or a woman

Answer: d The feelings and attitudes associated with being a man or a woman, and the behaviors associated with being a man or a woman are not a determinant of one's sex.

2. Which of the following is not a criticism of essentialism? It ignores historical and cultural variability of gender and sexuality. It tends to generalize from the average, ignoring variations. It ignores the role of power. It ignores the way in which a host of gender differences in personality and behavior follows from anatomical sex differences.

Answer: d That “Essentialism ignores the way in which a host of gender differences in personality and behavior follows from anatomical sex differences” is not a criticism of Essentialism.

3. Social constructionism is a school of thought that sees gender differences: as a reflection of the different social positions occupied by women and men as a reflection of the strategies men and women use to achieve reproductive success resulting from identification with, or a sense of belonging to, a particular sex as a reflection of biological differences between women and men

Answer: a Social constructionism is a school of thought that sees gender differences as a reflection of the different social positions occupied by women and men.

4. Surveys of body image show that: a great majority of people who are dissatisfied with their weight - both men and women - want to lose weight men are more concerned about their stomachs than women are women are more concerned about their breasts than men are about their chests all of these choices

Answer: a Surveys of body image show that a great majority of people who are dissatisfied with their weight - both men and women - want to lose weigh.

5. Transgendered people are: people who prefer sexual partners of both sexes people who identify with, and want to live fully as, members of the "opposite" sex, and who resort to medical intervention people who break society's gender norms by defying the rigid distinction between male and female people born with ambiguous genitals

Answer: c Transgendered people are people who break society's gender norms by defying the rigid distinction between male and female.

6. Men commit more frequent and more harmful acts of aggression against women than women commit against men because: men are physically stronger than women norms justify male aggression against women men have more social power than women b. and c. only

Answer: d Men commit more frequent and more harmful acts of aggression against women than women commit against men because norms justify male aggression against women and men have more social power than women.